Book Bunnies

Marshmallow reviews Willodeen by Katherine Applegate

Today Marshmallow reviews Willodeen, a 2021 novel by Katherine Applegate.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about friendship, magic, or animals, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Willodeen loves all animals. Every single one, no matter how gross, or scary, or smelly, Willodeen adores them all. Especially the screechers. Screechers are scary animals, beasts that release a disgusting smell when frightened.

Screechers are about the polar opposites of hummingbears, which are the main claim to fame of Perchance, Willodeen’s village. Hummingbears are small with wings and they nest every year in Perchance because of the trees there. Tourists flock to Perchance to see the adorable creatures. Unfortunately, over the years, fewer and fewer hummingbears have graced Perchance, and the townspeople find it harder and harder to make a living. However, no one wants to see screechers, so the city councilors of Perchance put a bounty on screechers. Hunters immediately start to kill screechers, because no one is very rich.

Willodeen loves screechers: she observes them, names them, and likes to watch them. But slowly, the number of screechers dwindles, until the last one is killed by a hunter with a bow and arrow. That’s when something miraculous happens. Willodeen receives a hand-made model of a screecher from her new friend Connor, and the model seems to become a real baby screecher. Willodeen suddenly finds herself with the challenge of feeding, living with, and raising a baby screecher, which is no easy task, especially with the bounty.

Eventually Willodeen finds that the lessening of hummingbears is related to the screechers. Can Willodeen bring the hummingbears back to Perchance?

Marshmallow is reading Willodeen by Katherine Applegate. — Marshmallow is reading *Willodeen* by Katherine Applegate.

Marshmallow’s Review: Willodeen is set in a fantastic setting, with the people using bows and arrows instead of guns. The story is set in a small town called Perchance where magical animals roam. However, despite Perchance’s magical beasts, the author speaks about how the world and nature is changing, and not always for the better. So in some ways, I thought the author was thinking of our world where a lot has been changing.

I found it interesting that the main character and narrator, Willodeen, is very antisocial. After suffering from a terrible tragedy, she interacts very little with other people. Slowly however, she opens up towards new friends. It was neat to witness her opening up and finding other people to trust and love. I kind of wished to know more about her family, too, but that part kind of went too fast.

I liked the magical animals in this book. In the edition I have read, there were illustrations (by Charles Santoso) of some of the events in the book, which I really liked. The small creatures reminded me a bit of Newt Scamander and his love of all magical beasts in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Willodeen was written by Katherine Applegate, who also wrote The One and Only Ivan. I liked that both books showed animals as creatures that think, feel, and need love, as much as humans do. The One and Only Ivan was written completely in the voice of Ivan the gorilla. In Willodeen, there are some chapters where we see events from, I believe, the perspective of the baby screecher. I found that those chapters were interesting to read, because we could see the main human characters from the perspective of an animal.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 90%.

Marshmallow rates Willodeen by Katherine Applegate 90%. — Marshmallow rates *Willodeen* by Katherine Applegate 90%.

Caramel reviews The Hive Queen (Book Twelve of the Wings of Fire series) by Tui Sutherland

Today Caramel reviews the twelfth book of Tui Sutherland’s Wings of Fire series: The Hive Queen. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking followup questions.

Before reading this review you might wish to check out Caramel’s reviews of the graphic novel versions of the first five books (The Dragonet Prophecy, The Lost Heir, The Hidden Kingdom, The Dark Secret, and The Brightest Night), as well as his review of the very first book (The Dragonet Prophecy, the sixth book (Moon Rising), the seventh (Winter Turning), the eighth (Escaping Peril), the ninth (Talons of Power), the tenth (Darkness of Dragons), and the eleventh (The Lost Continent).

Caramel reviews The Hive Queen (Book Twelve of the Wings of Fire series) by Tui Sutherland. — Caramel reviews *The Hive Queen* (Book Twelve of the Wings of Fire series) by Tui Sutherland.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, here we are, ready to talk about the twelfth book! Why don’t you start by telling our readers a bit about it?

