Review: Fiona Thorn and the Carapacem Spell

Fiona Thorn and the Carapacem Spell by Jen Barton is a delightful work of children's fiction and adventure. The book tells the story of a teenage orphan raised by an organization known as “bright eyes”. With her “bright eyes” partner and traveling companion Manzanita Rose, a talking horse, they set off to free their friend Jaydin Rowan, a fairy, that has been accused of placing the Carapacem curse on a boy. Fiona and Manzanita know their friend is innocent of the crime but they have two small problems. They are not able to prove it and the Fiona is not in good standing with the King. So, Fiona comes up with the idea of blowing up the jail cell and then find the proof se needs later. Her plans soon change when they run into the three young Princesses and they offer to take Fiona to their father for an audience. Things soon go a wry when Fiona and the Princesses overhear a plot against the king and find themselves in peril and on the run. Escaping the clutches of Graven the Fiona, Manzy and the princesses find there way to the fairy realm and Caelia Rowen, the fairy Queen and Jaydin's mother, for help in their quest to free Jaydin. Caelia helps by telling them what the vision Fiona saw means and gives Fiona and the three princesses one special power each to aid them on their quest. They find out though there is a price to pay for the vision that Fiona saw and that price is a life. With their new powers the four girls, Manzy and Kevin they set off to find the real culprit behind the Carapacem curse. The trail they follow though is full of hidden dangers that threaten their success at finding the culprit, proving Jaydin's innocence and paying the price of Fiona's vision that is slowly killing her.

Ms. Barton uses the element of suspense extremely well in her book. A couple of good examples are the way that she makes it seem that Fiona and Manzy are doomed when they are attacked by a pair of spotted cats but leaves us with a glimmer of hope that the will be fine. Then there is when we are all concerned that the three princesses will succumb to an attack by an Ogre but when all hope is lost it seems as though the youngest of the princesses, Cricket, will save the day.

I would recommend this for children over the age of 12 since there are some dark parts. For younger child it would be I would recommend having an adult read along with you.