Title: River Secrets

Author: Shannon Hale

Series: Books of Bayern #3

Genre: Fantasy (YA)

Pages: 320 Pages (Paperback)

Original Publication Date: September 5, 2006

Overall Rating:
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Summary from Goodreads

Razo has no idea why he was chosen to be a soldier. He can barely swing a sword, and his brothers are forever wrestling him to the ground. Razo is sure it’s out of pity that his captain asks him to join an elite mission–escorting the ambassador into Tira, Bayern’s great enemy.

But when the Bayern arrive in the strange southern country, Razo discovers the first dead body. He befriends both the high and low born, people who can perhaps provide them with vital information. And Razo is the one who must embrace his own talents in order to get the Bayern soldiers home again, alive.

Newbery-Honor winner Shannon Hale returns the reader to the intrigue and magic of Bayern, first introduced in her critically acclaimed novel, The Goose Girl. Enter a world where even those with no special magical skills find in themselves something they never imagined.

My Thoughts

Just like with The Goose Girl and Enna Burning, it took me a couple of chapters to get into River Secrets.  Once I got into the story, I thought it was very entertaining.  I really enjoyed exploring the water-speaking element of the story and seeing more of the wind- and fire-speaking elements explored in The Goose Girl and Enna Burning.  It was interesting to see how all three languages worked together.

I loved that the story was from Razo’s point-of-view and I’m glad Enna was still a major part of the story.  Razo first appears in The Goose Girl and you get to know him a little better in Enna Burning, but obviously, not nearly as well as you do in River Secrets.  He’s a great character and seeing things through his perspective was not only enlightening but entertaining as well.

I’m looking forward to reading Forest Born, the fourth book in the Books of Bayern series, especially since the main character is basically a brand new one.  I’m also looking forward to how earth-speaking (if that’s what it’s called) will come into play since Hale introduces a new speaking ability in each book.