Book #76 of 2024: Majestica

Majestica by Sarah Tolcser.

Quick synopsis: Rich girl, poor girl, wealth and status don't matter when bad guys are trying to big game hunt in a magical animal preserve and the train leading out gets blown up.

Brief opinion: Great story with subtle lessons for younger readers!

Plot: Hotel Majestica is a hotel on the edge of a privately owned magical animal preserve. It's a five star place with a magical train that will take the guests through the preserve to see all the animals.

Hattie is an orphaned girl who works as a maid. Evelyn's uncle owns the hotel. They both end up on the train taking the tour, along with a number of bad men (hunters, no hunting is permitted in the preserve) and various other adults with their own plots and plans.

Someone blows up the train, which leaves all the hotel guests and staff on foot among dangerous magical creatures.

Writing/editing: Writing was great and editing was nearly perfect (I spotted only one single issue).

What I Liked/What I Didn’t Like: I read so many YA and MG books, it's (sadly) rare for the adult characters in them to be full-fledged, realistic characters and not just something to get in the way of the young characters' plans. In Majestica, the adults were just as developed as characters as the kids were (though of course the kids were the main characters, so we didn't see as much of the adults).

I loved the mythical creatures (dragons, unicorns, trigers (not a typo), and many others). They all seemed realistic and believable.

I liked the messages this book taught: The impact of hunting rare wild creatures. The aftereffects of trophy hunting. The violence that some people inflict all too casually. The blindness people can have towards someone they love.

I loved seeing the impact the story had on Hattie and Evelyn, how it changed them in completely different ways.

The only thing I didn't like was that this author only has two other books published (the last one six years ago). I wish she had a whole library out for me to read!

Rating: 1-Hated / 2-Disliked / 3-Okay / 4-Liked / 5-Loved: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- 5 stars, loved.