Author: Aleesah Darlison
ISBN: 978-1-921529-97-9
RRP: $12.95
I may not be part of the target audience for this series by Aleesah Darlison but it has Unicorns so you can count me in, I am an absolute sucker for a unicorn.
Little girls love horses so if you take that one step further and write about magical, mythical unicorns you are sure to capture your audience. The Unicorn Riders series is about a group of young girls who have been chosen to protect the people of Avamay with the help of the Unicorns they ride. Each of the four unicorns has a unique magical power, and these could well be the last four unicorns in existence, which makes the riders very special.
Quinn’s Riddles is the beginning of the series so there is quite a bit of background and world building mixed in with the story which at times affected the flow of the story and made it a little harder for me to get into. I can only imagine it having a similar effect on a younger audience. My nine year old is reading it and enjoying the story but struggling a little, a lot of that could be down to motivation being summer holidays though.
Queen Heart’s son is kidnapped and it is up to the Unicorn Riders to track down the kidnappers and get the Prince back.
We are introduced to all of the riders and like any group of this nature they have very different personalities and very different strengths which means that the effective resolution of the issues raised requires teamwork.
The clues left by the kidnappers are all in the form of riddles so it’s up to the riders to solve the riddles and follow the clues to Prince Simon within the allotted time frame.
The kidnapping storyline is nicely resolved within the volume but its resolution sees new issues arise for Quinn, who grew up in an orphanage, that I think will follow her through the series.
The main focus of this volume is Quinn so we get to know her more intimately than the other riders, I think their time will come in later volumes. The descriptions are quite graphic which I think would help the target audience to build that picture and the illustrations are an absolute asset to the format.
I really enjoyed this book and look forward to seeing how Darlison continues the series and getting to know the remaining characters better.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!