After getting kidnapped by a demigod and imprisoned in another dimension, Makayla was really hoping that her life would get back to normal. Or at least as normal as life could be when you had a goblin for a best friend.
But now her sleepy midwestern town is being invaded by shadows. Her neighbors are being stolen away and replaced by changelings. And when she tries to escape, her path threatens to take her to the one place she never wanted to return to: the mysterious and dangerous Land of Annwfyn.
In this sequel to The Changeling’s Daughter, Makayla and Brynn must confront their deepest fears and their worst enemies as their journey takes them to the farthest ends of the Earth and beyond.
You know how many fantasy adventures feature a protagonist that used to be a perfectly normal, almost boring person and suddenly realized that they have superpowers and their life is changed completely after the discovery. This is not one of those stories. Yes, there are superpowers. Yes, there are creatures out of this world and unimaginable dangers. Yes, the lives do get completely changed. But the journey is told by a perfectly normal fifteen year old girl! A perfectly normal girl, Makayla, who gets scared, is not always brave and certainly not strong enough to be much help in most of the battles, but who, nonetheless, takes on the journey in support of her best friend Brynn.
The Trickster’s Sister is an amazing young adult magical experience. The author’s unique voice made it a very enjoyable read and more than once I wished I had read the first book in series before I started with this one. There are a lot of references to the troubles the girls went through in the previous book. Makayla’s mental condition and fear for the unknown both originate from their previous journey and even though R Chris Reeder added a few bits and pieces to not completely lose anyone accidentally picking up the second book first, I felt my journey was incomplete. This is certainly a series you would want to read from the beginning!
Other than having missed the first half of Makayla’s and Brynn’s adventure I have no other complaints. It really is a masterfully written story, through and through. Okay, maybe there might have been a bit too many doors at the very end of the journey.
The characters are memorable and beautifully written. Makayla, the completely normal teenage girl, would go to the ends of the earth for her best friend Brynn. Her most common question is “What now?” to the point you’ll know it is coming.
“So…what now?” Makayla asked.
“Good question, Makayla,” Brynn’s father said. “What now, indeed.”
Brynn is a goblin – or well, a coblyn – and she most certainly has superpowers. Exciting and scary as it is to have a best friend that is not human – Makayla would not leave her side at the sight of trouble. Together they can survive everything. Or well, just about everything.
I certainly did not expect the ending. That like about everything else besides Makayla’s predictable question took me by surprise. The whole book is full of wonderful twists and if you want to know where they lead I suggest you pick it up yourself!
