The Unwanteds #2: Island of Silence
by Lisa McCann
Picking up right where the first book left off (yes this is a series, so go and start with #1), the gate between Artime and Quill has been taken down. People are free to roam around between the two worlds and figure out where they want to live. The only snag in that plan is this: who would want to stick around in Quill where basic resources are hard to find, and the class system puts some people in a slave position? Of course everyone’s flocking to Artime where food and freedom are in abundance, and you can practice music and drawing all day long if you want to, instead of harvesting food and cleaning houses.
Everyone except Alex’s evil twin brother Aaron, that is. While Alex rises in the ranks and becomes a pet favorite of Mr. Today, who hopes to groom him to be his successor, Aaron also rises in the ranks of Quill. He plots a massive attack on the magical realm, and while some of the good-guy-bad-guy stuff is a bit melodramatic, keep in mind this book is for tweens, so it’s not going to be as in-depth as Gone with the Wind. It’s still very entertaining, and still exactly as the tagline on the cover reads: a cross between Harry Potter and The Hunger Games. Also, since there are five more books in the series, there’s a pretty good cliffhanger at the end. Keep going!
Everyone except Alex’s evil twin brother Aaron, that is. While Alex rises in the ranks and becomes a pet favorite of Mr. Today, who hopes to groom him to be his successor, Aaron also rises in the ranks of Quill. He plots a massive attack on the magical realm, and while some of the good-guy-bad-guy stuff is a bit melodramatic, keep in mind this book is for tweens, so it’s not going to be as in-depth as Gone with the Wind. It’s still very entertaining, and still exactly as the tagline on the cover reads: a cross between Harry Potter and The Hunger Games. Also, since there are five more books in the series, there’s a pretty good cliffhanger at the end. Keep going!