Stir of Shadows by Jaime Lee Mann

This is the sixth book in the fantasy Legend of Rhyme series and is aimed at middle grade so has no scenes of foul language or sexual connotations.

Marigold is far too big to be a pixie, yet that’s what her family tell her she is. Frederick is far too small to be a giant, yet that’s what his family tells him he is. Pyra the phoenix has awakened, which means disaster has struck. Starla’s sister Blue is desperate to speak to her, but she could inadvertently hurt Teagan by her actions when Teagan goes exploring in places far away from safety. Elizabeth is still stuck in the grimoire and is desperate to get out. Grimblerod is still dealing with the nightmares of abduction. These and other stories are about to mesh with dire consequences.

I liked the introduction of Pyra and the effect she has on the continuation of Coraira. It was also fair that Asher got to claim a power which made him feel more like the hero he is meant to be. You can feel that the culmination of the series is coming as the families get to find out that they are related and how they need to work together.

I think to be this far into the series, and having to keep up with the myriad of characters (both still around or gone), it becomes a little confusing. While the poems at the beginning of each section help to remind the reader of what has happened with the characters previously and where they are now, it’s still a little difficult orienting yourself to what land or story you are in. I found that because of the story having to be spread in so many directions, that not enough substance was spent on the parts of the stories now and certain storylines were only just touched on. Some of the chapters were a little too punchy, and a situation would be brought in and immediately solved. I felt the action was missing a bit.

The Kindle edition had the first 6% taken up by hyperlinks which made it a bit irritating to keep flipping until you reached the story. I liked the catch up of characters at the end even if the author did feel like it was a bit of a spoiler alert, it did help to reorient the reader as to where they were with the characters. As usual, the story questions at the end were a great addition as a discussion point for a class. The story ends with a great cliffhanger and the bonus excerpt from the next book really gets the reader guessing. It’s not the best one in the series, but necessary as a gateway. I would still recommend the series for a magical fantasy read filled with mystery and all manner of beings.