This was my absolute favorite book of the trilogy! This one had so much mystery in it, I loved it! And all the mythological beasts were so fascinating and had me googling to see more about them, as it appears the author actually drew from real mythological beasts!

My only real qualm with this series is that soooooo many of the characters (including the beasts) had the same narcissistic personality!

Let's see, we have the unicorns, the golden egg-laying goose, the mermaids, the dragons, the phoenix, the rich parents, the oldest sister, the adopted sister...and I'm sure I'm missing some... all have variations of narcissistic behavior ranging from snooty and arrogant and obnoxious to "woe-is-me, nobody appreciates me" regular diatribes. Over and over and over again from FAR TOO DAMNED MANY characters!! Seriously, does this author not have the imagination to create different personalities??

That said, I still really loved this book, honestly! And nearly gave it 5 stars if not for that really annoying aspect.

And I do still recommend this series to anyone that loves fantasy and mythological beasts because this was one wild ride and was so full of amazing creatures and the main kids in it at least were awesome characters!