North or Be Eaten Review

North or Be Eaten by Andrew Peterson is the second book in the Wingfeather Saga, a Christian middle grade fantasy series. It continues the story of Janner Igiby and his family pretty much at the same place we left them at the end of the first book. We follow them along their adventures heading North and hopefully to safety.  

I gave it a 4 out of 5 stars. Just as with the first book, the writing is beautiful. It has a wonderful flow and gripping quality that I really enjoy. The characters are still fantastic. They are unique, well written and developed, and inspire many different feelings in me. 

I always appreciate when a sequel begins right where the previous book left off, or just shortly thereafter. It is harder to adjust and continue in the story if too larger a gap of time has passed, and is annoying if that great amount of time has passed but the characters are exactly the same as when we left them. As it is, I found that I very quickly got back into the flow of the story. 

The continuation of the plot is interesting and takes us on the traditional journey (leaving home and the adventures along the way). I actually really enjoyed all they went through and the development that it brought out in the characters. The story was thrilling and I almost couldn’t put it down in my eagerness to know what would happen next. The plot definitely took turns that I was not expecting and I love being taken by surprise. 

One thing that stood out to me (in a good way) was how Peterson showcased choices and the consequences of those choices. It is really nice to see people having to confront old mistakes and pay the price for them, as well as see people make bad choices now that have lasting negative consequences (not getting out of it all free and easy because we like the "happily ever after"). I like the honest perspective because our choices do have consequences and sometimes they are bad, and sometimes they affect the poeple we love, and sometimes they will affect the rest of our lives. Even so, Peterson does it in such a way that we don't loose hope, and that makes it beautiful.

Again, it doesn't really have any specifically "Christian" content. But that didn't take me by surprise or distract me like it did in the first book. I still hope Peterson will bring something in, but perhaps he is leaning more toward writing like Tolkien did (no direct or clear religous teaching or theology in his works).

Lastly, I was really pleased with how the book ended. I really dislike cliff hangers (which is more common in second and further books in a series), so this was a very satisfying conclusion. It felt solidly complete, but with the overarching series plot’s remaining questions and the beginning of a new journey to look forward to in the coming book (a well chosen stopping place). 

Overall I really enjoyed this book and highly anticipate the next one.