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Heroes of Havensong #2
Heroes of Havensong: The Last Ice Phoenix
Follow the threads of the Fates into the captivating sequel in the timeless fantasy series about four unlikely heroes bound together to save their world—and magic itself.
Blue, River, Shenli, and Wren are still reeling from the discovery that they are the four heroes foretold to save their world. The weight of their destiny and the expectations that come with it is a heavy burden, but when danger once again finds them and the people they love, there's no choice but to act.
Shenli and Wren both remain outsiders—one as a prisoner tired of being a pawn and the other banished from the home she fought to save. Meanwhile, Blue and River face a quest for a mythical creature that will take them beyond the world they know—with the fate of the Meraki people hanging in the balance. Although they just found one another, the four heroes are once again scattered across Haven—all facing new journeys, impossible choices and shocking truths. As their world prepares for war, will they be able to unravel what the Fates have in store for them and find their own path?
“A powerful cast of characters in an epic tale of dragons and magic.” —Lisa McMann, New York Times bestselling author of The Unwanteds
Blue, River, Shenli, and Wren are still reeling from the discovery that they are the four heroes foretold to save their world. The weight of their destiny and the expectations that come with it is a heavy burden, but when danger once again finds them and the people they love, there's no choice but to act.
Shenli and Wren both remain outsiders—one as a prisoner tired of being a pawn and the other banished from the home she fought to save. Meanwhile, Blue and River face a quest for a mythical creature that will take them beyond the world they know—with the fate of the Meraki people hanging in the balance. Although they just found one another, the four heroes are once again scattered across Haven—all facing new journeys, impossible choices and shocking truths. As their world prepares for war, will they be able to unravel what the Fates have in store for them and find their own path?
“A powerful cast of characters in an epic tale of dragons and magic.” —Lisa McMann, New York Times bestselling author of The Unwanteds
448 pages, Paperback
Published August 13, 2024
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96 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
Want to read
June 20, 2023So excited to read!
September 8, 2024
Quick synopsis
: The four Heroes are still trying to stop the bad guy, and three of the four split off on side quests while the fourth is still under the bad guy's thumb.
Brief opinion : The least middle grade-ish Middle Grade book I've ever read. Long, multiple main characters with an array of motives, very complex bad guy, and mature lessons.
Plot : Cusak, the bad guy, has a plot so long and twisty that it would make George R.R. Martin green with envy. He has so many balls up in the air. Sort of like: Manipulate Person 1 to use him to blackmail Person 2 into giving us object to use to bribe Person 3 so we can use 3's power to manipulate Person 4 who is related to the person we really need: Person 5. See, Person 5 is the father of Person 6... and so on.
While that was going on, Blue (dragon boy) and River (his Rider) were off trying to get items to cure a plague Cusak let loose on a magic island as part of his plotting.
Wren is off doing her own quest, while Shenli is trapped in Cusak's complex net of blackmail and manipulation. Shenli's heart is in the right place, but he's a 13 year old boy and has no chance against someone like Cusak.
As the story continues, each of the four Heroes gets more and more powers. Most of them unique or ultra-powerful skills and abilities. (Only Shenli got a normal one: He learned to use a sword.)
The story ended with .
Writing/editing : Both were perfect.
What I Liked/What I Didn’t Like : I really like how the author handled the chapters. In both books, each chapter had a title that always started with "In which..." and gave a nice teaser for the chapter without spoiling anything.
Shenli, the Hero stuck under Cusak's control, was the most interesting character to me. He's in a bad position and has to make hard choices.
I liked that the story was giving younger readers real world knowledge:
"That's what history is, dear," said Ivan quietly. "Stories retold by the people who hold the most power."
"Even if the stories are lies?" Wren asked.
"History books are one-sides versions of the truth."
Also, I think the author was gently thumbing her nose at fandom:
"The Maderon twins."
Wren wrinkled her nose. "Maderon?"
"The combination of Madera and Aleron's names, fused together."
