“Sednaam: The Heart of the Earth is a great story full of enchanting magic, heartwarming characters, and adventures that suck will you in!”

Review by Renae Powers

Explore the mesmerizing underground world of Sednaam with the riveting clean young adult fantasy novel! Journey through breathtaking scenery, get to know the fascinating culture of the dwellers and be awed by the marvellous creatures that inhabit this realm. Embark on an extraordinary adventure filled with vibrant descriptions and captivating dialogue – where your wildest imagination can run free!

Lilia is a young dreamer with her head in the clouds and an inexplicable longing in her heart. She feels like she doesn’t belong in this ordinary world, though she can’t quite put her finger on why.

Jack, Lilia’s teenage neighbour and a major crush, tries to keep his head down at school and endure his family’s woes until he can leave the small town behind.

Overnight, their lives are flipped upside down. They find themselves in a wondrous underground world of Druids, Vikings and otherworldly creatures. It soon becomes obvious that nothing is a coincidence.

Lilia grew up wishing for magic to be real and daydreaming about a world in which it exists. Jack is just trying to survive the life of a teenager whose parents have split. But when an unexpected adventure throws them together, these two neighbors learn about a world they never knew could be real! For Lilia it seems like a dream come true and for Jack it’s an opportunity to grow into his own person. But just as they start getting comfortable in their new reality, someone starts to threaten everything they’ve just begun to love. Can they help save Sednaam, or will they contribute to its downfall? 

Sednaam: The Heart of the Earth was a fun, lighthearted adventure! It was full of the most charming descriptions and wonderful worldbuilding. The characters were lots of fun and I loved seeing the growth of our main characters, Lilia and Jack, throughout the story. I also related a lot to Lilia, always daydreaming and wishing magic was real, feeling out of place with her peers. I loved seeing shy and sullen Jack bloom in his new environment and become more of a brave leader of his peers. There were also characters I didn’t quite love- looking at you, Aleksi… You give me Severus Snape vibes and I’m not sure which side you’re going to land on in the end. 

I loved the thoughtful detail of giving the kids in Sednaam little aid animals and I smiled whenever they entered the scene because of how absolutely adorable they were! I would be grateful not to have to choose my animal because I don’t know how I could decide between the graceful hummingbirds and cute lizards! 

I really appreciated how the author kept the book very age-appropriate throughout. No content made me pause and think it didn’t belong. It was perfectly clean and even the violence was muted and vaguely described. Some of the characters do experience romantic thoughts, but still in an appropriate way (crushes on peers, blushing when complimented, etc.). The challenges the characters faced were a little too easily resolved for my liking and I found the ‘twists’ to be predictable, but these parts would likely also be well suited to the intended age group.
Overall, Sednaam: The Heart of the Earth is a great story full of enchanting magic, heartwarming characters, and adventures that suck will you in! I recommend this book for young people (11-16 years old) who like fantasy, magic, and reading about characters their age.

Content Ratings:

2. Some fun action, mild violence, and one death scene of the ‘bad guy’ that is very vaguely described

1. Crushing and blushing, but nothing more.

1. None that I can recall.

Other Trigger/Content Notices:

N/A

Our Reviews of Other Books by this author:

N/A