Ambled along and eventually went to hell. That said I'm not sure where the story was coming from or going to.

Any hardcore unicorn fans like myself - take note: this is not about unicorns. Read the black unicorn and skip this one. This is like a crappy movie sequel that makes you regret spending money (or time, in this case) on something not worth the trouble whatsoever. The only revealing quality was the peeve. I'm hoping the last one will be better..

This is going to be lengthy and a little roundabout up here I go...
When I first read this book I was in middle school ~12or so. I loved it and tried as hard as I could to find the prequel. The pet peeve was my favorite character (I -for some quark of the universe- find all of Thanith Lee’s series the second books before the first ones). It scared me and made me think. This was not my normal image of what a unicorn was and a female lead was quite new to me, especially one that saves herself. When I was 15 I read it again as I had found the third book. It had changed. I found Tanaquil self-centered and for all her travels short sighted. The relationship between the sisters was weird and not yet having read the first book I found Tanaquil being unfair toward her mom. I also found the interaction between her and the men interesting. I finally found the first book in my twenties so I reread the series. It had changed again. I realized how badly things could have turned out how lucky she was and yes still scared of some of the parts but was for different reasons. The interaction between the men and women were annoying anyone who wasn’t a main character was frivolous and silly. And having read the first book seeing Tanaquil not as self centered. I was also amazed that it was labeled a kids book. Now in my thirties, it has changed again. Mostly because of what is going on in the world. The best intentions of Tanaquil’s half sister which always unnerved me, I understand better. I as an adult realized this was the first (or one of the first) books I had ever read in which there is no clear cut villain. It is well written and worthy of being read over and over and I will lend it to my friends, nephews, and cousins to read.

It's been many, many years since I've read Black Unicorn and I remembered almost nothing about it. I did remember the peeve, once I got into this book, and he remains my favorite part. It was an okay story but the end is pretty unsatisfying - apparently there is a sequel that takes care of all that, but I probably won't read it.

A fun little story with frightening unicorns!

To read my full review, click here.

This was not horrible, but it was not what the first book was to me. Mind you, I get it. I get it. I understand everything the story did. And I didn't hate the characters either. In fact, I think the characters are still the strongest part of this book. What you had to go through was a bunch of bollocks, but I understand entirely why we went through it all. It made sense. And I have definitely not been put off from this book even though it was not spectacular. There is a love in my heart even for this book, because it took the path that no one else wanted to travel. And I am glad I walked that path with Tanaquil. I truly am.

Well.

I did not expect that the most metal book I've ever read would be a children's book about a unicorn, but here we are.

Overall, this was very different in tone and mood from the first book, and I'm not quite satisfied with the plot. It could've done with less insta-love and far more of the peeve. The first half meandered quite a bit and was somewhat nonsensical in places.

Nonetheless, Gold Unicorn was absolutely fantastic. The really stand-out part was the journey through hell which was classic Tanith Lee at her absolute best. Night-black plains and blood-red mooons and hideous beasts of war clashing together in an endless battle created a spectacularly eerie vibe that made the whole book worth a read. I felt like things concluded very nicely and set the series up for a very interesting ending.

I had hopes that this would be better than the first because the plot was so much more interesting. However, the characters and the relationships just aren't fleshed out nearly enough. If these books were longer and more detail and time was put into developing characters, relationship and events, I think I could enjoy this series a lot more. The characters are realistic and relatable, but you don't get the chance to get to know them well enough to be invested in them. And the way relationships develop in this series is totally outrageous. I don't understand where these random dynamics come from and I am not on board at all. I love the premise of the story but the execution just didn't work for me.