Alexandra Quick and the Lands Below

Alexandra Quick #2

by Inverarity

Seventh grader Alexandra Quick returns to Charmbridge Academy. This year she will face bullies from another wizarding school, a secret Dark Arts club, and the schemes of her mysterious father, but her most terrible trials await her in the strange and deadly Lands Below!

Genres: Fantasy, Fan Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult, Magic, Boarding School

848 pages, ebook

First published November 29, 2008

Reviews

[Jaylon · Rating 4 out of 5]

err this ate the terf's books up.

(2nd read) - solid 3.5-4 rating

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm honestly speechless. I don't know what to say, other than that Alexandra Quick and the Lands Below is a fantastically amazing fanfic that is far, far better than the first, Alexandra Quick and the Thorn Circle. If the first book bored you, give the second book a chance. Trust me; you won't regret it.

[Angelina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me cry so much in the end, truly worth it picking up this series!

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Better than Potter. Just read the thing, yeah?

[Alex Herder · Rating 5 out of 5]

1. I love how this series is written and I am convinced that it would become a bestseller if it weren't fanfiction.

2. Alexandra Quick is so authentically a preteen girl hero that I am constantly hoping someone will yell at her to just f**ing think before she acts but also want to give her a hug to tell her things are going to be OK.

3. The way she latches on to Maximilian feels a bit forced but is also a great insight into her deep need for family and belonging as someone who has always thought of herself as not being wanted/accepted.

4. Even in just the second book, the world that this series is exploring is just so much more interesting than many YA fantasy series, and certainly more compelling than Harry Potter.

[Nevernowhy · Rating 5 out of 5]

We get introduced to a character that helps our main prog grow and mature. However the author did us dirty :(

I realized why i like this series so much. The characters' mind set does not match their 11yr old age. They seem more mature which i like. Sometimes i forget that these are 11-12 year olds we are talking about.

[Vasundhra Jaiswal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was thoroughly enjoying the second book of the Alexandra Quick series. Loved every single moment of Alexandra and Maximilian building a bond together. However, after Maximilian's death, my mood became really sour, and I felt very frustrated and annoyed for having been introduced to a character - only for them die away eventually. This made me quite unwilling to continue the series. However, it does say about the author's ability to make readers feel truly deeply about a character in their story. Much like Alexandra, it breaks my heart to see Max go.

[Rohan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is somehow better than book one?
The author makes you care about every characters. All of them have an arc. I like the story and I like the fact that the characters are mature they feel like eleven twelve year old and they act their age but there's no cliche steryotypical plot beats which are required to delay the story.

This is just as good as HP books and now it has it's own vibe. This series feels more like the HBP and DH than any other HP books, at least currently.

I jumped right to book 3 after this. I will miss reading this story when it ends.

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is so much better than the first one. Even though Alexandria was at Charmbridge for only two years I feel like she's gone through a lot more than what Harry did with his first two years at Hogwarts.

[Joao Felipe · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[BMountain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really really incredible. Two books in and it’s even better than the source material.

I cried.

[Kate Weaver · Rating 5 out of 5]

.. i am depressed

[Lena P · Rating 5 out of 5]

Le meilleur de toute la saga, je l'avais lu il y a des années et j'y pensais encore, la relecture a été plus qu'à la hauteur!

[Matija · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much like the first volume, Lands Below is a pretty decent piece of Harry Potter fan fiction. The author shows some growth with the introduction of more fleshed out new characters, such as Maximillian King and his family, and even the story seems to have a bit more meat to it. I liked the attempt to tie it in with native American folklore, even though I think that could have been done even better with some more research on Indian customs and the like.

Still, as before, the author does a good job of Americanizing the Harry Potter universe without any canon violations that I could see, as well as extending it with some specific, possibly Indian-related magic.

Another good thing is that we get to see more of the American wizarding world, with Roanoke and Croatoa and the wizarding railway system. The story also veers towards more grey shades, where it's not as clear who's the bad guy as in the canon. I'm liking that.

There are some things that are over the top, though, like kids crucioing each other all the time. I mean, this is supposed to be an unforgivable curse that should send the caster to prison for a very long time, but here the kids are doing it to each other at the drop of a hat.

Many of Alexandra's friends and teachers are still very bland characters and I also think the book is a bit long and could lose up to a quarter of pages without any damage to the story line. Still, this is a fairly entertaining read and perhaps someday I'll continue with the series.

[Tim S · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have tears in my eyes right now, as I always do after finishing this book. Lands Below is where this series starts getting real, as Inverarity introduces new characters, increases the complexity of the moral decisions his protagonist is confronted with, and broadens the scope of his version of Wizarding America.

[AC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-read: still love <3

5 Stars~
Wow.
Am I in physical and emotional anguish? Yes.
Am I immediately downloading book 3 onto my kindle? Also Yes.