Moonblood by Anne Elisabeth Stengl Review

Summary from Bethany House Publishers:

Moonblood Draws Near, and Soon the Dragons Will Wake

Desperate to regain the trust of his kingdom, Prince Lionheart reluctantly banishes his faithful servant and only friend, Rose Red. Now she is lost in the hidden realm of Arpiar, held captive by her evil goblin father, King Vahe.

Vowing to redeem himself, Lionheart plunges into the mysterious Goldstone Wood, seeking Rose Red. In strange other worlds, Lionheart must face a lyrical yet lethal tiger, a fallen unicorn, and a goblin horde on his quest to rescue the girl he betrayed.

With the Night of Moonblood fast approaching when King Vahe seeks to wake the Dragon's sleeping children, Lionheart must discover whether or not his heart contains courage before it's too late for Rose Red... and all those he loves.

Review:

Get some business out of the way first of all. I received a free copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers for review and am not paid for this review. If you would like to review your own copies please contact www.bethanyhouse.com/bookreviewers.

Now on with the review... The first thing that struck me about this book was the title. I just bugs me and makes me think of something with a completely different meaning if you get my drift. I think there could have been some better alternatives. As I started reading the book, some of the character names struck me as a little childish... Rose Red, Prince Lionheart....

However, once I got over my annoyance at these little things, I found the story to be so enjoyable. I did not know there were a couple books prior to this one and reading those would help fill in some of the backstory but not a big deal. The characters were very real, dealing with emotions we all feel and could  relate to in some way. I also didn't like seeing a unicorn turned into a bad creature for this story, but I guess we all can fall from grace, even something as innocent as a unicorn.

The book is full of Christian allegories with the Prince as a Christ-like figure and grace and forgiveness for all the faults of the characters. That's all fine and dandy to me, but I don't read to find symbolism or hidden meanings and had I not known prior to reading it, I probably never would have picked up on it. Takes too much effort for me to dissect a story. I read it and enjoy it in the moment. If something hits me later, great. If not, I don't feel I missed out on anything.

Overall it was far better than I expected when I first started reading it. I really enjoyed it and plan on someday reading the previous two books and whatever may come after. Fun, middle grade fantasy.

Hope you enjoy it too!