I am not afraid of the challenge
Readers of The Last Tavern could – so far – read all the reviews of the previous volumes with the adventures of Czarolina ( One day I will become a fantasy scientist ! , The Girl Who Loved Werebeasts and The Secret of My Origin ). The next text is devoted to the latest volume of the series – Zmora. Czarolina is stuck between the dream and waking worlds, so the heroes must do everything to bring the girl back to life. Even though students are becoming more and more knowledgeable about magical phenomena, new questions arise: Who is the newcomer who appeared as a skeleton? Is there a way to ward off the Herald, a creature that foretells misfortune? Who is actually responsible for turning living creatures into glass statues? What is the true nature of Madame C and Professor Belshazzar? Do not be under the illusion that Sylvia Douyé and Paola Antista will answer all these questions in the reviewed volume, but they will certainly bring you closer to the truth (which – as you guessed – may be surprising!).
Franco-Italian combination
The newest adventures of Czarolina are also enclosed in a beautiful setting – the cover catches our eyes (a bit scared, the title character looks directly at us, surrounded by magical creatures that express a silent willingness to help … uaaa!). And I would say that nothing has changed since the first volume – those who say that we make a decision to buy a book based on its appearance are right. And what does the Franco-Italian proposal have inside? Very family adventures. Finally, we get full information about the title character’s past – we already know who her mother is and that she has a twin brother. The role of Professor Balthazar, whose help was invaluable in the first moments of children’s lives, is important. Magic animals also appear, but I would say only as an accessory (a bit of force). Students save each other and in the meantime they heal magical animals – a kind of confusion to which the authors, however, have already got us used to. In addition, a new student appears in the plot and his presence has a significant impact on what is happening at school, and most importantly – he has not yet developed the ability to see magical animals (including people, eghm!).
In the opinion of the reviewer
My doubts about the content of the series remain unchanged. Reading the adventures of Czarolina, we do not have time to get bored – the action rushes headlong. The heroes constantly have to make binding decisions, the threat does not pass, and there are many surprises. Dialogues are numerous and sometimes complicated, sometimes additionally enriched with some linguistic error. The reader may also have doubts as to whether such a number of heroes is justified – after all, only some of them play important roles in the comic book scene. In conclusion, I will finish reading the series about Czarolina (including because of the beautiful illustrations), but unfortunately – and I can admit it right now – I cannot classify it as one of my favorites.
