Review: Lor Mandela-Destruction from Twins by L. Carroll

Lor Mandela Destruction from Twins by L. Carroll
Published February 2010
Source: I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Purchase: Amazon, Barnes and Nobles

Part I (Destruction From Twins)
When a selfish enchantress seeks to steal mystical powers from her twin sister, she sentences the world of Lor Mandela and its inhabitants to death. In an effort to preserve itself, the soul of the planet appoints a Child of Balance named Audril Borloc who must solve a prophetic riddle known as the Advantiere. All hope seems lost, however, when shortly after her fourth birthday, Audril disappears without a trace.
Desperate to save their world, Lor Mandelan spies travel to Earth in search of the little girl with black hair and bright blue eyes-traits that on Lor Mandela are exclusive to the ruling family, Borloc. Instead, they find seventeen-year-old Maggie. While the age difference between the girls is obvious, Maggie has the Borloc traits-evidence enough for the eager spies. They devise a plan to get Maggie to Lor Mandela, but will their scheme be successful? And what if they have the wrong girl? Who will save Lor Mandela then?
Part II (And So It Must End)
Maggie Baker has always wished for a more eventful life. Unfortunately, she is about to get it. Following an earthquake that no one seems to have felt but her, her mundane existence is thrown into a roller-coaster ride of twists and turns as she suddenly finds herself bouncing back and forth between her hometown of Glenhill, Iowa and the distant world of Lor Mandela. On this strange planet, Maggie must learn who to trust, and who to fear. More importantly, she must find a way to convince the Lor Mandelans that she is not the Child of Balance, and her family and friends in Iowa (and herself for that matter) that she is not going insane.
Amid fighting a two-headed creature, being captured by a lawless band of Shadow Dwellers, and falling head-over-heels for the enchanting son of an evil warlord, Maggie sees the lines of the Advantiere unfold around her. It isn't long before she discovers that her blasé reality could be the real fantasy, and that the fate of an entire world may actually depend on her.

My Thoughts:

This story is one of the best fantasy stories that I’ve read in a while. The story starts off in Lor Mandela a different planet where the fight for power has turned deadly. All it takes is one person’s greediness for power to ultimately causes a series of events that ends up turning the world of Lor Mandela upside down. This catastrophic event leads you on a whirlwind adventure to find the “child of balance” the solution to the problem.

We meet Maggie Baker who is an ordinary teenager living on earth, strange things start happening to her as the people of Lor Mandela believe she is the child of balance. As Maggie fights to keep her sanity, she has to prove to her family and friends as well as herself that she’s not losing it and these things are really happening to her.

The adventure never stops as I’m sucked into this captivating and highly addictive world that the author has created. The world building was fantastic as I could actually imagine this enchanting world of Lor Mandela full of Squankis, Shadow Dwellers, and Rynolts. All of the characters were well developed and they grew on me, I shared their happiness, hatred, and frustration. The story flowed beautifully between the two worlds, Earth and Lor Mandela.

There were twist and turns in the storyline that made me question myself and then when I thought I knew the answer, the author through me another loop. There was magic, adventure, betrayal, romance and deception.

This is definitely a story that everyone should read. I loved this book and can’t wait to read the second book, talk about cliffhanger.