Tanaquil was born in a fortress, to a powerful sorceress who rules the desert land. And it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. She’s a failure as a sorceress herself. Her mother’s magic leaks all over the castle making life one chaotic inconvenience. Speaking of which, she’s little more than an inconvenience herself, unable to fit in with the servants, nor her mother, also unable to leave.
Then she finds star-kissed bones in the desert. Delicate and otherworldly, Tanaquil can’t resist the urge to put them together to see what kind of creature they come from; a unicorn.
Reassembled by Tanaquil, but brought back to flesh accidentally by her mother the unicorn shatters Tanaquil’s life, but also sets her free. In return it only wants to go home.
One of my favorite fantasy books, Black Unicorn is more than just a coming-of-age story about a girl and her magical horse. Really it’s more like the quest to help the unicorn is how Tanaquil breaks free of a depression and finds reasons to let herself live.
The story telling is very delicate. On the surface this is a high fantasy tale, with demons, princess dresses, dragons and lush, vivid writing. But throughout the feeling of something being off or wrong builds until reader and character are driven toward the elusive “something better”.
Often overlooked I highly recommend this book for all age readers. It would definitely be among my must haves for private and public libraries.fantasy tale, with demons, princess dresses, dragons and lush, vivid writing. But throughout the feeling of something being off or wrong builds until reader and character are driven toward the elusive “something better”.