As promised, my middle grader has moved on to book two in THE UNWANTEDS series this week. As of now, he says he’s going to continue reviewing the rest of the series. However, I know he already finished re-reading all of them, so we’ll see if he decides to switch to something else he loves in the coming weeks 😉. But I’ll turn it over to him now.
Hello, everyone! Just to let you know, like all sequels, THE UNWANTEDS: ISLAND OF SILENCE (Book 2) will not make sense unless you’ve read the first book (THE UNWANTEDS). So, because of this, if you read this review it will spoil some of the things in the first book. If you have not read the first book yet (I gave you a week so you should have), then you need to right now. If you’ve read all of them and are just reading this as a refresher, then you should just read them yourself, that’s the best refresher. And re-reading lets you dive deeper and read in between the lines. (We learned about that in ELA this year.) If you have read the first book this week, then good job and you are allowed to read this before you read book 2, ISLAND OF SILENCE. If you truly want to read this and you’ve read THE UNWANTEDS, then I suppose you may if you wish. Now that that’s all over and only people who have read the first book are reading this, let’s begin!
The magical barrier between the dreary land of Quill and the fantastical world of Artimé is gone. Now residents from both places are free to mingle, but suspicions are high. The artistic warriors of Artimé struggle to forgive those in Quill who condemned them to death, while the Quillians attempt to recover from the shock of Artimé’s existence, the loss of their leader, and the collapse of their safe, orderly world.Â
Alex Stowe has recovered from his wounds since his death-defying role in Artimé’s victory, but his confidence is shattered. He battles self-doubt after Artimé’s beloved mage, Mr. Today, makes a stunning request, which is further complicated by the mysterious arrival of two silent orange-eyed teenagers. Meanwhile in Quill, Aaron is devastated by his fall from grace. Spurred by rage, Aaron devises a masterful plan of revenge that will return him to power… If no one gets in his way.
So, it sounds interesting, doesn’t it? So now that Artimé has defeated Quill, both sides of the island are mostly at peace and are visiting each other. But, multiple people, including the Stowe twins, are having reservations about what happened. Aaron is now trying to re-take his position and climb higher, to lead Quill. And, he won’t let anything get in his way… Alex is completely unsure of himself. He feels like almost dying has highlighted all his vulnerabilities and therefore he is not good at magic at all and is the worst person at magic ever. Mr. Today wants to teach Alex more about magic because he can see that Alex is great at magic, but Alex won’t let him. Mr. Today devised a plan. To get Alex to learn more magic, he asks him to learn the magic to support Artimé while he goes on a vacation. But along the way things start to go horribly wrong and Artimé starts to get desperate…
THE UNWANTEDS: ISLAND OF SILENCE is an amazing book that I know you will enjoy. I hope you love it just as much as I have. Goodbye and happy reading!
I hope he does continue these reviews because book 2 was where I stopped reading this series, for whatever reason. However, he is going to camp the next few weeks–with temperature checks and masks and sanitizing and social distancing!–so we’ll see how he keeps up with reviewing. He’ll still be reading for sure 😀.
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This series sounds absolutely excellent! Thanks for the great review!
Thanks for stopping by!
Book one is five deep in my reading pile so it may be July before I get to it. Despite your warning, I skimmed the review for Book 2. You have me even more anxious to get going on this series. Enjoy camp and keep reviewing!
He was so excited to go to camp this morning! But he assures me it won’t keep him from reviewing :).
Thanks for the great review. This sounds like a great second book in the series–not always accomplished by authors.
Agreed! It’s often hard for second books to live up to the first.
Your middle grader is a task master and so self-assured! I love the straight talk about reading the first book before proceeding with the review. I re-read last week’s review and this review. Very thughtfully written! I’m interested in the series, but have a stack of books to read.
I understand having a large TBR list! I have the same issue.
I so enjoy your son’s book reviews. He sounds like an enthusiastic reader and reviewer, and I hope to read more of his thoughts on your blog soon. Thanks for sharing this book with us for MMGM!
Thank you! He’s planning to keep up the reviews!
I always enjoy your son’s reviews! This sounds like a perfect book for kids who like fantasy, like my niece. I hope he enjoys his time at camp!
It is a very popular fantasy series. Camp has been great so far :).
You have given me a great idea to ask my grandson to write some book reviews. At 13, he is at the top of most MG readers, but he used to enjoy writing. I just have him Nikki In The Middle to see if it apples to boys as well as girls. He is a competitor in basketball and lacrosse, so it will be interesting to see if the appeal is there. Referring to another review here on MMGM, the Dwarf book is not too long for MG readers, in my opinion. Kate Milford’s books are 450 pages, still Amazon puts Dwarf age as 9-14!!
I’ve found that my son reads a lot of books more traditionally aimed at girls and doesn’t pay any attention to that. Thanks for the book recommendation too!
Your passion for this series is terrific. Thanks for your thoughts.
Thanks for stopping by!
I remember reading the first two books in this series a couple of years ago. Still sticks in my mind because of the interesting concept! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Definitely a great concept! Thanks for stopping by!