Jessica (HDB)

I actually purchased Wonder Light, after realizing that I had the second book in the series to review. The fact that this is a Middle Grade book about unicorns called to me. They are such magical beings! So majestic. I was excited to see where R.R. Russell would go with this topic. An island filled with wild unicorns? Yes please, and thank you very much.

The story started out okay. Twig, our main character, was travelling to a mysterious island for unwanted girls by boat. I was sure that her story would be explained, and I'd find out everything there was to know about Twig. Surprisingly, that didn't happen. This book has an odd organization and pacing that just never seemed to even out. I had no idea why Twig was on this island. No clue why the other girls were there, other than that they were "unwanted" and it frustrated me. It is my belief that the author was holding this just out of reach to reveal later, but when it finally came to that reveal? It was just thrown in haphazardly. This entire read just felt, well, off.

My other issue is that I never really liked Twig after the first few chapters. I'm guessing it's because I still had no idea why she was so closed off, but her personality was too prickly for my taste. By the time she finally started to open up, the story surrounding the unicorns was in full swing. You would think I would have been swept up by all of this, no? The truth is, that the story never enchanted me. The reasoning behind why the unicorns existed, the story behind why Twig was so important to the island, it just all ended up feeling flat. I never fell in love with this book, and that made me so sad.

I reached the ending, and I had to wait a few days to type up this review so I could let my feelings even themselves out. After much thought, I settled on two stars for Wonder Light. While the premise is absolutely enchanting, I feel like it never really delivered on what it promised to give me as a reader. I'm disappointed, and still debating whether I'll give the second book a slot on my reading list.