Caramel: The Hive Queen is about Cricket, the HiveWing. We met her already in The Lost Continent, but in this book, she is the central character. And other dragonets we met in that book come up too, like Blue and Queen Wasp. She is the mean queen of the HiveWing who controls their minds and voices sometimes when she wants to. But not Cricket’s. Somehow she is immune to the queen’s powers. So she, that is, Cricket, runs away and hides, because she is afraid they will discover that she is somehow different.

S: That sounds scary. Like every other dragonet around her goes into a trance and says the same things and Cricket is there all alone, the only one not influenced.

C: Yes, exactly.

S: Do we learn eventually why she is immune to Queen Wasp’s powers?

C: Yes, we do. And in this book, but I’m not telling. You always tell me not to give too many spoilers.

S: That’a fair. What can you tell us about the events of the book then?

C: Blue is a flamesilk, and I told you about those earlier in my review of The Lost Continent. They are special SilkWong, whose silk is red and glows and sometimes can burn things. And there is Luna, who we also saw in Darkness of Dragons. And there is Sundew, who is a LeafWing.

S: You told me before that LeafWing did not probably exist anymore.

C: Yes, everyone thought they were extinct, but somehow they survived in the Poison Jungle. And that is the name of the thirteenth book so I am really curious to read that one. And some of the LeafWing have leafspeak. They can make trees grow, and so on, kind of like Isabella in Encanto. But Isabella can create flowers and stuff from nothing, but the LeadWing can only help plants that already exist. Or they can hurt the plants.

S: Hmm, I’d assume that in a place called the Poison Jungle, there might be plants you might want to not want to help.

C: Well, they live in there for protection. So I think actually they like the poisonous plants there because the plants protect them from the outside.

S: Oh, that definitely makes sense.

C: And let me tell you also that the LeafWing have themselves split into two tribes. Sundew is from the side that is called the PoisonWing. The other side is called the SapWings. They both call themselves LeafWings though. The other names are only used by the enemy tribe.

S: Hmm, so the LeafWings are hiding and in an ongoing conflict.

C: Well, they are not really fighting each other but don’t seem to like one another.

S: So what happens to Cricket, Blue, and Sundew in this book?

C: They hide in Jewel Hive. Hives are places the SilkWing make for the HiveWing to live in. SilkWing do all the work and the HiveWing get all the benefits. It’s not a good situation. But anyways they hide there and try to understand why Cricket is different before they can be discovered and Cricket gets into trouble.

S: Okay, that sounds like a lot.

C: Yep.

Caramel is reading The Hive Queen (Book Twelve of the Wings of Fire series) by Tui Sutherland. — Caramel is reading *The Hive Queen* (Book Twelve of the Wings of Fire series) by Tui Sutherland.

S: Okay, I think you have told us enough things about the plot. Can you tell me how it felt to be reading more about this new continent? Do you miss the characters from the first ten books?

C: Yes. But I think we will see at least some of them in the thirteenth book.

S: But in this book, we are always on the new continent Pantala, right?

C: Yes, except in the prologue and the epilogue, because in those, we see Moonwatcher, and Turtle, and Tsunami. Because Luna is telling them about the tribes in Pantala and asking them to help.

S: I see. So it is highly likely that in the next few books, all characters will come together in Pantala.

C: Well, not really. Actually I think some of the tribes from Pantala will try and escape to Pyrrhia. Still it is going to be very exciting to see them meet each other!

S: I can see your excitement Caramel. And I totally get your enthusiastic anticipation, it must be hard to wait to see how all these characters will interact when they get together.

C: Yes, I just can’t wait!

S: Okay, at least you can read the next book right after we wrap up this review.

C: Yep. So can we wrap it up now?

S: Sure. What do you want to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel loved reading The Hive Queen (Book Twelve of the Wings of Fire series) by Tui Sutherland, and is eager to dive into the next book in the series. — Caramel loved reading *The Hive Queen* (Book Twelve of the Wings of Fire series) by Tui Sutherland, and is eager to dive into the next book in the series.

