Ella Enchanted meets The Parent Trap. Frozen meets Harry Potter.
Along with the feel of these great stories, author Elise Allen brings readers a whole new world filled with high-stakes adventure, magic spells, daring twists, and all the spark of sisterhood in the Disney book series, Twinchantment.
In the first book in the series, Twinchantment, we learn that magic was outlawed in the kingdom of Kaloon generations ago. Twins, black cats, and other potentially magical beings also made the outlaw list.
This meant that royal twins, Flissa and Sara, had to pretend to be one princess, Flissara. They traded off various royal duties including attending balls, participating in fencing exhibitions, and making friends with other young nobles, all while hiding in plain sight.
But when the first magical attack in years puts their mother’s life in danger, the girls must break the rules that have protected them to save her. Enlisting a brave servant boy and his plucky black kitten as their guides, they set off on an epic quest to the Twists – a forbidden place full of dark magic – to find the evil mage who cursed the queen.
With a case of mistaken identity, a wickedly powerful exile out for vengeance, and time running out for their mother, the twins might just need to make their own magic to save the day.
In the second book, Untwisted, set for release on April 7, Flissa and Sara begin the fight to return magic to Kaloon. After ousting treacherous magical citizens and encouraging the former prisoners of the Twists to adjust to life in the kingdom, everything seems to be going better than anyone could have hoped.
But when the princesses attend Maldevon Academy with the other children of the kingdom, both magical and non-magical, the remaining tensions among the people become clear. While navigating school life for the first time, Flissa and Sara begin to drift apart as they continue to embrace their individual identities, leaving Flissara behind them.
Then when strange happenings suggest someone isn’t happy with the unification the academy represents, Flissa and Sara find themselves at odds over the possible culprits. To preserve the newfound peace in Kaloon, the princesses must learn to trust each other again and uncover the truth before it’s too late.
***
Everything about Untwisted is alive with color, movement and magic.
I was lucky enough to receive an early release copy which was admittedly my introduction to the series. But starting out on book 2 did not leave me wanting – Allen artfully incorporates enough of the happenings in Twinchantment such that I did not feel lost. In fact, it made me even more interested in reading book 1, which I hastily ordered after finishing Untwisted.
Never before has magic seemed so second nature. I found myself wishing message milk, bubblegrams and magical signatures would just magic themselves into real life. They would fit in so neatly (and would come in handy, particularly if technology ever fails us). Untwisted also trades quidditch for a team sport called hoddle which just sounds like great fun.
But even a world with magic in it has its problems. The rich, broken history of Kaloon and its inhabitants provides a mature, confronting backdrop to an otherwise upbeat, fun-loving story. Flissa and Sara, just like us, encounter stereotyping and prejudices that inhibit the wellbeing and potential of everyone – magical or not.
Readers also gain insight into the teething problems associated with royalty versus the real world upon Flissa and Sara’s introduction to Maldevon Academy. Their differences in experiences, expectations and friendships leaves readers with many great lessons, including the following which I thought was particularly pertinent to many relationships:
They didn’t share a life, and they didn’t ignore each other either. They each had their own friends and their own things they loved to do, but at the end of the day they always came back to one another. It was perfect.
If you love a good story about sibling dynamics, growing pains, magic and mystery, you are going to want to get your hands on the Twinchantment series. Twinchantment is available for purchase on Amazon, and you can also preorder Untwisted today!