Book Review: The Blue Medallion

Reviewed by Erica Ball

Magic, romance, and a web of lies four hundred years in the making

Beginning a year after the pivotal events in the first book in The Wild Island Series, Lily is summoned back to the magical island of her childhood and into a whirlwind of intrigue in The Blue Medallion. Seeing multiple power struggles at play among the island’s High Council, Lily must unravel layer upon layer of secrets about what is actually going on among the different factions and how her family’s (and island’s) history will impact her future. 

To add to the complexity of the present situation is the fact that it has been four hundred years in the making. These are no mere mortals; they are revenants, the transformed survivors of the original colonists of the island. In the alternate history of this story, these are actually the fabled lost colonists of the historical Roanoke colony, who came to this mysterious island in an attempt to survive. Forced to either use the island’s magic to transform or to face death by starvation, they were spared, but have since been trapped on the island. But now, Lily’s family is in possession of a means for them to leave, and this has thrown their insular world into chaos. 

Central to all this is the enigmatic and mysterious High Councilor, Nicholas Johnson, who has led the English colonists of the island from nearly the beginning. Lily’s and Nicholas’s attraction to one another is immediate and not entirely explained. But once they meet and begin to get to know each other, it becomes increasingly clear to Lily that her future is tied up with his, though the way through the maze of threats to her, her family, and the island is unclear. 

The relationship between them becomes the engine of the story but is itself complicated by questions of power, fate, and alliances going back to Lily’s own childhood. All the reader can do is hope that Lily is able to find a way through the layers of deceit and confusion. 

From Nicholas and a few others, Lily slowly learns about the decay in morality demonstrated by the High Council, his risky plan to save the island, as well as more about her own family’s place in the intrigue. As she learns more, her view of the complex situation keeps shifting, making it hard to know who she can fully trust and which path she needs to take. And it turns out she has a crucial decision to make, as the bearer of a powerful medallion gifted to her long ago. 

Between her medallion and an ancient structure on the island, Lily and Nicholas have the means to make radical changes to their reality. But the rules governing the magic of the medallion and the island at large are precise, detailed, and dangerous. There is a great deal to lose if she agrees to Nicholas’s plan, including possibly their own lives.

That the magic of the island is governed by mysterious and at times convoluted rules may be confusing for some readers. Though it can be read as a standalone, a familiarity with the first book in the series would be helpful for important context. 

This is an intriguing story about the struggle for power, both mundane and magical, about about trusting in those who are motivated by what is right. It is about how sometimes the only way to know what is right is by listening to your heart. Those who enjoy fantasy & romance will get plenty of both in The Blue Medallion.

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