Fantasy from Madison's R Chris Reeder

 

The Trickster’s Sister, sequel to The Changeling’s Daughter
R Chris Reeder
 
Black Rose Writing
YA Fantasy
440 pp April 2021

Print $22.95 
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Publisher - The Trickster's Sister

Publisher -- book 1, The Changeling's Daughter

About the Book
After getting kidnapped by a demigod and imprisoned in another dimension, Makayla was really hoping that her life would get back to normal. Or at least as normal as life could be when you had a goblin for a best friend.

But now her sleepy midwestern town is being invaded by shadows. Her neighbors are being stolen away and replaced by changelings. And when she tries to escape, her path threatens to take her to the one place she never wanted to return to: the mysterious and dangerous Land of Annwfyn.
 
My review
Reeder’s fantasy YA is a story of friendship, the best kind of friendship; of finding and using your gifts, and family. It’s a quest for a missing brother; it’s a take-care-of-the-baby-while-we save-the-universe, figure-out-who-we-are, and a rescue adventure, all wrapped in girl power—the kind that needs only best friends.
 
Universal truths still compete as good and evil vie for dominance. Reeder has a way of twisting common perceptions into misperceptions that bare our prejudices. A mystifying and frightening invasion is taking place, and the ministry in charge of the changeling operations all over the universe is purposefully being misdirected. I love how Reeder confabulates the changeling log book. Scenes like that, and how the girls work together to unravel the mystery are amazing and beautiful. Sure, the girls argue and fight, but realize they must work together and help each other face their worst nightmares in order to survive. What one does, sacrifices, is willing to take on for love of another, is the framework. I enjoy Reeder’s use of short, tight chapters to ramp up tension, although occasionally the breaks are a distraction from the story.
 
Persistence, never give up, fight for what you believe, and most of all: appreciate yourself are all qualities that define this story as told from Makayla’s point of view on the human side and the administration minister’s side. Everyone must rise above if good is to win in this serial adventure. As in the first book, the author uses typical teenage issues of identity challenges, cursing, and quite a bit of fantasy violence, so parents who mind might want to check it out first.
 
About the Author
R. Chris Reeder grew up in a tiny town you've never heard of and attended college in Walla Walla, Washington. He founded a theatre company, worked across the country as a professional Shakespearean actor, traveled the globe as an international courier, took a year and a half detour to be a singing activist, and then settled down into the comfortable life of a stay-at-home father and part-time author.
He currently resides in Madison, Wisconsin, with his wife, two children, and a pair of cats named Monster Jack and Tiny Jill. www.rchrisreeder.com