Wren laughed. What a funny thing to do, squishing names together like that.
What I didn't like was that this story felt really long (MG books usually take me 4-6 hours to read, this one was long enough that it was about 10 hours). Two of the Heroes were together, the other two were on their own, but it felt like all four of them were off on their own side quests, with just the bad guy pushing the main plot along.
Unfortunately my attention kept wandering as I was reading. There were so many characters (all with fantasy-ish names), I kept losing track of who some of them were.
Rating: 1-Hated / 2-Disliked / 3-Okay / 4-Liked / 5-Loved : ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 3 stars / Okay. Book 3 comes out in 2025, though I'm not sure if I'll pick it up.
Brief opinion : The least middle grade-ish Middle Grade book I've ever read. Long, multiple main characters with an array of motives, very complex bad guy, and mature lessons.
Plot : Cusak, the bad guy, has a plot so long and twisty that it would make George R.R. Martin green with envy. He has so many balls up in the air. Sort of like: Manipulate Person 1 to use him to blackmail Person 2 into giving us object to use to bribe Person 3 so we can use 3's power to manipulate Person 4 who is related to the person we really need: Person 5. See, Person 5 is the father of Person 6... and so on.
While that was going on, Blue (dragon boy) and River (his Rider) were off trying to get items to cure a plague Cusak let loose on a magic island as part of his plotting.
Wren is off doing her own quest, while Shenli is trapped in Cusak's complex net of blackmail and manipulation. Shenli's heart is in the right place, but he's a 13 year old boy and has no chance against someone like Cusak.
As the story continues, each of the four Heroes gets more and more powers. Most of them unique or ultra-powerful skills and abilities. (Only Shenli got a normal one: He learned to use a sword.)
The story ended with .
Writing/editing : Both were perfect.
What I Liked/What I Didn’t Like : I really like how the author handled the chapters. In both books, each chapter had a title that always started with "In which..." and gave a nice teaser for the chapter without spoiling anything.
Shenli, the Hero stuck under Cusak's control, was the most interesting character to me. He's in a bad position and has to make hard choices.
I liked that the story was giving younger readers real world knowledge:
"That's what history is, dear," said Ivan quietly. "Stories retold by the people who hold the most power."
"Even if the stories are lies?" Wren asked.
"History books are one-sides versions of the truth."
Also, I think the author was gently thumbing her nose at fandom:
"The Maderon twins."
Wren wrinkled her nose. "Maderon?"
"The combination of Madera and Aleron's names, fused together."
Wren laughed. What a funny thing to do, squishing names together like that.
What I didn't like was that this story felt really long (MG books usually take me 4-6 hours to read, this one was long enough that it was about 10 hours). Two of the Heroes were together, the other two were on their own, but it felt like all four of them were off on their own side quests, with just the bad guy pushing the main plot along.
Unfortunately my attention kept wandering as I was reading. There were so many characters (all with fantasy-ish names), I kept losing track of who some of them were.
Rating: 1-Hated / 2-Disliked / 3-Okay / 4-Liked / 5-Loved : ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 3 stars / Okay. Book 3 comes out in 2025, though I'm not sure if I'll pick it up.
January 27, 2024
So excited to be spotting a slot with @tbrbeyondtours @meganreyes @randomhousekids on this booktour, and we stop here today.
👦🏻 review: I have read the DragonBoy last year during our free reading time and honestly I didn’t fully finish the book. I was disappointed that I didn’t get the chance to finish it and was super happy when I did not only get the first book but also have the opportunity to read and review the second book to the series. I will be reading the first in few days because my mom told me to go ahead and tackle this first. I remember a bit of the previous book and this one slides into it easily. Actually, this could be read as a standalone and it was so easy to follow. What I love about this book is the way the story flows about the four friends who are on mission to fight for what’s right and the twists and turns of how the book ended. Definitely a bit of Rick Riordan and the fantasy evolving in the book. If your middle-grader enjoys Rick Riordan’s type of book, this is absolutely a must read too.
