Second Earth: A YA Fantasy Adventure to the Planet's Core (Arch Mage #2) by Cami Murdock Jensen

Second Earth: A YA Fantasy Adventure to the Planet's Core (Arch Mage #2) Reviews

• 
  Guy Venturi

  Second Earth? Wait a second millennia.
  
  If Journey to the Center of the Earth were to get smashed into 20,000 Leagues under the Sea with a bit of Harry Potter magic and Star Wars technology as new creatures are discovered and new skills learned to meld magic back into Earth 2 to solve evolutionary planetary problems with the solar system baby larva cocoon hideout locations. It may be a challenge to figure out what is happening, but some of the characters are getting well connected.
• 
  M.L.

  I enjoyed this book little less than the first, and though it wasn’t as polished as its predecessor, it was still exciting. The science was a little shaky in the beginning, and definitely ended up being very imaginative. A lot of research clearly went into the concepts the author developed, and the prose takes every opportunity to educate the reader about earthquakes, the core, and tectonic plates.
  
  Agnes seemed a little confused in this book, particularly her reaction to the ‘true’ form of the sirens and her shallow understanding of the ‘demon’ in the earth’s core. I expected more layers to her thought process, rather than the knee-jerk, ‘eww, gross’ - particularly as she’s always had to deal with assumptions made about herself due to her appearance. There were two black women in this book, Sempira (who was described as ‘exotic’), and a FBI agent who was simply referred to as ‘agent Amazon’ or ‘the amazon’. To me, this felt tone-deaf, and I was disappointed that Semipra was the first and only major character to die. Siren prince Rein seemed to know an awful lot about marine life on earth despite never having been there, and despite the huge emphasis placed on the fact that the sun larvae at the centre of the earth had no knowledge of those on the surface, at the end it ‘made’ Agnes her very own island as a thank you, which made the whole ants/girl/unicorn thing irrelevant.
  
  Despite this, this sequel was fast-paced, exciting, imaginative like the first, and will greatly be enjoyed by its target audience and by others. Grimmal made less of an appearance than I’d have liked, and Rein was definitely created solely for the purpose of creating some kind of there-but-not-really-there love-triangle (it was a little unclear what the relationship was between Agnes and Temnon in the first part of the book). Magic now also seems to now be more of a poorly-kept secret on Second Earth, but at least Agnes was more the hero this time round and had more space to her own.
  
  Overall, this book is a fun and enjoyable ride!
• 
  Rennie Girl Reads

  One Hot Ride
  
  It just keeps getting better and better! I love Agnes and all the characters and this new ordeal has me wanting even more. The world's are rich and entertaining and the storyline even more so.
  I love how far Agnes has come and watching her magic grow. I am so excited for the next!
• 
  Cami Murdock Jensen

  Better than the first...
• 
  Niamh Schmid

  So I read First Earth and couldn't wait to crack open this one. Definitely recommend this series!
  
  There might be minor spoilers but I will be as vague as possible.
  
  
  
  You have been warned.
  
  
  
  
  Things I liked:
  
  Agnes and her next stage of growth. She's still learning about her power and it was cool the way the author has you explore it with you.
  
  I liked Rein. I didn't necessarily always like him as a PERSON(lol), but I liked him as a character. He was deep, complex, and interesting to learn about.
  
  I liked Sempira. Again. Very interesting personality.
  
  So overall I loved the depth of these new characters!! They were fun to learn about and get to know.
  
  Also, I loved the descriptions. When they were going down the ocean, I found myself hyperventilating (as I have this fear of drowning...or being in a submarine) but I was tense in a good way. Kept me in my toes and made me read further just because I HAD to know what was going to happen to our heroes.
  
  
  What I wasn't so much for:
  
  So there was one inconsistency that made me waffle in giving it 4 versus 5 stars. I will be as vague as I possibly can. But again. Minor spoilers. So Agnes physically cannot lie, even by accident. So even if she thinks something is true, she can't lie. I was a little confused when there came an instance of calling something a (certain species) when it was, in fact, something different. I went "oh. I guess surely it must be what she says it is because her magic doesn't usually let her do mess up that way." But then it turned out it was something else. This sounds small, but it had impact on their plan and events/conflict. So I feel misunderstandings could have been easily avoided by this.
  
  This book also did take me a little longer to get into as opposed to the first book, but again, I am a super slow reader so that is probably not an accurate depiction of the pacing. I would just say to anybody who IS a slow reader: keep going because it really hits its stride once they get started on their mission!
  
  
  Conclusion:
  Love this series. It's a great YA if you are looking for something clean and fun to read. The world-building is natural and yet three dimensional--you are always learning new things about the worlds Agnes is getting introduced to.
  
