The three magical girls are back in the mysterious land of Cephiro for a second adventure! They don't know who summoned them to this alien world, but they have their weapons and the Mashin spirits to help them fight, this time against invaders from neighboring worlds. Without a Pillar to hold the planet together, Cephiro is literally falling apart, and only the three Magic Knights can defend this world until someone new can take on the job of being the Pillar.

All the same things that I liked and disliked about the first volumes still hold true. The plot is obvious, the characters lack depth, and the action artwork is confusing. But the girls are cute! and I like the pretty artwork, and the adorable characters and their sweet friendships.

I'm interested to find out about the various new characters, and villains from other worlds, and see where their stories will lead. And it's lovely to see the girls reunited with their old friends from the previous books!

I like having a fun fluffy read to enjoy. Even though it's not amazingly complex story, it's still entertaining.

IN this 2nd volume, there are three countries warring for control of the mystical land of Cephiro, and it's up to the Legendary Magic Knights to protect the country they have come to love. But within Cephiro there are still mysteries to be solved, and possible spies within the palace. If the Magic Knights can't find someone to take on the role of the Pillar, Cephiro will slowly crumble into nothing and be destroyed.

There are a lot of flashbacks that show the backstory of some mysterious side characters, and how they connect to the original Pillar of Cephiro. Those who were close to the former Princess are dedicated to protecting Cephiro, but they are reluctant to establish a new Pillar.

I enjoyed this story, but it had all the same problems as the previous volumes. The main three characters do have a little character development in this one, and they solidify their motivations for fighting for their friends, but all the characters are very one-dimensional and static.
I love the pretty artwork, but the action panels are so busy and confusing that I can barely tell what is going on.
Still, it's a fun and easy read, and kept my interest!

As Cephiro's neighboring worlds launch a final attack, the Magic Knights are desperate to find the magical Road that will lead them to the new Pillar. Establishing a new Pillar seems to be the only hope for Cephiro, but the fluffy little Mokona has been hiding the secret all along.

I was interested to see how the side characters finally revealed their hidden motivations, and when it came to the final test, they all had secrets to show. I just wish that the characters had more depth. The story is a little bare and predictable. The girls are so cute though, so I don't mind that they aren't complex.
The action panels were still so confusing, and I could never tell half of what was happening during any of the battles. But the pretty artwork in other areas of the book made up for that!

I'm glad that I read this series, because I really needed a fun and easy read for this week. It's not amazingly life-changing literature, but it's interesting and entertaining!

Oh my goodness! Lots of spy things happening! I love how brave they all are. Much cuteness happening in the middle of dangerous spy things.

Love this volume! Finally finally finally our cute couple get to kiss. About stinking time!

Love the ending, and the extra little episodes that show a further happy ending!

The five children are back for more magic from their wishing well. But this time the magic is including all sorts of unsuitable people in their adventures, and the children aren't sure if they can accept these new people encroaching on their magic business.

Can the school bully really be reformed by the magic, or does he deserve to be punished for his previous schoolyard crimes? Will the children try to help an extremely annoying opera diva, or will they avoid her like the plague? And what about the crazy witch-lady from the local insane asylum? Surely, the magic wouldn't expect them to make friends with a dangerous witch! But somehow the magic pulls through, the children find the courage and resourcefulness to overcome every obstacle, and they spread some good magic around their neighborhood while still having fun! They learn that anyone can become a friend if only you show them acceptance and kindness.

The only thing that I didn't like about this book was the changing POV. Each chapter is written by a different member of the Wishing-Well group, and while I thought it was interesting to see how they each had their own voice and unique perspective, changing POVs is one of my pet peeves. It IS well done in this book, but no matter how well-written, it still grates on my nerves. That's just me.

Otherwise, this is a 5-star book! The characters grow and make mistakes and have break-through ideas. The plot turns around in unexpected ways, and the writing is funny and bright. Even rereading this for the 2nd time, I was engaged and entertained and loving it!

There are several reasons why I did not like this adaptation of Macbeth.

1. It's supposed to be rewritten for children, but the vocabulary is NOT age-appropriate . Even if a preteen was reading it, there are too many big words that a child would not know . If you were reading this to a child, you would have to stop after every sentence and explain half the words! I support children learning new words through reading, but there's a point where it becomes too much. If a child doesn't understand 4 out of 10 words in the book, they will lose interest and not learn anything.

2. It doesn't read like a story. It reads like a synopsis. The bare bones of the story are told with almost no dialogue at all, and no descriptions. The characters are just names on the page with nothing to pull the reader's emotions into the story. Bad story-telling!

3. The illustrations are weird-looking and boring. These black and white sketches of characters are supposed to look cartoony, I suppose, but their faces just look strange. Their eyebrows are huge, and Lady Macbeth has a crooked mouth. I don't know much about art, but I know that these illustrations do nothing to attract the reader into the story.

4. All the mystery and beauty and painful suspense of Shakespeare's story is completely cut out and lost. If you're going to rewrite Shakespeare, you'd better make darn sure that you know what you're doing! The best thing I can say about the writing is that it is all grammatically correct. But there is no magic.

I would never read this to a child. It might make them hate Shakespeare forever!

Disclaimer: I received an ecopy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts and are not influenced by anyone.

In this last book of the series, a whole new set of characters take center stage for another magical adventure! These children love visiting the library every week and checking out piles of books, and when Susan finds a mysterious old book without a title, she opens it to discover that the book is all about her and her friends making wishes and going on adventures! The children take turns making their wishes on the book with mixed results. Wizards and dragons are not all they seem to be, and when they begin mixing the magic with other books and modern-day events, things get out of hand until the children can learn to follow the magical rules and find their own happy endings.

Yet another wonderful book in this series! The winsome and wild writing takes you to a new world of magic and fantasy, every page drawing the reader into the story. The characters are complex and delightful, making you truly care about each of them.

I love how there are many many references to classic books like Robinson Crusoe, the Wizard of Oz, and countless others. As always, Edward Eager highlights several children's books by Edith Nesbit, which these characters have all read, of course!

Reading it for the second time was just as entertaining as the first!