Rating: Needs Parental Supervision

More of Harry Potter meets Lord of the Rings as a team of apprentice lore-keepers battle a villain while also studying for their lore-keepers exams. The main character, Barclay, is an orphan who struggles with feelings of loneliness as he sees other kids with their families. He comes to realize he has a family in his mentor and friends.

This book brought a new theme of forgiveness and humility, in which I’m sad to say one of the main characters doesn’t offer forgiveness even when asked. Barclay, the main protagonist reflects on how he would have a hard time forgiving his betrayer as well. These could be a great spark for discussion, but nevertheless the characters are not a good model for our kids if the issue is left untouched (forgive us as we forgive those who have sinned against us).

There is just a teensy smidge of a hint of romance.

You definitely want to read Book 1: The Accidental Apprentice and Book 2: The Weeping Tide before taking on this one.

Other potential concerns remain nearly the same as the others:

  • You won’t like this one if you’re against magic, fantastic (literally) beasts, and battles between lore-keepers (i.e. people who harness the magic and tame the beasts).
  • Loss of family to death, or divorce
  • There is an occasional explicit mention of a “butt sniff” when a wolf is meeting a new beast.
  • A character tells her friend to “shut up.”
  • A character and her beast end up kneeling before an especially powerful beast. The kneeling could be a worship/awe type thing, which I’m not a big fan of (I think we worship God alone), but I think perhaps in context it had more to do with approaching the beast without scaring it. The mention was quick and subtle.

Overall, it’s pretty much more of the same as in other Wilderlore book 1 and book 2, and it’s so exciting that I wish I could travel through time to snag the whole series a binge read at once!