Keeper of Magic

My Secret Unicorn #14

by Linda Chapman, Ann Kronheimer (Illustrator)

Lauren's twelve-year-old cousin Hannah is coming to stay. Hannah is pony mad and Lauren can't wait to introduce her to Twilight. But when she arrives, Lauren is disappointed to discover that Hannah's not into ponies any more and prefers doing other things. Old Mrs Fontana, the only person who knows that Twilight is really a secret unicorn, explains to Lauren that time cannot stand still, and that people change and life moves on. She gives Lauren a small chest with a key and asks her not to open it until the time is right. Lauren is curious but has a worried feeling that there is more to Mrs Fontana's words than she is letting on...

Genres: Childrens, Unicorns, German Literature, Magic

154 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Linda Chapman was born in Liverpool in 1969. She had many different jobs before becoming a full-time writer in 1999 including working as a theatre stage manager, a dog trainer, a bookseller, a nanny, a teacher and a research assistant. She has written over 300 books for children, some under her own name, others under different names and she often collaborates with other authors. She is currently writing books with Julie Sykes and they are co-authors on the NYT bestselling Unicorn Academy series as well as Mermaid Academy, Forever Homes and Pocket Unicorns. Linda lives in Leicestershire with her husband, three children, two horses and three dogs. She has written many different series including: My Secret Unicorn, Star Friends, Best Friends Bakery, Stardust, Skating School and, most recently, Magic Keepers and Moonlight Riders.

Reviews

[Sonja Rosa Lisa ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eine schöne Buchreihe für Leser ab acht.
Dieser 14. Band ist auch wieder sehr schön und magisch, aber auch traurig diesmal.
Mrs. Fontana stirbt und hinterlässt Laura einen geheimnisvollen goldenen Schlüssel.
Spannend, magisch, traurig und auch Mut machend. Auf jeden Fall ein empfehlenswerter Band.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing series I've read.

[Sophie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Based on Linda Chapman’s own experiences with nannying a pony-obsessed little girl, My Secret Unicorn follows a young girl named Lauren and her pony named Twilight, who is secretly her unicorn.

Now, I enjoyed this book series as a kid. I recall reading each book when I was in Year 3. I decided to re-read the whole series again to see if it holds up, but I am afraid that it does not. First of all, there are the characters in the book series. Explaining the plot further, A nine-year-old girl named Lauren Foster moves with her family from the city to Granger’s Farm, where she meets a bookstore owner named Mrs Fontana who gives her a book about Arcadia and unicorns. After buying a pony named Twilight from an auction, Lauren finds out from her unicorn book that there are key ingredients and steps to unlocking her secret unicorn: a moonflower petal must fall when the first evening star arrives while she recites a “Turning Spell” and an “Undoing Spell” that can change him back to a pony. After this first time, Lauren only has to recite the secret spell without anything else. There is much more to the lore of the series, (like Arcadia itself, how the unicorn cycle works and the magic system) but that is a general idea.

Lauren Foster is a very flat and sometimes unlikable character. She has nothing that defines her besides being horse-obsessed, and she often makes brash decisions that cause more trouble than what is needed, such as arguing with Twilight or her friend Mel whenever they are stuck in a snowstorm or fire hazard. Not only that, but the book series also focuses too much on Lauren - almost at times pushing Twilight aside. For example, in Book #9 Snowy Dreams, Twilight learns about the time limit regarding Unicorns Friends where he will eventually have to choose between returning to Arcadia or staying with Lauren, but we only see this from Lauren’s point of view on how she feels rather than Twilight’s point of view.

Twilight is a boring character. All he is defined is as Lauren’s unicorn friend. Furthermore, because he is dull as a funeral service on 0.25x speed, I cannot grasp the relative importance of any of his problems – however few there are. It is not Twilight’s fault, though; he has an excellent setup to do something interesting. However, the book series is more worried about Lauren and her problems.

There is also missed potential with other characters. After reading Book #10 Twilight Magic where Lauren saves Jade, I thought the next book would have been about Lauren and Mel making friends with Jade and Monica, finally putting their rivalry to rest and getting to know them better. However, it did not do that. There is also a bully girl named Kate in Friends Forever, who excludes Lauren from her circle of friends when Mel reunites with them. While Kate does do some genuinely terrible things (such as moving the flagposts in a game of Capture The Flag), she does not have as much character as she should have. If Kate was more manipulative and gaslight Lauren and Mel into thinking they should not be friends, then she could have been a more genuine threat. There is also another Unicorn Friend named Michael who is one of the few people that knows that Twilight is a unicorn, but the series does nothing with him.

