Child Power: Book 2 of the Amazon Series
Raewyn Dawson
Mary Egan Publishing
pub. 2018

April 01, 2021

Child Power is the second out of a series of two, written by Raewyn Dawson.

It features a gripping tale of love, adventure and revenge. The book is set in 300 BC where slave owners are secretly kidnapping children around the black sea and forcing them into a life of deprivation and captivity.

The slaves and tribal people all face tremendous challenges as their world crumbles before them. Most slaves spend their time at a place called Plains and working on farms, while the tribal people spend their time in a city or fighting for other people’s freedom.

At times, I struggled to finish this book; this may be because I didn’t read the first book. Dawson begins the first few chapters giving you the background of the characters, which I think is a clever way to start a book. It gives readers an understanding of the many different characters and the more you read through the book the more you learn about the characters.

Sometimes Dawson addresses the characters in different ways than their actual name which can be confusing. For example, Dawson addresses the Queen by her real name Filloma, so it often seems as if there are two completely different characters. In some ways, this is good because it shows us two different sides of the Queen. Sometimes the transitioning between places was a bit unclear; I couldn’t tell where I was in the story. However, then in the end it all makes sense.

Dawson has really put thought into this book which I believe has turned out great and the variety of characters all have their own unique part in the book.

Dawson made an excellent choice by adding all the different characteristics and bringing the characters to life, which for some writers is very difficult to do. Dawson has done a fantastic job. The different places in this book were described very well, Dawson managed to paint a clear picture in my mind and it really gave me an understanding of the chaos and the beauty of some places.

Overall, for me this book had its highs and lows, for example, the transitions to another place sometimes make the plot difficult to follow, but my opinion could change if I had read the previous book. I recommend this book to readers who enjoy learning a little history; this book tells you a little bit about how slavery occurred and how it affected people not only physically but mentally.

• Joshua Smedley is 12 and lives in Christchurch