I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A true old fashioned quest is where we meet the main character Freya. She and her mother live in a small village and look after her beloved grandfather. Sadly he became ill five years previously and hadn't spoken since. Two mysterious (yet somehow familiar) strangers appear out of the blue asking for him. It appears they need his help to find someone named Cassie and to save a diamond that will keep the land safe? If for only a moment, she and her mother hear grandfather speak once again. In those precious moments before slipping back into oblivion he makes it known she must leave the only place she'd ever I known to go on this quest. And with that he became silent once more. So begins an exciting quest with strangers who might become friends. Along the way meeting more interesting characters, and may trials and tribulations. After all as in most quests, things worth finding never occur easily. Freya learns a great deal about herself along the way, and I doubt this is the end of the tale....it looks like it's just the beginning. I loved all the twists and turns along the way! Nothing boring about this quest....after all, when unicorn shifters, pixies, fae and numerous other beings come to play...boring is the LAST thing that comes to mind! ( )

I love a story with unicorns, but there are so many other supernatural and mythical creatures to fear and love, that I barely had a moment to catch my breath as the threesome set off on a dangerous quest to find the Diamond.

An unlikely duo appears at Freya’s door. Opal is a young ‘girl’ with pink and purple hair and a gruff attitude, making it hard to like her. Jet is a young ‘boy’ with blue hair and a lighthearted demeanor, making it easy to like him.

Freya’s grandfather had a stroke and had not spoken in years, but when the duo arrived on their doorstep, he told her she must join them on their quest to find the Diamond and save them from the Darkness that is taking over the land.

River volunteers his services in reading the map, which is in a code they cannot decipher. Can he be trusted…or is he after the Diamond for himself.

Trouble is sure to find them as they enter the woods, travel to distant mountains and come face to face with Baxil. They will encounter many supernatural creatures and have others join in their quest.

Unicorns are not extinct, just very well hidden. Like elephants and rhinos in our world, they are valued for their horns.

I love the Diamond twist.

The action ramps up as their journey nears its end. The characters grow, develop, and show their true colors, while forming a family of sorts, with a little romance thrown in for good measure.

The world building is magical, supernatural, and the more I read, the more I got lost in it, worrying, fretting, and wondering how the Diamond would save their world.

I love this quote:

I would never make the mistake of letting my fear stop me again. Life was too fragile, too uncertain to risk never getting the chance again.

Their quest is over, but there will more to the story and I look forward to being there for it.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Unicorn Key by J A Culican and J A Armitage

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Freya is living quietly with her mother and grandfather, on their farm. Five years ago, when she was just thirteen, her grandfather had a stroke and hasn't spoken a word since. He just sits in his rocker by the fireplace, rocking.

So it's rather a shock when two young people, a young man named Jet, with startlingly black hair, and a young woman named Opal, with pink hair. They want Seth, her grandfather, to go with them on a quest to recover the diamond that maintains the balance of dark and light. It's been stolen, and the dark is taking over.

Freya is very, very annoyed with these people, who obviously don't know her grandfather at all--until one of them mentions that Cassiopeia sent them. After not speaking and barely moving for five years, he wakes up. Cassiopeia, he knows. Cassiopeia, he wakes up for. He's not strong enough to go with them himself, but Freya, he says, has to. And he gives her a pendent he wears.

Freya can't refuse the request her grandfather makes the first time he speaks in five years.

Seth is soon silent and rocking in his chair again, but Freya has promised, and her mother encourages her. And, heck, it'll be an adventure, right? And she'll surely be back in a few days?

Of course not, but she doesn't know that. They do stop at a tavern, where the food is barely edible, but there they pick up River, the handsome, bad-boy son of an outright swindler, who has two advantages over any of them: He can read maps, and he has done a lot of traveling in the wilderness. Opal grudgingly agrees to pay him, and the next morning they set off.

This is an odd book. A lot of the setting and background details suggest a typically medieval-type setting; a lot of phrases and attitudes suggest a much more contemporary setting. This annoyed me, off and on, throughout the book. Yet the characters are likable and interesting, and the plot moves. I was never annoyed enough that I wanted to stop reading. Instead, I wanted to see what happened. The target audience here is young adult, and I honestly don't know whether they'll be more or less annoyed by the uncertain setting, but I can say that I enjoyed the book.

I received a free electronic galley from the authors, and am reviewing it voluntarily. ( )