Review: A magical story filled with enchanted surroundings, fairy tale friendships and mystery
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 1, 2013
My review:Golden Dunes of Renhala is the second in the Renhala series by author Amy Joy Lutchen.  After reading and loving Renhala, the first in the series, I was eager to get my hands on this follow up.  Amy brought me right back to the magical world I love and I was so happy to be there.We pick up pretty much right where Renhala left off and are immediately brought back into Kailey Rooke’s new reality.  A reality of magical lands and creatures only one could dream of.  Now, though, Kailey has an internal conflict brewing and it will threaten her very being.  The darkness within her, a piece of her father, takes over a bit more each day and Kailey finds herself lashing out at her friends.  Pair that with her abilities as a Quicksilver and a karmelean and letting the darkness take over completely would mean massive consequences…and not for the good.  Currently on a mission to find a missing girl, Kailey and her rag-tag group of friends and accomplices find more mystery at every turn instead of getting closer to finding the missing beloved sister and daughter.  Will she be able to find this girl while also finding the ability to keep the darkness at bay?I flew through this book.  When storytelling is done as rich as Golden Dunes of Renhala was, it makes the transportation into a fantasy world an easy one.  I loved seeing all of our friends from Renhala again.  The fight Kailey has on her hands is a tough one indeed and she needs those friends and their help along the way to keep her grounded and that’s exactly what they do.  Kailey may have lost both of her parents in the last book, but she certainly isn’t lacking family with friends like these.  Bu is back (I adore Bu!), Gunthreon, Lupa, Connor, Jenna and Ladimer are all there and the journey they embark upon into the Golden Dunes is going to test all of them at one point or another.  The search for the missing girl opens up a can of worms far bigger than just a missing person.  I can’t go into too much detail without giving away spoilers, but Kailey meets a person in this book that was a pretty big shock to her, and to me.  A good shock in a way though and one that I hope can develop into a positive thing for both Kailey and the mystery person.  Although there was a lot more darkness in this book compared to the last one, there were also some really heartwarming parts when Kailey feels her mother’s spirit around her.  There were also some positively heartbreaking moments that had me reaching for my tissues.Oh, and in the end, Kailey ends up with the guy I have wanted her with from the minute I met him in Renhala (nope!  My lips are sealed!) Speaking of the end, WHOA!  Totally taken by surprise at how Amy Joy ended it and I can only hope it means we get another book….because let me tell you, the delivery Kailey gets on her doorstep is a pretty shocking one!Thank you, Amy Joy, for another rich and magical story filled with enchanted surroundings, fairy tale friendships and a mystery that kept me on the edge of my seat until the end!