War’s Ending by A. J. Park - HIGH

War’s Ending by A. J. Park, 586 pages. Emerald Lake Books, 2019. $18.

Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

Shalyrie loves the excitement of visiting new colonies in her uncle’s kingdom, and Newport is beautiful. But Shalyrie was not expecting the excitement to include attempts on her life and the tragedies of war. Finding fear and the unknown on every side, can Shalyrie find a way to encourage and foster peace?

I was quickly sucked into the story as I started reading, and I mostly stayed engrossed for the rest of the time I followed Shalyrie and her friends through their battles. At one point, the story seemed to get a little repetitive with several consecutive attempts on Shalyrie’s life, but then the story moved on and became engaging again. Overall, I took pleasure in reading how Shalyrie and her friends dealt with the challenges they faced and how Shalyrie would not abandon her beliefs, even as keeping them became more difficult. We could all be a little more like Shalyrie.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen