A REVIEW OF THE WARDEN OF THE WEST MARCH BY M.L. LITTLE

 Happy Saturday, everyone! 

A few months ago on the blog I reviewed The Book of Secrets by M.L. Little, a wonderful fantasy story that quickly became one of my favorites. I shared how much I loved the family aspect, the setting, and, well, just about everything.

Recently I got the opportunity to read The Warden of the West March, the next book in the Seventh Realm trilogy! A huge thanks to the author for sending me a free ebook in exchange for a review. :D And, well, yep, you guessed it. That's what I'm doing today: reviewing The Warden of the West March!

Spoiler disclaimer: I won't be spoiling anything specifically from this book, but of course if you haven't read The Book of Secrets you might not want to read this review. Just a heads-up. 

And let's get started!

(WARNING: Emily's book reviews are quite unorganized and really just a word dump of all her thoughts on the book she is reviewing. Please excuse her.)

It's been three months since the June battle against Bellica, and nothing has changed...or has it? Unrest grows on the streets as deceit divides Elowyn's family and the Stone of the Seven Realms has gone missing. Worse still, she is betrayed by one she considered a friend, and the enemy comes after her.

Halfway across the country, Gabriel struggles with the weight of the enormous secret he and Elowyn share. There is no known way to kill the monster-king of Bellica...but if Gabriel can do it, it will erase his deepest guilt. As their threads intertwine, the enemy makes its way across the sea once more, and this time, Gabriel and Elowyn may find themselves powerless to stop it.

Bold and surprising, seeped through with the humor of its predecessor, this sequel to The Book of Secrets reveals the deeper story below the surface.

Okay, guys, from the first line I was immediately sucked back into this storyworld. I just LOVE the setting that the author has created, with magical elements and mythical creatures and treehouses, but also a smattering of modern objects, such as telephones and cars. It WAS a bit easy to forget that these things existed in this world at times. There was one part in particular where one of the characters pulls up to a castle in a car, and I was kind of thrown because my brain told me they would be in a carriage or something. I was so caught up in the fantasy aspect. (Also, I think I mentioned this in my first review but I have to say it again: this world is really similar to the world in one of my own books, so that's kind of cool.)

There are also stuffed nullians and dragons, which I need immediately.

I was quickly reminded of the slightly eerie feel this world has, with Rex Bellum and everything.  I LOVE that aspect. That was one of the things that gave it a bit of a LOTR feel to me. You know the delightfully eerie atmosphere when the hobbits are being chased by the Ringwraiths? That's what I'm talking about. And it's great. (except here the characters are being chased by nighthags instead... equally creepy, though. ;))

I absolutely LOVED getting back to the Draven family and our precious little siblings. ♥ I was pleased to find that I enjoyed them and their dynamics just as much in this book as I did in the first one. They were the same adorable brothers and sister and I love them so much. The dialogue was just as entertaining, too, and made me laugh out loud like the first one did.

One of my favorite things was that the Dravens' father, Darius, and older brother, Dale, had a bigger part in this one! I loved them both in the first book and I was excited to see them more a part of the story the second time around. 

"Red-faced, dripping sweat, and wielding a frying pan, Darius yanked Hollis and Patch halfway up the stairs. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" he roared. "IF WE WEREN'T ABOUT TO DIE, I'D KILL YOU!"

Another character I was happy to see more of was ELOWYN! My girl! I liked her in the first book but didn't really click with her until West March. Now I adore her, and her and Gabriel's dynamics are great. (I'm not going to go into detail because #spoilers, but that *ahem* plan they came up with?? Had me greatly amused XD)

Here's a quote that shows a bit of Elowyn's heart:

"Settle. You cannot save the whole world when the world's gone as mad as this."

"No, but we can save the bit of the world that's come to us."

I LOVE this. Elowyn wants so badly to do what she can to help, even if it might not be much. She doesn't want to just sit still and let the world fend for itself.

I loved that the POVs were half-and-half between her and Gabriel, and their reunion was EPIC. I was practically cheering. I love these characters so much. 

And let me just say, you're going to be feeling bad for said characters a lot. I think they had it even worse off in this book than in book 1. I mean, it was like they couldn't catch a breath before something else happened. My poor babies! :'(

One thing I wasn't really crazy about: (okay, I lied, there IS a bit of a spoiler here, so you might want to skip to the next paragraph) the way Brim was portrayed. Am I wrong, or is he supposed to be kind of the Jesus-figure in this world? They talk about his returning and setting things right and everything, which is, you know, great and everything. I have no problem with that. But Brim is also a wizard, and when Hollis and Patch are visiting with him in his house, they see a bunch of bizarre, magicky things; and Brim even makes a (humorous) remark about turning Hollis into a mushroom. I wouldn't be bothered by all this at all if it weren't for the Jesus-parallel. (Maybe I'm the only one seeing that parallel and that's not what it's meant to be at all? If you've read the book I'd love to hear your thoughts!)

*wracks brain* I really need to either start taking notes or reviewing books immediately after I finish them. xD But I'll just wrap up this (disaster of a) review now (and to think I learned how to write book reviews in school...) with a summary: I loved The Warden of the West March. If you enjoyed The Book of Secrets, I think you'll be satisfied with this one. And I can't wait for Third Winter's War! :D

If you didn't know, The Warden of the West March just released this past Thursday, so you grab yourself a copy! And if you don't have The Book of Secrets, grab a copy of that, too! Trust me, you're going to want these on your bookshelf if just for the covers alone. ;)

Have you read The Book of Secrets? Who's your favorite character? And who else wants a stuffed nullian?? *raises hand* (and for those of you who don't know what a nullian is... go read The Book of Secrets XD)