Hi everyone! I am so excited to share with you my thoughts about The Unready Queen. However, if you have not read Changeling: The Oddmire, do not proceed because spoilers!

The Unready Queen (Oddmire #2)

Author: William Ritter

Publication Date: 23 June 2020

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy

Pages: 320

Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers

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.

The Unready Queen picks up right where we left off from book one. Cole and Tinn are both adjusting to their lives now that they both know that Tinn is in fact the goblin. Even though their home life hasn’t changed, school has become a bit more interesting for Tinn now that he has moments when he’s unable to control his magic and risks exposing himself. It’s imperative now more than ever that he spends time with the goblins to not only learn his heritage but also how to control his magic.

Cole and Tinn found a friend in Fable, the daughter of the Queen of the Deep Dark when they were in Oddmire. Fable is sick of the strict magical lessons her mother insists upon. She doesn’t care about anything her mother does and doesn’t even want to be queen. The only reprieve Fable gets is when the Queen allows Fable to visit the boys as long as she keeps her identity a secret and stay out of trouble. If you know these three, trouble ALWAYS finds them. And when they uncover the fact that the humans are trying to destroy the Wild Wood, they have to band together to save it as well as to keep Fable from being the prophesized Unready Queen.

Just like in book one, The Unready Queen is packed with wild adventures from the very first pages. Because Tinn and Cole are initially faced with different challenges, we actually see them grow more as individuals rather than the twin set the originally were. It is still evident that will do anything for each other, but I loved watching their individual personalities thrive.

While this story still features Tinn and Cole, this story is really when Fable takes center stage and shows her worth as a character. Fable is fun, honest, adventurous, and very spunky. She just wants to be a kid and the type of magic she’s good at comes so naturally to her, but the kind her mom wants her to learn to control is a chore. It’s the quintessential struggle between parent and child, but it’s really amazing to see her learn the importance of her mother’s lessons once she’s actually faced with danger when she’s with the twins.

Overall, this is a wonderful whimsical read full of adventure and friendship. I definitely recommend this series!

Thank you to Algonquin Young Readers and Edelweiss for providing a review copy. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.