Note: The title of this book has been translated into English by me for the reading comprehension of this blog's viewers as the book itself isn't available in English (yet). The original title reads Principesse del Regno della Fantasia #7: Strega delle Maree.
Let's take a look at the second arc in the Princesses of Fantasia series! Spoilers ahead!
The Prince Without a Name might be defeated, but Fantasy Kingdom is not at peace yet, as a group of evil witches is set on taking over the land. The royal family and their friends must unite to stand against the first of the witches: the sea witch Diluvia.
For a continuation of the first arc, this is a solid start. Not great, but I'd be lying if I said the first arc was fantastic. It was mostly just decent with some good and less good moments, but it was solid enough to keep me engaged and have me enjoy most of the ride. This book isn't too strong a start, but it's not bad either.
The new conflict is definitely something that feels a bit out of left field (as the witches are not brought up in the first arc, if I remember correctly), but I do appreciate that it does tie into the conflict of the first arc. It's not suddenly "and now there's some witches who want to take over Fantasy Kingdom." There's more to that and the witches' motivations tie in directly with the conflict of arc one, even if they weren't brought up in said arc. I just kind of wish that there were at least some allusions to the witches in the first six books to have them feel a bit less sudden as an antagonistic force, but it's not bad the way it was handled, either.
My main problem with this book is that the main cast is starting to become a bit too big and cluttered to manage. What I mean is that we now have five protagonists (the sisters), their parents, the other royal family members, their other friends and acquaintances, and a bunch more one-of new side characters who are introduced in this book. That's just...a lot. Especially since it has been a while since I read book six, I had to rack my brain to remember who exactly was who.
In the first arc this large cast worked rather well because (for the most part) each book focused in on a single region of the land and the characters that came with it, so there were more so a few smaller casts which were part of a bigger whole, but weren't always seen together. But this book brings all of them together and it's just a bit too much for it's own good. The cast is just a bit too bloated, especially since they want to give every character at least once appearance. I really think the should've cut a few of the recurring characters from the previous arc. And that's not even mentioning the new characters this time around who appear for the first time in this book.
My second (albeit lesser) criticism for the book is that the royal family at times kind of come across as not very smart. When they're clearly supposed to be. One moment is when Yara and Kalea go against the King's plans based solely on a hunch Yara had. Things turned out okay, but this so easily could've gone wrong and led to defeat if Yara and Kalea had been captured by Diluvia, or worse.
The second moment is when captain Buhl offers his and his crew's service to the royal family in the war effort, but the Queen refuses his help because "he has the wrong motivation" (revenge). Lady, this is a war. If you start picking and choosing your allies, you'll lose. The main point is that Buhl is offering to help and could be of great use in the war. What does it matter that you don't perfectly agree with his motivations, any ally is an ally, right? I know the author wanted this to be like this great noble moment for our heroes, but there's a fine line between noble and stupid.
So overall a fine start to the second arc, but nothing groundbreaking. Kalea and Diluvia get some character development which I appreciate and it is neat to get more world-building for the magical species of Fantasy Kingdom. I just wish there weren't so many characters and that our heroes didn't come across as incompetent sometimes.
Rating: 3.5/5
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