UnTwisted

April 1, 2020

Gr 3-7-This second installment is as magical, creative, and suspenseful as the first (Twinchantment, 2019). Things begin on a happy note-the kingdom of Kaloon is now at peace! Gilward and his dark magic were defeated in the Twists, and citizens have been triumphantly reunited into one kingdom. Identical twins Flissa and Sara start school at Maldevon Academy, where the Mages (people with magical abilities) and Genpos (non-magical folks) attend school together as an important part of Kaloonification. On the surface the unification appears successful, even though there are rumblings underground about the appointment of Amala (a Mage) as the school principal. Suddenly, dark magic makes reappears in the form of paralyzing curses and threats to Genpos. Is there a plot to ruin the hard-won peace in Kaloon? The characters are authentic and richly diverse in terms of race, sexual orientation, gender, and magical abilities. The plot moves swiftly, with each chapter narrated by either Flissa or Sara. The physical description of the kingdom and its magical aspects are beautifully detailed and create colorful visions in the mind of the reader. VERDICT Libraries who purchased the first book will most certainly want this sequel. However, the book also stands alone given its review of the plot and characters in the first installment. For those who can't get enough tales of kingdoms and magic, this will surely satisfy.-Anne Jung-Mathews, Plymouth State University, NH

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2020
Middle school is really hard...even if you're a princess. After saving their mother from a curse in Twinchantment (2019), brown-skinned princesses Flissa and Sara thought they had ushered in a new age of unity for Kaloon's non-Mages, like their parents, Mages like them, and Magical Animals. But with Kaloonification, all children--Mages, the general population, and Magical Animals alike--must attend the same public school, led by headmistress Amala, an old Mage once associated with the movement to cleanse Kaloon of its nonmagical population. She's supposedly reformed, but as the kids get into the swing of things, tensions among the three groups of students do nothing but rise, and Amala seems but performatively concerned at best. Sara and Flissa's own relationship becomes strained as they for the first time enter the public world as individuals, not twins pretending to be one princess. The book is both a typical middle school story of changing friendships and alliances, just with magic added, and also a slightly heavy-handed allegory about bigotry, social justice, and community. With so many groups of people, it's sometimes difficult to keep the characters straight, and a rushed, clich�d ending cheapens what is otherwise a delightful story. But this is high fantasy that reads as contemporary, with magical technology and everyday, colloquial speech rather than the affected, medieval-meets-Renaissance language and customs characteristic of most high fantasy, neatly broadening its audience. Sits in a comfortable midpoint on the fluffy-to-substantive spectrum, giving it broad appeal. (Fantasy. 8-12)

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