Marshmallow reviews Rise of the School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

Marshmallow loved Soman Chainani’s School for Good and Evil series, and reviewed three of the six books for the book bunnies blog. So she was delighted to get her paws on Rise of the School for Good and Evil, the much anticipated prequel to this fascinating hexalogy. Below she shares her thoughts on this book, just published in May 2022.

You might like to check out Marshmallow’s reviews of Quests for Glory, the fourth book, A Crystal of Time, the fifth book, and One True King, the sixth book, before moving further.

Marshmallow reviews Rise of the School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani. — Marshmallow reviews *Rise of the School for Good and Evil* by Soman Chainani.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about family, fairy tales, and magic, then this might be the book for you. This will be even more of a joy to read if you have already read and enjoyed the six School for Good and Evil books.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Rhian and Rafal have been ruling the School for Good and Evil as School Masters for years. Both twins are immortal as long as they can uphold the balance between Good and Evil and that they both love each other, despite the fact that one is Good and the other is Evil. The Storian (the pen that writes all of the fairy tales happening in the Woods) selected them to be the next School Masters. The School for Good and Evil is where all of the people in fairy tales are trained. Heroes, princes, princesses, fairies, and other Good people/creatures are trained at the School for Good. Witches, warlocks, giants, and other Evil people/creatures are trained at the School for Evil. Students at this school train in the hope that the Storian will one day write their stories.

The Pen never specified which brother was the Good one and which one was the Evil one, but the twins were sure they already knew. Rhian was the Good one (described as tan with golden, wild hair), and Rafal was the Evil one (described as pale with white, spiky hair). Still the two brothers get along well and love each other.

Unfortunately, the arrival of one student turns their dynamic upside down. What starts out as a joke between Rhian and Rafal creates a rift between them. Challenge after challenge threatens to tear them apart. Will their love for each other be enough or will the rift between them eventually tear the School apart?

Marshmallow is reading Rise of the School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani. — Marshmallow is reading *Rise of the School for Good and Evil* by Soman Chainani.

Marshmallow’s Review: WARNING! DO NOT READ THIS BOOK UNLESS YOU HAVE READ THE OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES! I generally don’t recommend reading books in any certain order, but in this case, reading this book before the others would be a mistake. I think that Rise of the School for Good and Evil is a book meant to be read after the others. The story fits in well with a lot of things that we saw in the other books, and fills some gaps, but you wouldn’t understand it unless you read the other books. Let me also add, without spoiling anything, that the ending of this book is not definite and would definitely not be satisfying unless the reader had already read the other books. One does not have to have read the entire series, probably just the first three books. However, I feel that this would definitely be better as an addition to the series, not an introduction.

However, this is a great book that is a great addition to the series. It doesn’t go fully into some of the details discussed in the previous books, but it definitely shows the events that led up to the hexalogy. I especially liked how we saw characters who were completely Evil in the previous books in a different light. I also enjoyed how we saw the ancestors of some of the characters in the previous books, as this book is set much before the rest of them.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 95%.

Marshmallow rates Rise of the School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani 95%. — Marshmallow rates *Rise of the School for Good and Evil* by Soman Chainani 95%.

Caramel reviews Darkness of Dragons (Book Ten of the Wings of Fire series) by Tui Sutherland

Today Caramel reviews the tenth book of Tui Sutherland’s Wings of Fire series: Darkness of Dragons. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking followup questions.

Sprinkles: So this is Book Ten, the end of the second story arc, right?

Caramel: Yes, book ten, ending the Jade Mountain Prophecy arc …

Sprinkles: … yes, you recited that prophecy to us when you were reviewing Moon Rising.

C: Yes. But can I recite it again?

S: Sure.

C: Oka, here goes:

Beware the darkness of dragons,
Beware the stalker of dreams,
Beware the talons of power and fire,
Beware one who is not what she seems.

