The Black Shard [Kindle Edition]

The Black Shard is the second in a trilogy in a magical adventure for the YA genre that begins with The Magic Warble.

Kristina is at the Tranquil Trails Horse Ranch (owned by Hester's family) for summer camp. Davina and Hester are also at summer camp and neither girls recall the magical world of Bernovem. Still up to high jinx, they talk Kristina into going for a horse ride when they should be mucking out the stables and cleaning the tack. It's the prank that they play on the ride which leads to Kristina falling down a ravine ... and being caught back in Bernovem.

Kristina bumps into Prince Werrien right away. It's his birthday and at the celebrations we get to meet the old characters. I thought this was a brilliant way to re-introduce them.

Prince Werrien has found some items hidden away in the palace and he shows Kristina. One of the items is a shard broken from the seeing stone, another is Bernovem's Book of Prophecy (the front section is still missing and now the back session is missing too) and another the golden goblet. Kristina finds out they will be travelling by sea to Tezerel with the court.

The reader finds out where the back section of Bernovem's Book of Prophecy is - and also intrigue from a serpent who has creatures working its will. The first hook for me was the mosquito ... what would it be injecting and who would it inject and what part did it have to play?

During the travelling the reader has quite a few adventures and we're introduced to new characters/creatures while periodically glimpsing the serpent and what it's up to.

In the Black Shard we find out more about the history of Bernovem. We learn about the Rainbow Tree, the Great Spirit Yolen and how the Zelbock's came into existence.

Kristina and Prince Werrien's romance is stronger (now that they are two years older) and the insecurity and anxiety Kristina feels around him is a reflection of how teens are in real life.

I think there is more of the element of the spiritual with good and evil in this second book. I enjoyed how Simcox presents this for the YA genre.

The adventures are well paced and the magical world enchanting. The story just flows. Once again we have drawings interspersed throughout the story.

I had quite a few surprises at the climax - which I loved! We are left on a cliff-hanger, not knowing where or how Prince Werrien is while Kristina is starting off on a new adventure with a wizard to find Azaril (who has the front section of the book of prophecy) into the forsaken land of Jalmara.

I would love to see this trilogy made into a movie or TV series. I think it would be amazing!

The story begins two years and five months after Kristina's last trip to the magical world of Bernovem and it seemed as though she had convinced herself that her adventure there had just been a dream.

Again there were fabulous illustrations dotted throughout, this was something that I particularly enjoyed from the first book and once again I found myself looking forward to coming across each and every one. Also like last time, my six-year-old daughter wanted to be informed whenever an illustration popped up so that she could admire it too!

The characters had all matured both physically and emotionally since the last book (with the exception of a couple of very argumentative girls) and the return to Bernovem revealed the wonderful changes that had taken place in the time after the Magic Warble had been put in its resting place.

There were many familiar wonders, the talking animals for example, but it soon became clear that a new, dark and sinister danger was lurking in Bernovem waiting for its moment to strike.

Kristina and Werrien's friendship had definitely transformed into something more and I really enjoyed this romantic side of the story (I'm a sucker for a bit of romance). The time on the ship was particularly stressful for Kristina and I felt so anxious for her as she tried to figure out the meaning of all the strange occurrences.

I really wasn't expecting the surprising twist that came at the end and I loved that this book was able to shock me like that.

This is an imaginative read that I couldn't put down, I finished it in just one day and I can't wait to find out what happens next!