Open your eyes to the world where children that possess magic, “caul,” are bought, sold and kept like good luck charms. Ennara is the only “caul” in Estlan, and her parents paid the nurse not to reveal her identity to protect her. Ennara still has the tattoo to prove who she is but hides it from people. She is sent with Tork, a great wizard, to the sunken city in search of a sword that is going to kill the shadespawn, the dark force.

On her journey to the sunken city, she faces many challenges and begins to use her magic to protect her friends and herself from evil. The discoveries made will save the world, and she realizes that there is more backstory to the shadespawn than they initially thought.

The book is ideal for children to read. It is a mesh between Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings. At every moment’s given time, the children had to face something or solve a riddle and learn something new. I believe that if I were much younger and were given this book to read, I would not have come out of my bedroom until I was done.

The literary standard is very relaxed, easy to understand and moderately paced. The plot and the characters were uniquely written. It was very easy to bond with the children and relate to them. There was many historical references and back-story, which was very nice. This made me understand every chapter very well and created more depth to the story. I believe the Author actually sat down and ensured that there were no loopholes in the story. The names, facts, places and the history of everything were extremely well thought and panned out.

“Only one who possesses the wisdom of the sword can wield its magical power”- Tork informs Ennara.

If I was given a dollar for every time I heard that statement in some other shape or form; I would be rich. That is probably the only negative thing I am going to say about this book. Maybe the battles and the story was slightly different but, without giving out any spoilers, I felt that a lot of the content was similar to what we have already read in the Harry Potter and Lord of the Ring books.

I recommend this book for children that like to read about adventures, have courage, and to be taught that the power of love & family conquers all. Yes, I agree, the ending message was not original, however, a positive message such as this one, in the current world we live in, can never be retold enough.

 Written by Jeyran Main

This book was given to me by Patchwork Press through Netgalley.

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