Happy Release Day (again) to Christina Soontornvat

I previously raved about the excellent middle grade fantasy Changelings last September.  Here we are one year and one month later to welcome the conclusion to the duology surrounding Izzy and her fairy friends.

In a Dark Land by Christina Soontornvat

If you'd care to hear more of how amazing the first novel is, head back to my previous post.  Today, we are going to continue the raving with this succinct conclusion to Izzy's wonderful tale.  And boy, oh boy, does it have a completely different feeling.

A whole summer has flown by and Izzy still isn't back where she is supposed to be.  Or so she feels.  This is not the high adrenaline adventure story as the first novel.  This is dealing with all the lessons that were discovered in the first novel.  The fun spirit of all the characters are all still there but hiding behind the struggles of growing up and finding where you fit in the world.

The darkness and doubt are all just a part of growing up, and this novel handles it beautifully.  This is what a middle grade coming of age novel is all about.  I thoroughly enjoyed the story even if it wasn't the page turning adventure we got last time.  In a Dark Land really proved to me that this is an author who can grow along with her characters.  I look forward to future works.