Book Review: The Witch of Ash by Thea Stilton (Princesses of Fantasy Kingdom #11)

  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 #11: Strega delle cenere.

Book eleven time! Almost done with this series. Spoilers ahead.

Samah is still being held captive by the evil witches, and a rescue party is sent out to save her. But Samah and her cellmate have their own plans of rescuing themselves. Meanwhile, the evil Witch of Ash is launching an attack on Fantasy Kingdom.

This is the first book in this series where I'm really glad to see they really somewhat ditched the old formula that made the prior installments so repetitive. Sure, it's still there, but it's much more minor and the focus is on the rescue plot and Samah and her cellmate escaping. As it should be.

This book had an interesting journey in store for our characters, full of danger and mysteries, and the peril feels real. I quite liked the adventure the rescue party had to go on, but also Samah's part of the journey cannot be understated. Her developing bond with the mysterious Nils is also interesting. Though I am pretty sure at this point that Nils actually is the Prince Without a Name. Still it'd be interesting to see if he's changed and why he does have a name now, if it actually is him.

The plot of the witch attack was a bit more minor but it was still decent. It is just the most formulaic part of the book and therefore for me the least interesting, because I knew pretty much how it was gonna go. That said, I do love the evil lynxes of the Witch of Ash. They're so cool.

The peril also felt more real in this book because this is one of the first instances of a character actually dying because of the Witch's attacks, even if it is just an unnamed background wolf. In most prior books there were injuries, sure, but no real deaths as far as I can tell. But one of Gunnar's wolf buddies bites the dust in this one. RIP. Does add to the suspense, though.

Overall this was a fine installment in the series. I do hope future books keep up this "breaking the formula" habit.

Rating: 4/5