Okay this one surprised me. I wasn't sure about this at first. I didn't mind Zander in the first four books but I didn't love him. But this was awesome. Zander really grew on me. Apart from that, Owen stars in the first half of the book! I love Owen. I loved that he came to visit Quinn and got to meet Samuel Owen. I love the relationship between Owen and Samuel and also Quinn and Owen and William and Owen. Plus Owen's friendship with Alice. I really liked Ben and I adored the friendship between him and Zander. And I like Alvin showing up with his Gandalf/Dumbledore type wisdom that reveals nothing.
I wasn't sure where this was going to go after the first part of the series wrapped up but this was a solid continuation. 4.5 stars.
