The Unwanteds Island of Fire

Title: The Unwanteds Island of Fire

Author: Lisa McMann

Pages: 480

Genre: Fantasy

Awards: None at the time of this review

Rating: : 4/5 stars

Although the author tries not to show that the events are in favor of the protagonist she still makes certain events go in favor of the protagonist. The setting is Artimè, outside the walls of quill it is the magical home of the Unwanteds. This affects the story by continuing the book series from where it left off. The beloved mage Mr.Today is dead leaving Artimèans without magic, food, nor water because without Mr.Today nothing of Artimè exists. The action of the book takes place on both Warbler and in Artimè. The main character is Alex Stowe. Alex has three main conflicts. He must bring back Artimè, rescue his friends, and remove the metal thornament from meghan’s neck. Meanwhile, the new High Priest Aaron, Alex’s twin brother, is building his army in the dreary desolate land of quill, preparing for the battle against his brother and the rest of the Unwanteds. The Theme of The Unwanteds Island of Fire is “People change when circumstances change."

Examples:

Meghan raised an eyebrow at his heartfelt admission. It wasn't like him to speak so openly. He seemed so different now. But people change when circumstances change, she knew that well enough from the aftereffects of the purge.

But there came a time when enough was enough, and after what must have been many days, even weeks, she was so tired of holding Samheed’s hand that she sometimes squeezed it very hard to try and get some of her frustrations out.

The crazy thing was that Sam, who was such a hothead when she first met him, didn't seem to mind. He let it happen, knowing there was no other way to express emotions in their mute world. He’d squeeze back, but not like one might expect Samheed to squeeze when angry, so it never hurt Lani. Something had changed in him since his early days in Artimé. He’d grown mellower.”

Alex felt the hopelessness of it all pulling him down, and at the same time a wave of reckless anger rushed up from his collarbone and he threw his hands up in the air. “Well maybe you should be in charge, then. I never wanted this job, you know.” His mouth twisted against his will. “What do you want me to do, anyway? What exactly does everybody expect me to do?”

Cole’s eyes widened in alarm. “Alex…,” he began. “It’s not my fault this happened,” Alex said. “It’s Mr.Today’s fault. How”-his voice quavered with pent up anger-”how could he have done this to us? To all of us? How could he have left Artimé so … so unstable that it would disappear if he died?”

“Calm down, Alex-”

But Alex wouldn’t stop, even though he couldn’t believe his horrible thoughts, his sharp words against their beloved mage. “Don’t tell me to calm down. This is not a calm situation! Answer me-I’m serious. What kind of leader would do that? Did he think he was invincible?” Alex was horrified at himself for asking the questions that has been plaguing him, but he felt helpless to stop them.

Lani and Samheed are prisoners on Warbler island, Artimè is gone leaving the Unwanteds with no food, water, or magic. On the other side of the wall that divides Artimè from Quill, Aaron continues to plan his attack on the Unwanteds. Later, Alex and the rest of the Unwanteds begin to plan the rescue of Lani and Samheed now that they have magic again thanks to Alex. Soon after, the rescue takes place and the people of Warbler fight back but the rescue mission was successful with few casualties and the Unwanteds headed home. Queen Eagala of Warbler does not want to let them escape so she attacks Artime with a fleet of ships and sends children into the fight in order to take back Meghan, Sam, Lani, Crow, and Sky. The battle ended after a while and Artimè won and the ships fled. Now the Unwanteds prepare for the rescue of Sky and Crow’s mother from Pirate Island.

I liked how the author showed a change in the character's personality after an important event such as Samheed being calmer and nice even though he used to be a hothead until he was imprisoned.

I don’t like how the author made Lani less important to Alex because she used to be very important to him, and he even had feelings for her. Now after two months he can’t stop thinking about Sky while Lani is still a prisoner on Warbler Island. While Lani and Sam are imprisoned together they begin having feelings for each other. How could Lani and Alex simply move on so quickly?

I think anyone who read the last two books of this series should read this book or anyone who enjoys reading fantasy books. Although I recommend reading the first two books first, because if you try to start the series at this book, you probably won't understand the plot.

Contributed by: Jacob Griggs