👦🏻 review: I have read the DragonBoy last year during our free reading time and honestly I didn’t fully finish the book. I was disappointed that I didn’t get the chance to finish it and was super happy when I did not only get the first book but also have the opportunity to read and review the second book to the series. I will be reading the first in few days because my mom told me to go ahead and tackle this first. I remember a bit of the previous book and this one slides into it easily. Actually, this could be read as a standalone and it was so easy to follow. What I love about this book is the way the story flows about the four friends who are on mission to fight for what’s right and the twists and turns of how the book ended. Definitely a bit of Rick Riordan and the fantasy evolving in the book. If your middle-grader enjoys Rick Riordan’s type of book, this is absolutely a must read too.
January 25, 2024
Our continuation of a fantastic middle grade fantasy story with very rich world building and lush landscaping. The author has done a great job creating this world of wonder that I know kids are going to EAT UP. Our four unlikely heroes are bound together to save the world and weighed down by this very discovery from the last book. They’re once again scattered and facing the perils once again! Check this one out and you’ll LOVE IT.
Thank you to the author and tbrandbeyond tours!
Thank you to the author and tbrandbeyond tours!
November 19, 2024
Another cliff hanger ending! Why do you do this to me?
The second half flowed wonderfully and felt better written than the first book, however something about the first half didn't grab me and I ended up putting the book down for months before I came back and finished it, which made some of the names and places hard to keep track of.
Hoping for a great finale in February! I'm rooting for Shenli to find his way back to the light!
The second half flowed wonderfully and felt better written than the first book, however something about the first half didn't grab me and I ended up putting the book down for months before I came back and finished it, which made some of the names and places hard to keep track of.
Hoping for a great finale in February! I'm rooting for Shenli to find his way back to the light!
February 25, 2024
I wouldn't recommend reading this without having read the first one. But both are really strong. I feel like Reyes loves and is really at-home in this genre: traditional, multi-protagonist fantasy world -- this being the second book the characters have of course been separated from each other and conduct their quests in parallel.
March 27, 2024
Great sequel to the first book and leaves you wanting more! Fantastic!
March 27, 2024
This was SO good. The end though... I just... I can't... it's pure evil, guys...
May 25, 2024
If you enjoyed the first book in this series, you should like this one. It's more of the same.
The main theme of this book was identity. River and Blue were the most interesting in my opinion. Their dynamic has improved from the first book, and whereas River was bland in the first book, she gets a lot more personality in this one. Shenli is fun because he has to make some hard choices - the story is not nice to him and I love it. Wren was probably the only one that I wasn't too interested in this time, but she was still fine.
The biggest problem for me lies in the plot. The antagonist, Cusak, is the only one driving events in this story. River and Blue are on a fetch quest to resolve something that happened in the last book, Wren is sidelined looking for a way to belong, and Shenli is along for the ride with Cusak. Personally, I didn't mind this. I don't read high fantasy for the plot - I just want to experience a cool world with characters I enjoy reading.
The main theme of this book was identity. River and Blue were the most interesting in my opinion. Their dynamic has improved from the first book, and whereas River was bland in the first book, she gets a lot more personality in this one. Shenli is fun because he has to make some hard choices - the story is not nice to him and I love it. Wren was probably the only one that I wasn't too interested in this time, but she was still fine.
The biggest problem for me lies in the plot. The antagonist, Cusak, is the only one driving events in this story. River and Blue are on a fetch quest to resolve something that happened in the last book, Wren is sidelined looking for a way to belong, and Shenli is along for the ride with Cusak. Personally, I didn't mind this. I don't read high fantasy for the plot - I just want to experience a cool world with characters I enjoy reading.
March 15, 2024
This was a great continuation of the Heroes Of Havensong series. I loved getting to know the characters more in this book and following their journey in this continuation. The author did a great job building the world in this series and I think many middle graders will enjoy this magical adventure.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy to review.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy to review.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews