Unlock the Dark

Gr 7 Up–Perfect for fans of Margaret Owen’s Little Thieves and Brigid Kemmerer’s Defy the Night, Hawk’s debut fantasy has meddling gods, a unique magic system, and an epic adventure. Elia’s family is brimming with magic: she can create a key for any lock, her father creates doors leading anywhere, and her younger siblings have gifts of their own. Her father is dying; without magic, he would already be dead. But Death doesn’t like to be cheated, and he punishes Elia by taking her little brother as a prophet. To save him, she accepts a commission from the handsome Prince Trystoferian to find the Scroll of Peace, a lost artifact in the great library on a floating island kingdom—islands she’s exiled from on pain of death. If she can bring him back alive and whole, the prince will marry her and help provide for her family. When the effects of the scroll are beyond their expectations, Elia will have to save herself, her family, the prince, and two kingdoms. Hawk’s extensive cast of characters is well developed but occasionally lacks emotional resonance beyond the opening chapters. With the romance as a subplot instead of a driving force, the ending comes rather abruptly to readers looking for deeper denouement. Without any loose ends for readers to hold on to, fans will have to hope for companion novels. Protagonists read as white with more diversity in the supporting cast.