Not to mention, the magic system in the series (as well as keeping Twilight a secret) gets increasingly inconsistent and contrived. For example, in Friends Forever Book #7, Twilight is turned into a unicorn in broad daylight in a clearing where anybody could see what was happening, but nothing comes of this. Another example is Book 13# Moonlight Journey, where we finally get to see Arcadia, but much of Arcadia feels unexplored, underdeveloped, and the illustrations make Arcadia look bare and boring. It does not help that the book series rushes over all the fantasy elements like they are not much of a big deal, which undermines the magical value of what we are experiencing. What is Arcadia, and who are The Unicorn Elders? Who is Sidra? Twilight already knows this, but how? How did Mrs Fontanta learn about unicorns? Who invented the Keeper Of Magic system with the magic resources in the first place? Moreover, why can’t we be clued in too? Things feel missing in the book series! It fails to introduce, build or set up any of the concepts.

However, my biggest problem with My Secret Unicorn is that Twilight and Lauren’s relationship does not feel genuine. Sure, they spend plenty of time together, but their scenes feel more forced rather than natural - and the dialogue often feels like the characters are saying what they are expected to say, rather than wanting to say it. For example, Lauren often says that she loves Twilight as both a pony and a unicorn, but because they cannot communicate with each other when Twilight is a pony and only share their most intimate scenes when Twilight is a unicorn, it makes her statement meaningless. Several books will tell you that the success of this duo is due to them working together, but you will quickly see that Twilight does not need Lauren at all. There are times when Lauren is disadvantaged because she does not have magical powers like Twilight, and it feels like the conflict could have been easily solved if Lauren was written out entirely. I am okay with Twilight being an independent hero, but when the book series tells me Lauren and Twilight need each other, I call nonsense on that nonsense! Lauren is treated with much more scene time than she deserves, which ultimately makes the story weaker, despite her lack of strengths or advantages making her useless.

Nevertheless, my last problem with My Secret Unicorn is that I do not understand why Lauren cannot tell anymore about Twilight? If you look at fantasy/supernatural stories regarding secret identities and objects, you realise that they do not keep secrets for the same reason – their reasons need to make sense to the story. For example, Fetlocks Hall kept its unicorn side secret because it wanted to keep itself away from prying eyes and the potential villains could do if that happened – and that made sense because it was a well-respected school with high fees and A-standard students. In My Secret Unicorn, we are never told or shown why Lauren has to keep Twilight a secret. There is nothing at stake if she does since there is no villain or massive threat, there is a memory wipe potion introduced in Book #3 so there is no more prolonged tension in the story. Lauren at the end of the series is given the position of Keeper Of Magic where she has to help and look over other Unicorn Friends (which is barely explained and raises far too many questions) which ruins the point of keeping unicorns secret, to begin with.

Even if we assume that keeping unicorns secret is to protect Lauren’s friends and family, telling certain people would help with that. There are several times where Lauren struggles strictly because no one knows that Twilight is a unicorn, and if she told certain people, it would make her life 10x easier. When you go off of tropes of a genre, but those tropes go against the particular story you’re telling, it feels lazily thought-out.

To conclude, this has been one of the most disappointing childhood revisits I have ever had because My Secret Unicorn does not hold up very well in my eyes. It has unlikeable and underutilised characters, rushed pacing that overlooks essential beats, and an adventure that lacks fun. Everything is hollow, offensive, or unpleasant. I honestly never expected myself to dislike “My Secret Unicorn” before re-reading it. It had a fun idea, but it failed in its execution.

[Rogerio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Checking out why my daughter has fun with these books. Surprisingly, it touches tough subjects like where we go after death as well as the difficulties of seeing your friends growing up and leaving childhood behind, changing hobbies and preferences. I like how these topics appear inside the story and are dealt with in a non-invasive way.

[Nikki Naddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Etwas traurig diesmal, es hat mich dieses mal zu Tränen berührt

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a lot sadder compared to the other books, but is still enjoyable to read.

[Mythical Mishmash · Rating 4 out of 5]

Geez I wasn’t expecting a book about death and accepting change in a series called My Secret Unicorn holy sh- 😭

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cried so much when I read this for the first time. For a long while I didn't like this book because of Mrs Fontana's death. I used to skip this one and go from Moonlight Journey to Starry Skies.

I loved Mrs Fontana like she was my own Grandmother and was heartbroken when she passed on. Back when I was little I used to think, "WHY LINDA CHAPMAN WHY???!!!" But now I understand, but it still doesn't make it any easier (although I don't cry anymore).

Keeper of Magic was, and still is, one of the very few books that I've actually cried over while reading and this book will remain one of my favourites for ever and ever.

[Katie Isaac · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this com about two years ago and I managed to read it in an hour. the story was really good and exciting but I think Linda chapman could have made the book a bit longer. I would recommend this book to any under 10 year olds that love fantasy and obviously, horses. I may have been a bit old for it but I still loved it.

[Chiara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mrs. Fontana entrusts a little box to Lauren. What is in it? Lauren cannot open yet, only when the time is right. It is about life and death and where we go after we die. It is a bit sad.