Blog Tour Review: The Unready Queen (The Oddmire #2)

Title: The Unready Queen (The Oddmire #2)
Author: William Ritter
Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: June 23, 2020
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

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:

Fable is the daughter of the Queen of the Deep Dark. She’s friends with Cole and Tinn, the human and goblin brothers. Some new people in town decided to dig for oil in the Wild Woods, disturbing the magical creatures who live there. Fable has to stand between her fellow magical creatures in the Wild Wood and her friends from the human town, when the dispute threatens to start a war.

There was a lot of history of the Oddmire world in this story. The story begins with Fable’s grandmother, and her experience with a changeling. She lost her own daughter, but she was returned right before the old woman died. These stories of the past made the story feel realistic, like it existed beyond the pages.

The dispute between the humans and magical creatures reminded me of race relations today. In the story, the humans took the land that the magical creatures lived on, just because they could. Other creatures were put down and accused of doing things, when there wasn’t evidence to support the accusations. This could teach kids the dangers of racism through a fantasy story.

I really enjoyed this story!

Thank you Algonquin Young Readers for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Other books in the series:

• The Changeling

Have you read The Unready Queen? What did you think of it?