  I'm definitely putting book 3 on my reading list.
• 
  Billy Buttons

  This book was entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our readers thought:
  Title: Second Earth
  Author: Cami Murdock Jensen
  
  Star Rating: 5 Stars
  Number of Readers: 19
  Stats
  Editing: 10/10
  Writing Style: 9/10
  Content: 9/10
  Cover: 8/10
  Of the 19 readers:
  18 would read another book by this author.
  16 thought the cover was good or excellent.
  19 felt it was easy to follow.
  19 would recommend this book to another reader to try.
  Of all the readers, 7 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘plotting a story’.
  Of all the readers, 8 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘developing the characters’.
  Of all the readers, 4 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘writing style’.
  18 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
  18 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.
  
  Readers’ Comments
  “This writer is excellent as she knows how to balance an exciting plot with strong character development. There's plenty happening all the time but there's also moments of reflection (mostly by Agnes) which gave the book a lot of depth, particularly for a young adult novel.” Female reader, age 15
  “I loved Agnes in this story. I felt she was strong and brave and developed as the story went on particularly in terms of her powers. I love the ‘earthquake’ plot; I thought that was very clever. And I liked the ‘who can I trust’ mystery which kept me gripped till the very end.” Female reader, age 15
  “This is an exciting adventure story packed full of interesting and often flawed characters. The author’s particularly good at describing setting making it jump off the page. I didn't read the first book but I enjoyed this so much I might go and hunt out.” Male reader, age 14
  “I liked the mix of science and magic and I felt the book’s pacing was good. I would recommend reading book one first to better get to know the protagonist, but other than that this is a compelling read most teenagers will enjoy.” Male reader, age 14
  
  To Sum It Up:
  ‘An epic adventure pack full of magical twists and turns. A FINALIST and highly recommended!’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
  
• 
  Erin Dydek

  Another exciting adventure with Agnes!
  
  While the first book focused on Agnes learning to accept who she was, this book built on the self acceptance she achieved in the previous book and focused on her journey to overcome doubt. Mixed with a heavy dose of magic and a nice bit of science and geology, this book was a creative twist on Earth’s history. I loved the journey to the core and the discovery of what was hidden deep inside. The Core is one of my favorite movies, and I loved that this book was another adventure that involved a major threat from inside the earth itself.
  
  I also enjoyed the return of favorite characters from book one, the additional new characters, and the search for truth that was at the center of the story. The theme of forgiveness and learning to trust again was also an appreciated part of the story. Very well edited and age appropriate for teen readers: no swearing, mild action violence and scenes of natural disasters, mild romantic content.
• 
  Tiffany

  After reading this book, I wanted to write and post this review to share my honest experiences toward the story.
  
  Personally, I think This is my favourite in this series so far. Agnes has gone through so much character development in the first book to make her a stronger and more capable and independent heroine. The story itself was so intriguing, twisting something that seems ordinary, albeit terrifying for us, into the core (literally) of an epic fantasy adventure. There were so many points in the story where everything twisted, and thrillingly turned everything the other way round. All in all, this is an amazing ya fantasy series, and I am looking forward to seeing how the series continues.
  
• 
  Elizabeth Lavender

  On the surface, Agnes would appear to be the weakest link. After all, other elementals can wield and manipulate, water, fire, earth… well the list goes on. Agnes greatest ally is simply… the truth. Yet, the power found in it perhaps makes her the strongest of the elementals, though she would shrink from such a claim. However, her recent rescue of many worlds tells the truly miraculous story and when second earth faces a new threat literally at its core, she embraces her gift again to save those around her. Yet Agnes is more than just the sum of her elemental power. Agnes brings out the best in those around her. Agnes gives mercy to one person, rather than letting anger decide the day. In doing so, we watch as the true person we knew really existed finally emerges, one who renounces the despicable acts of the past, now stands for what is right, and is finally truly deserving of his royal title. Agnes offers the hand of friendship to another and isn’t afraid to show her vulnerability. In doing so, that individual realizes the true measure of strength and abandons her former distorted image she long held. In the process, giving someone else the chance to have a future that wasn’t possible before. Then continuously, Temnon finds himself inspired by Agnes, falling deeper in love with her each day. It doesn’t seem possible once upon a time he watched her struggle with a simple spell, because the next second she’s the one bringing calm to his panicked spirit and together they are saving their worlds, one person at a time. Who would believe wielding the truth could win the day? Or maybe it’s as much about the wielder of the truth in this case? Perhaps so. Agnes certainly shows that being able to get to the heart, to the truth of the matter many times proves to be the only path to victory.
• 
  Erin Swan

  I thought I loved First Earth, but Second Earth somehow managed to be even better! I didn't expect an adventure on our own planet to be more exciting than one in a fantasy world. Second Earth manages to blend fantasy with science in a way that almost makes these events believable for our world. The author did her research, and it shows! The new characters introduced in this book are also very well developed and likeable, and Agnes continues to be a heroine that I can't stop rooting for.
• 
  Reading Fanatic

  Amazing!
  
  I really loved this story. It is just as good—maybe better—than the first. I look forward to reading book three! Cami Jensen is an extremely talented story teller. Highly recommend. Happy reading!