The Secret World of Farallon: Ranora’s Revenge is Melany Holton’s sequel to her first book about the amazing, magical adventures and discoveries beneath the oceans. In this story, Eric’s little brother TJ is "kidnapped" by the foolish Mitch and Judd, who fall under the spell of the dangerous and power greedy mermaid Ranora – after her stealing the Merqueen, Relona’s, role. Can Eric and his friends, both human and merpeople, find and rescue TJ and the other prisoners? Can Relona reverse the spell and find the next successor to reign over this underwater world?

The Secret World of Farallon is a brilliantly imaginative and entertaining story that nine to twelve-year-olds will find exciting and absorbing. The plot is well thought out and moves along at a good pace with plenty of excitement, mystery and suspense along the way. Although this is a sequel, it is not essential to have read the first book as there is plenty of recapping and explaining of the essential parts of the previous plot. The main characters are nicely developed, and the dialogue and thoughts of the children are realistic and believable.

I loved the secrecy of the underwater world. Melany Holton has created a well thought out species and way of life – complete with magical shells, spells that can turn humans into merpeople, enabling them to swim beneath the ocean and communicate with the merchildren and other creatures. Mitch and Judd are more foolish and funny than nasty – which is important in children’s books – and there is a nice message about goodness, kindness and good values triumphing over evil. The descriptive pieces will transport you into this magical oceanic world, and I particularly liked the excitement and danger conveyed in the seahorse race. A great story idea that will appeal to children’s imaginations.

In a fantastic sequel to the first book in The Secret World of Farallon series, author Melany Holton’s new work, Ranora’s Revenge, does a great job of continuing the story of Farallon and the underwater kingdom inhabited by magical mer-people. Ranora, a twin created by an ancient Merqueen with magic shells so that the queen can experience the world of humankind, has been trapped by pirates for 450 years. Finally released, Ranora gets control of the magic shells she needs to restore her youth and beauty, and she begins to create the underwater zoo where she plans to hold the humans that she captures for her own entertainment and for revenge. Farallon is now fifteen and is determined to enter the seahorse race. The race will be more dangerous than ever without the protection of the Merqueen. Humans continue to threaten Farallon’s magical world, determined to find it and exploit its magical secrets.

The Secret World of Farallon: Ranora’s Revenge was an excellent read in the genre of fantasy for young adults. I found the story exciting and with a great story line. Characters are well drawn and easy to relate to, even though they are set in a fantastic world. The plot is unique, certainly not one that you read every day, and it’s refreshing, as a voracious reader, to find something that isn’t so formulaic that you feel as if you know exactly what will happen as soon as you get through the first few pages. I can easily recommend Ranora’s Revenge to anyone looking for a great work of fantasy for young adults. I certainly hope that author Melany Holton is already working on the next book. I, for one, will be watching for it!

A Merqueen rules until she vanishes on her 100th birthday and a new Merqueen becomes the new ruler. Merqueen Arana from the Mazak colony wasn’t ready to relinquish her powers. Instead, she used her magic shells and created a twin of herself that she called Ranora. She sent Ranora out as a human so she could experience what their world was like. She was hoping that her twin would be able to keep her alive after she reached her passing age. However, her plan failed. When she finally reached 100 years old, she simply vanished. On the other hand, Ranora had no desire to return to her colony. She joined the human pirates. When she lost her power, betrayed and mistreated by the humans, Ranora vowed revenge after over 450 years.

Author Melany Holton has written a charming fantasy tale in The Secret World of Farallon: Ranora's Revenge. The premise is fascinating and the world of the merpeople is intricate and well developed. The plot is appropriately paced and it’s quite easy to immerse yourself in the story. Eric Doyle and his friends and family are wonderful, quirky characters. Antagonists such as Judd Cardon are well fleshed out and believable, particularly Ranora. She may be the enemy in the story, but she’s a lot of fun to read about. Even though Ranora’s Revenge is the second installment of the series (The Secret World of Farallon), the story is sufficient enough as a standalone. The intended audience is definitely young readers, but adults can enjoy the story as well.

The Secret World of Farallon: Ranora’s Revenge is the second book in the series by Melany Holton, a thrilling tale that immerses readers in a world of magic and the machinations of an evil sea creature. In order to get a feel of the human world, the queen of the sea creates a duplicate of herself using magic shells – her duplicate self is called Ranora. Captured and chained for eons under the water, Ranora is finally awakened from her long stupor by a sea quake. Now old and skeletal, without a shred of her former beauty, she is bent on exacting her revenge against humans. The exciting seahorse race is close at hand, but there are dangers in the way as the sea queen can no longer offer her protection to the racers. Will there be a hero brave enough to save the human world and protect the secrets of Farallon’s world from falling into the wrong hands?

In The Secret World of Farallon: Ranora’s Revenge, Holton creates fascinating characters such as Eric Doyle and worlds filled with magic, an enchanting world of fantasy which young readers will definitely enjoy. The prose is beautiful and filled with interesting dialogues that make the plot move forward. Holton’s use of suspense is skillful and it adds elements of mystery and fascination to the story. The characters are compelling and it is interesting to see them evolve in their growth process. Most compelling are the themes in the story —  the futile quest for revenge, the search for hidden secrets, and most importantly, friendship that cuts through all barriers of nature. The underwater zoo created by the evil Ranora to trap humans, the seahorse race, and the secrets of Farallon are elements that make the story enchantingly beautiful. This is a books I will highly recommend for young readers.