As the magical world of Artime crumbles, the lives of hundreds of people are changed forever. After the death of a headmaster at the Unwanteds’ (people thrown out of the oppressive city of Quill) mansion, the sanctuary disappears. Chaos ensues as the new leader of Artime, Alex, struggles to create the mansion again. But just as they think nothing else could go wrong, Alex’s evil twin, Aaron, attacks. The Artimeans fight with as much force as an army. Throughout these tough times, others are struggling to live on elsewhere. Claire Morning, another instructor at the mansion, is captured and held captive. In her own friends house, she is locked in a closet, and is only allowed 30 minutes break time. Little does she know her friend is just around the corner, in a different room. As she struggles to find the motivation to keep going, she learns to persevere through her desire to help her friends.”The thing that kept her strong was the Unwanteds… It was the thought of all the Unwanteds struggling to make sense of what happened, struggling to survive without their magical world, that kept Claire motivated to survive so that she could get back there and help them”(McCann 43). She finds she can persevere through extreme hardships through her kindness and love.

Claire is not the only one who is struggling to survive through their time of peril. Two characters, Lani and Samheed, fight to survive as they are also held captive, but by a people called Warblers. These people have caused them temporary blindness, deafness, and lack of speech through painful thorns sewn around the neck. As they try to adapt to the terrible conditions they experience on the island, they find comfort through each other. “He was uncomfortable with Lani’s head resting on his upper arm, treating it as a pillow, and he debated whether he could slide his arm out without disturbing her or letting go of her hand. They were tethered by a promise. Their hands weren’t tied together by anything but fear of the other being snatched away”(McCann 175). Lani and Samheed are able to endure hardships through just trust and the support they find in each others company.

A final example of a characters perseverance is from Lani. Just after the Unwanteds are able to rescue Samheed and Lani, everything seems to be in order. But there is one last secret to tell. Lani’s mother has died in the battle over Artime. Lani finds solice through Samheed and his love for her. “She wrapped her arms around his neck and sobbed into his shoulder. Samheed held her, eyes closed, saying things only she could hear. ‘Take me home,’ she sobbed.’ take me home’”(McCann 372) This allows her to find comfort instead of dealing with the situation by herself. Through her love for Samheed, Lani is able to find her way during an emotional situation.

I believe that one of the main themes of this book is perseverance. Throughout the book characters such as Lani, Samheed, Claire, and many others must press on during extreme hardships. They do this through love, comfort, and motivation to see their friends again. This is also shown by every Unwanted who fought in the battle to believe in what they thought was their true home. The characters who stood firm were able to see their friends again and reclaim Artime. These lessons should be followed in real life as well.

I think that this book was a wonderful example of an exciting, powerful, fantasy book. Throughout the book, I was on the edge of my seat, wondering what was going to happen next. The beautifully crafted story and well-written chapters kept me intrigued and wanting to read more. I just couldn’t put it down! I also enjoyed the different perspectives of characters. Throughout the book, scenarios were shown through the eyes of Alex, Aaron, Lani, and Samheed. Overall, I feel this book was amazing and needs to be read by everyone! This book is great for people who wish to read the next Harry Potter and Hunger Games!