Review – Moonkind (Winterling, Book 3) by Sarah Prineas (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Middle Grade
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 272 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: December 31, 2013
ISBN-13: 978-0061921094
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd book in the Winterling trilogy
Source: Bought
Rating: 5/5 stars

This is the third and final book in the Winterling trilogy. This was a wonderfully magical middle grade fantasy about family, friendship, and staying true to what you think is right.

In the last book, Fer, as Lady of the Summerlands made the other Lords and Ladies of the realm vow to rule without the aid of the glamorie. When the Lords and Ladies fail to fulfill their vows the Summerlands start to break. A strange stillness has invaded the land and Fer needs to figure out why. She is pretty sure it has to do with the Lords and Ladies breaking their oaths, but she is not sure how to fix it. Her best ally and friend is Rook the puck boy, but can she trust Rook? Will Rook’s loyalties lie with her or with the Pucks? Can Fer find a way to stop the stillness before it takes over everything?

I loved the conclusion to this wonderful middle grade fantasy series. The writing is magical, I loved the characters.

Fer has some hard decisions to make and consequences to face in this book. She did what she felt was right in the last book, she made the Lords and Ladies vow to take off their glamorie and serve the people rather than making the people serve them. Fer thinks she made the right choice, but the Lords and Ladies have worn the glamorie for so long that they are no longer entirely separate from them. Fer realized that in a way she is the reason the Summerlands is in trouble and it is because of her ideals that this is happening. Rather than shirk away from that she strives to fix it.

Rook is struggling with his loyalty to his puck brothers and his friendship to Fer. He wants to help Fer, but he feels he has to stay true to his puck brothers too. It was interesting to watch Rook try to make both things in this life work together. He is a great character and, although he causes Fer trouble, in the end he makes her stronger too.

The story isn’t all that complicated and is fairly predictable. Still I enjoyed the beauty of it and the simplicity of how things worked out. I did like the idea of the Stillness invading the land, it reminded me of the Nothing that tears apart the land in 1980’s movie The Neverending Story.

There is a strong theme of friendship and family and staying true to what you believe to be right. I love how things wrapped up so realistically, yet still happily.

Overall this was such a magical and entertaining read. It’s a hopeful story full of wonder, and tells an excellent tale of how you have to deal with the consequences of your decisions. I enjoyed the characters immensely and loved the world too. This whole series is highly recommended to fans of middle grade fantasy. I immediately went out and got Prineas’s first book in her Magic Thief series and plan to start reading that series soon.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Series Reading Challenge
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– 100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge