The Secrets of Solace on March 8, 2016 Pages: 384
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From Jaleigh Johnson, the acclaimed author of The Mark of the Dragonfly, comes another thrilling adventure in the magical world of Solace.
Lina Winterbock lives in the mountain strongholds of Solace. She' s an apprentice to the archivists, the wise men and women whose lives are dedicated to cataloging, studying, and preserving the objects that mysteriously fall from the sky in the scrap towns.
Lina should be spending her days with books, but the Iron War has changed everything. The strongholds are now a refuge, and the people Lina once counted on no longer have time for her, so she spends her days exploring the hidden tunnels and passages of her home. The strongholds are vast and old, with twisting paths, forgotten rooms, and collapsed chambers, some of them containing objects that have been lost and forgotten even by the archivists.
And in one of the forgotten chambers, Lina discovers a secret.
Hidden deep in a cavern is a half-buried airship like nothing she has ever seen before. She' s determined to dig it out and restore it. But Lina needs help, and she doesn' t know anyone she can trust with her secret.
Then she meets Ozben, a mysterious boy who has a secret of his own—a secret that' s so dangerous it could change the course of the Iron War and the world of Solace forever.
A fantastic and fun middle-grade fantasy. The Secrets of Solace will inspire those who read it to observe the world around them with curious and magical minds.
I wish I would have reviewed this book before Easter so I could have shared this piece of advice: This is the PERFECT book to add to your child’s or favorite friend’s Easter Basket. It’s such a fun book about finding cultural treasures and preserving them. It’s also about personal discovery and cultivating relationships and character. This book is a gift worth giving to the imaginative people in your life or to the ones who need a little inspired imagination of their own.
This may be the image that you pull from your brain catalog when you hear the word ”archives”, but the archives in The Secrets of Solace are not your typical dusty stacks.
The Secrets of Solace is a wonderfully imaginative story filled with the universal themes of family, friendship, loss, love, and war. An archivist in training, Lina is a spirited, clever, and inspiring protagonist who isn’t afraid to mess up her hair or get her hands dirty for the sake of archiving.
The story unfolds amid the cavernous tunnels of the Archivist’s stronghold which is filled with strange natural and cultural wonders that have fallen from the cosmos. As an apprentice, Lina must follow strict protocol, but she has her own secret side-project that drives the story forward and adds a hint of mystery.
The story world is vividly executed and the supporting characters and story threads make for an exciting and poignant novel. This novel read like a fun mix of fantasy and science-fiction and was deeper in its subject matter than I was expecting, making for a completely engaging read. The Secrets of Solace was a joy to read and will be a go-to book on my book-giving gift list.
And JUST FOR FUN:
Here’s a little inspiration board inspired by the book.
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