Amulet

While I really have enjoyed the rest of the series (which I've been slowly reading with one of my students over the course of the past year), this book finally gave some of the spotlight to Trellis. He has been, for the past few books, the one character where I've felt like I cannot understand or recognise his motivations.

For a while, I found him interesting, and I rather liked how he shifted from his original aggressive behaviour to a more calm demeanor that helped him get to know and work with Emily. He still has his issues, some of which are caused by the in-world discrimination (which feels very muddy because it's like a bunch of people are being punished for the fear that others have of the elf king) and are not things that are his own personal fault. (It also doesn't help that he is the son of the current elf king, even if he is working against his own father. But still, the discrimination toward elves is core to others who are just... ordinary people, not only part of the monarch's family.)

This time, we at least get a glimpse back at Trellis through his memories, and we start understanding him a little bit better. We get to spend some time with the antagonist (first) and then Trellis (second), which provides us some more information on the world of the elves. It's still not enough for me because I think Trellis's backstory could've been its own whole story and that there is a lot more left unsaid in all of the books (and much of it should've been said), but... I appreciate finally getting to spend time with him in the story.