This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
In Elizabeth Mowery’s The Unwanted Alliance, Adeline Bigsby is a seventeen-year-old girl who lives with her family. She unlocks a rusty gate behind her backyard and enters a hidden realm where time in her world stops. There, she trains with a fighter named Jesse under the direction of Godfrey, a leader who oversees the realm. He assigns missions against a ruler named Ralock, whose forces raid distant regions. During one mission, Adeline encounters Caleb, a teenage boy marked with a cobra tattoo that binds him to Ralock and prevents him from leaving. After Caleb attacks her and is later injured, Adeline is forced to take him back across a desert and into forest territory while Ralock’s hunters pursue them, leading her to enter a guarded city to remove the tattoo before they are stopped.
Elizabeth Mowery’s The Unwanted Alliance is book two of The Unforgettable Tales of Adeline Bigsby, and leans wonderfully into a reluctant cooperation for survival inside a hidden realm cut off from ordinary time. Mowery has developed Adeline into a fully fleshed-out teenager, and we see her evolution from a quiet life into combat duty, coming of age under pressure, and going so far as to risk herself for another person. Caleb is a mixed bag, with the mystery of his backstory and his connection to the territory. The settings are brilliant and visual, from a desert filled with red stones to a fog-shrouded forest, with a hidden tunnel behind a waterfall. There are loads of speculative elements, with the standout being invisibility in a world where survival depends on concealment. Well written and totally immersive, the story wraps up with a promise of more to come, and I'm excited to see what Mowery delivers next. Very highly recommended.
