Jordan Mcmakin

Reviewed by Candace Cunard for TeensReadToo.com

No one in Urkeneye, not even his father and stepmother, care at all for twelve-year-old Prince Ezrick. His only friend is the cook's daughter, Maddie, with whom he sneaks around the castle and tries to avoid the wrath of Ezrick's stepmother, Vicursa, who they call "the witch" because of her cruel treatment of Ezrick, whose real mother died when he was a young boy. Vicursa finally goes too far when she promises that Maddie will be beaten for any mistake that Ezrick makes, and Ezrick, not wanting to put his friend in danger, runs away from the castle and joins with a band of gypsy-like Vagaries, but not before stumbling across information that a dangerous object, known as Morpheäs, is hidden in the castle.

Ezrick tries to ignore what he knows about the intrigue that plays out after he leaves home, instead trying to accommodate to the Vagarie lifestyle. He befriends a Vagarie boy, Leroy, and together the two of them engage in humorous escapades, but the whole time Ezrick must keep his identity a secret from everyone. Slowly, Ezrick begins to pick up more and more clues about the Morpheäs, and the curse that is supposedly linked to it. With the help of Leroy and the long-distance support of Maddie, Ezrick sets out to prevent the curse from being unleashed once again.

McMakin's characters read like real soon-to-be-teens. I admired Ezrick's integrity, Maddie's toughness, and Leroy's spunk. The geography of the story wavers between amusing and impressive, with settings that often feel like intentional caricatures of fantasy standards but have hearts of their own and add to the story's underhanded humor. The plot relies more upon the human abilities of the characters than any kind of magic, and indeed none of the characters are wizards, although fantastic creatures and curses do appear within the story. Overall, it was an enjoyable, fast-paced read, and I look forward to seeing what McMakin has in store for Ezrick next.… (meer)