Beneath the Forsaken City *****
by C.E. Laureano
Overview: The hero Conor and his new bride Aine are separated as they flee a war-torn land. Chapters take turns following Conor's adventures and Aine's along with another main character Eoghan. They all have special powers and are fighting for survival against a powerful and evil druid. Each one is trying to learn to depend on and obey Comdiu, who is their God.
Positive elements: clean, lots of action, well-written, explores the concept of trusting and obeying
Negative elements: Some themes are inappropriate for children. Near the beginning of the story, Aine is almost raped as she is fleeing alone for her life. Later on in the story, a demon disguised as a beautiful woman tries to seduce Conor. He barely resists. Neither of the situations are graphic, but the ideas still make this an adult book.
Conclusion: Fantasy isn't normally a genre I enjoy, but my daughter really enjoys it. I was hoping to find a good, clean fantasy story she could read. So, I was a bit disappointed in the mature themes in the book for that reason.
Overall, the book was very confusing to me since it is the second book in the series. I guess you really need to read the first book to understand what is happening. I only kept reading because it is well-written, and the story has lots of quick-moving action.
The ending was a bit disappointing too since it just stopped. It is obviously written in a way that you have to read the whole series to understand the beginning as well as the end of the story.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