Something is coming to shake the earth,
Something is coming to scorch the ground.
Jade Mountain will fall beneath thunder and ice
Unless the lost city of night can be found.

S: Yes, I remember that! And the darkness of dragons is mentioned in the prophecy and is the title of this tenth book!

C: Yes, because you finally learn about the darkness of dragons completely. It’s all about Darkstalker. But the main hero is Quibli this time, and you might remember him as my favorite character of all of them.

S: You mentioned Darkstalker in the previous reviews. He was an evil dragon but most other dragons did not suspect him somehow.

C: Yes, because he enchanted everyone to like him. But remember Turtle from the ninth book (Talons of Power)? He was not enchanted because he hid himself. And he created these earrings that could remove all spells and make you immune to new spells from Darkstalker.

S: Wait, and somehow Quibli gets these earrings?

C: Well, Quibli asks Turtle and Turtle enchants his earrings. And then Quibli can see through Darkstalker’s evil plans. And Turtle had made a bowl that doubled things, so Quibli replicates his enchanted earrings and passes them on to others so they too know about Darkstalker’s evil plans.

S: Oh, so is that how they will overcome the evil dragon?

C: Well, not quite. They have to do more because Darkstalker is really powerful. But they do something great to defeat him: they —

S: Wait, stop there! I think you are getting too far into spoiler territory!

C: Okay, okay, I will not give away how they finish the whole series, but everyone knows they do, because with the eleventh book a new prophecy comes up.

S: That is true. And you already have read the eleventh book!

C: Yes. But actually one of the characters from that book, Luna, already shows up in this book, and so we begin to see that the next story will be about the lost continent.

S: I see.

Caramel is reading Darkness of Dragons (Book Ten of the Wings of Fire series) by Tui Sutherland. — Caramel is reading *Darkness of Dragons* (Book Ten of the Wings of Fire series) by Tui Sutherland.

S: So let us pull back a bit, and think about these two story arcs, the dragonet prophecy and the jade mountain prophecy.

C: I kind of wanted the order of the stories to match. Like the first book of the first prophecy was about Clay, who is a MudWing, so I thought it would be nice to have the sixth book be about another MudWing. Each of the first five books is about one of the dragon tribes. But the second five are not about the same five tribes. Winter is an IceWing, Moon is a NightWing, Peril is a SkyWing, Turtle is a SeaWing, and Quibli is a SandWing.

S: Wait, I’m confused. I thought there were only five tribes!

C: No, there are seven: MudWing (Clay from The Dragonet Prophecy), SeaWing (Tsunami from The Lost Heir and Turtle from Talons of Power), RainWing (Glory from The Hidden Kingdom), IceWing (Winter from Winter Turning), NightWing (Starflight from The Dark Secret and Moonwatcher from Moon Rising), SkyWing (Peril from Escaping Peril), SandWing (Suunny from The Brightest Night and Quibli from this tenth book).

S: Hmm, that is interesting. I can see how you might have expected some kind of pattern to emerge but also since there are seven races, it is hard to fit that into ten books only. Maybe by the fourteenth book we will have two of each?

C: No, because remember I already read the eleventh book? And that one was about Blue who is a SilkWing.

S: Oh, that is true! There will be new tribes from the new continent! Okay, maybe then we won’t get every tribe doubled up. Oh well. I think you are still very much enjoying the series so far.

C: Yes. And I am quite ready to dive into the next five books. I already reviewed The Lost Continent but I might like to read it again before starting the twelfth book.

S: Yes, that makes sense. Maybe knowing about the whole collection of ten will allow you to get even more out of the eleventh book this time. So let us wrap things up. What do you want to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny book reviews!

Caramel loved reading Darkness of Dragons (Book Ten of the Wings of Fire series) by Tui Sutherland and is ready to dive right back into the Lost Continent story arc. — Caramel loved reading *Darkness of Dragons* (Book Ten of the Wings of Fire series) by Tui Sutherland and is ready to dive right back into the Lost Continent story arc.