Unwanteds 6

The land of Quill is now under the rule of yet another evil dictator, and it’s up to Artimé to end her reign.  As much as Alex Stowe, the head mage of the magical world despises the idea, he is forced to enlist the help of an unlikely ally- his evil twin brother, who is inconveniently… lost.  The sixth and penultimate installment in the Unwanteds series, Island of Graves was written by Lisa McMann and the story begins exactly where the previous book left off.  Alex, along with fellow Artiméan, Sky and his creation Spike the whale must embark on an epic voyage to find his brother Aaron, and stop the malicious Gondoleery Rattrap before her power becomes too much to handle.  Will the Island of Quill and Artimé unite to defeat the notorious dictator, or are the people of Quill too dead inside to do anything about it?

    The Island of Graves contains suspense at every turn and the plot never ceased to bore me.  Lisa McMann’s writing style is one of the many reasons why the book is so interesting to me, with the story flipping back and forth between different points of views of people in the different areas of the magical world.  The characters are a strong point in the book and the series as a whole, although some being magical and others not truly living, they seem extremely believable and remarkably likeable or unlikeable.  I particularly like Alex, a main protagonist, because he has a confident personality but is not perfect.  Almost all of the readers’ favorite characters return from the previous books as well as a few new ones adding to the story.  Additionally, the series has its fair share of humor, as well, keeping the reader interested through the whole book.  This has been my favorite book in the series so far, filled with suspense and an ending that will have the reader waiting for the final book.  The Island of Graves is definitely a page turner, and that aspect is reinforced by the plot twist near the end, which makes the world out to be much more than the characters and readers ever thought it would.  I would recommend this book to a wide range of readers, but mainly middle schoolers who like epic battles, as well as adventure books and characters that really stick with you, even after the book and series comes to an end.