The City Beyond the Sea is the sequel to Greenwild, and the second book in the ongoing Greenwild series. If you haven’t already read Greenwild, look out – there are spoilers ahead!
The City Beyond the Sea will be released on June 4, 2024.
Now that the Greenwild has woken up to the threat posed by the Grim Reapers, Daisy Thistledown is determined to finally travel to the Amazon and rescue her beloved mother. But then Daisy gets a surprise message from her mother that urges her to find a place still clouded in myth: Iffenwild, a cousin city to the Greenwild that hid itself away so long ago its very existence is under question.
With the help of a quirky, magical theater company, Daisy and her friends find their way into the Iffenwild. Iffenwild hasn’t been untouched by the Grim Reapers, though, and it’s up to Daisy and her friends to secure its people’s help—even if that means saving them first.
The City Beyond the Sea has all of the best aspects of fantasy sequels without any of the too-common letdowns. Thomson takes advantage of the established characters and world to deliver a fantastic, multilayered tale, one that never falters into the weaker plot of many second novels. In fact, I’d be hard-pressed to say that The City Beyond the Sea isn’t as good—or even better—as the first book in the series. Just as in the first book, Thomson takes a familiar genre and crafts a tale that manages to combine the nostalgia of past favorite fantasy books with a uniqueness and spark that make the story impossible to put down.
To begin with, the worldbuilding is top-notch. Worlds-within-our-world are not uncommon, but as in all of this book, Thomson brings something fundamentally fresh to this trope, creating a setting that brims with color and interest. I loved reading about the Greenwild in book 1, but it was impossible not to fall equally in love with Iffenwild, the Nautilus theater company, and every intricacy of this new setting. Thomson is able to describe so vividly I can see the world without slowing down the story—and the gorgeous illustrations fill in all the details!
I also loved the characters. Truly getting to know Daisy, the Prof, and her friends better was one of my favorite parts of this book, but the new cast, especially Max, can’t be discounted—every character feels vibrant and unique. In The City Beyond the Sea, there is certainly a lot of conflict between them at times, but if anything, that made me love them even more. Seeing them in their darker moments as well as their hopeful ones made them all dimensional, and made the highs and lows of the story all the more impactful.
Blending action, adventure, and atmosphere, I highly recommend The City Beyond the Sea equally to middle-grade readers themselves and to teens and adults who love the genre—I truly loved it!
An e-ARC of this book was provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The City Beyond the Sea will be released on June 4, 2024.
Now that the Greenwild has woken up to the threat posed by the Grim Reapers, Daisy Thistledown is determined to finally travel to the Amazon and rescue her beloved mother. But then Daisy gets a surprise message from her mother that urges her to find a place still clouded in myth: Iffenwild, a cousin city to the Greenwild that hid itself away so long ago its very existence is under question.
With the help of a quirky, magical theater company, Daisy and her friends find their way into the Iffenwild. Iffenwild hasn’t been untouched by the Grim Reapers, though, and it’s up to Daisy and her friends to secure its people’s help—even if that means saving them first.
The City Beyond the Sea has all of the best aspects of fantasy sequels without any of the too-common letdowns. Thomson takes advantage of the established characters and world to deliver a fantastic, multilayered tale, one that never falters into the weaker plot of many second novels. In fact, I’d be hard-pressed to say that The City Beyond the Sea isn’t as good—or even better—as the first book in the series. Just as in the first book, Thomson takes a familiar genre and crafts a tale that manages to combine the nostalgia of past favorite fantasy books with a uniqueness and spark that make the story impossible to put down.
To begin with, the worldbuilding is top-notch. Worlds-within-our-world are not uncommon, but as in all of this book, Thomson brings something fundamentally fresh to this trope, creating a setting that brims with color and interest. I loved reading about the Greenwild in book 1, but it was impossible not to fall equally in love with Iffenwild, the Nautilus theater company, and every intricacy of this new setting. Thomson is able to describe so vividly I can see the world without slowing down the story—and the gorgeous illustrations fill in all the details!
I also loved the characters. Truly getting to know Daisy, the Prof, and her friends better was one of my favorite parts of this book, but the new cast, especially Max, can’t be discounted—every character feels vibrant and unique. In The City Beyond the Sea, there is certainly a lot of conflict between them at times, but if anything, that made me love them even more. Seeing them in their darker moments as well as their hopeful ones made them all dimensional, and made the highs and lows of the story all the more impactful.
Blending action, adventure, and atmosphere, I highly recommend The City Beyond the Sea equally to middle-grade readers themselves and to teens and adults who love the genre—I truly loved it!
An e-ARC of this book was provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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