Last week I posted my review of Changeling and couldn’t wait to read the sequel. The Unready Queen released yesterday and it was another magical adventure. Today for my stop on the blog tour, I want to tell you what I thought of this book.
A big thank you to Algonquin Young Readers for providing me an e-arc on Netgalley to read and review!
Human and goblin brothers Cole and Tinn are finding their way back to normal after their journey to the heart of the Oddmire. Normal, unfortunately, wants nothing to do with them. Fable, the daughter of the Queen of the Deep Dark, has her first true friends in the brothers. The Queen allows Fable to visit Tinn and Cole as long as she promises to stay quiet and out of sight—concealing herself and her magic from the townspeople of Endsborough.
But when the trio discovers that humans are destroying the Wild Wood and the lives of its creatures for their own dark purposes, Fable cannot stay quiet. As the unspoken truce between the people of Endsborough and the inhabitants of the Wild Wood crumbles, violence escalates, threatening war and bringing Fable’s mother closer to the fulfillment of a deadly prophecy that could leave Fable a most Unready Queen.
Review
“Don’t fret so much about the back luck that you forget to see the good.”
The Unready Queen doesn’t leave off right after the ending of Changeling, but it’s pretty close. This book reunites us with all of the characters we came to love in the first book. The adventure isn’t as focused on Tinn and Cole, but it’s just as fun!
We now get more of Fable’s story. She’s half-fae and will eventually be Queen. Her mother is trying to teach her all about her magic, but Fable just wants to have fun and be free. Things aren’t always easy for her to pick up and it get frustrating. I loved the feisty and playful Fable. She loved with her whole heart and just wanted to befriend Tinn and Cole and discover more of the human world.
I think Fable grows a lot in The Unready Queen. When things turn badly and people threaten the forest, Fable really finds her strength and shows us that she will be the amazing Queen we know she will be. I love how curious she is and thinks that everyone should be friends. I loved that about her!
“Yeah. Indoor plumbing and bakeries are scary stuff. Not like that peaceful forest full of homicidal monsters.”
On top of an amazing adventure we get to see Tinn and Cole settle in their new lives while Tinn learns more about his magic. He’s trying to find where he belongs and that’s not always easy. Friendship and family play a big role once again and I love that about middle grade books. I also mentioned this before, but it was so nice to see that the mothers are such strong and supporting characters. We don’t get enough books that include that. This author also included some fun humor for this age group. Even I laughed out loud a few times.
I think my only “issue” was that I would’ve loved just a little more time with Fable and her mother learning magic and maybe even more of her history! Same with Tinn! I would’ve loved to have seen more of that as well. The history behind them and their magic is something that really got my attention, so I would love to know more. All in all, The Unready Queen was another interesting adventure in The Oddmire. I really hope we’ll get more from him in this world!
Once again, William Ritter gave us such an interesting middle grade fantasy adventure. The ending definitely makes me want to hope for another book! I’m not sure if this is supposed to be only a duology, but fingers crossed we get more! I’ll definitely be reading William Ritter’s Jackaby series in the near future!
