The Impossible Secret of Lillian Velvet (Kingdoms and Empires #5) by Jaclyn Moriarty

Title: The Impossible Secret of Lillian Velvet (Kingdoms and Empires #5)

Author: Jaclyn Moriarty

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Allen and Unwin

Published: 31^st October 2023

Pages: 544

Price: $22.99

Synopsis: A magical book in the rich and whimsical world of the Kingdoms and Empires about a girl, a threat and a pickle jar filled with gold coins by the internationally bestselling and multi-award-winning author of The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst.

Lillian Velvet lives a very lonely life with her cold and remote Grandmother. That is, until her tenth birthday, when she is given a pickle jar of gold coins, along with a note with clear instructions: don’t go out, don’t open the door for anyone, and don’t spend all your coins in one day.

What happens next seems impossible. The coins whisk Lillian away to a different time and place. There she meets a small boy in a circus about to be crushed to death; a lively family, each member in a distinctive form of mortal danger; a boy with a skateboard; and a girl who can Whisper. And a web of dangerous magic closing tight around it all.

Why is Lillian here? How is she supposed to help these new friends? And – most importantly – what happens if she fails?

An exciting tale in the magical Kingdoms and Empires world, where seemingly disparate elements are spun until all is revealed as one delicious, tantalising whole.

~*~

Welcome back to the Kingdoms and Empires – well, sort of. Meet Lilliam Velvet, a lonely child who lives with her grandmother – unable to go out, always at home. That is, until she turns ten and gets a pickle jar filled with gold coins and a strange note – don’t go out, don’t open the door and don’t spend all your coins in one day. Lillian is rightly confused, especially when she suddenly gest shoved into another time and place and meets Mr Turtelhaze.  As Lillian is shoved through time and space, she meets all sorts of people- a boy about to be crushed to death, the Mettlestone family – where each member is in danger when she comes across them, a boy with a skateboard, and a girl who can Whisper – and she also encounters a war and dangerous magic. Lillian doesn’t understand why she is there – is she meant to save these people? And how? If she fails, what will happen to them and her?

The fifth Kingdoms and Empires book introduces readers to new characters like Lillian and brings all our beloved favourites back as well – Bronte Mettlestone and her family, Queen Alys and her son, Billy, and Oscar, who comes from our world. As does Lillian – supposedly. She’s grown up in Bomaderry, and when she meets Oscar during her travels to the Kingdoms and Empires, he’s the only one who understands her. Slowly, Lillian gets to know everyone – and finds out that there are caring families out there. But Lillian has a secret – one that she doesn’t even know about. And because she keeps travelling through time and to different places – though she thinks it’s all the same day in her time – though of course, in a Kingdoms and Empires book, things are not always what they seem. There is a mystery to unravel, and as the Mettlestone family prepare for a reunion, they all begin to wonder about the mysterious girl who keeps popping in and out of their lives and time, and what her connection is to their family – why she is connected to their family.

The novel is interspersed with a series of reports – which fit in with what has just happened, yet they have no author. Jaclyn uses this technique to keep you reading until the end, because these reports all add to the mystery, collecting the clues that we need to find out what Lillian’s secret is and how she fits in with the Mettlestones and Oscar. Everything in this book is linked to the previous four books – and now I am keen to go back and read each one in order back-to-back to see if I missed anything, and how everything fits in together. The main characters from the other books all make an appearance in this book as everything starts to come together as well. This series has a lot of intricacies, which is why each book is so long – they need to be for everything about each individual character to be explored effectively before they make their appearances in other books.

If you have read the previous four books, then things will very much fall into place and make sense. It felt like everything the first few books had been building up to started to make sense and is perhaps leading to some sort of conclusion, though I am unsure of how many books Jaclyn has planned for this series. I do think each book can be read alone but they are so much better when read as a series – a better experience in my view. I loved the way this book came together, with the clues dropped at the right time, and the way everyone else seemed to know something was up – it made the mystery work well, and ensured that readers will be engaged. To me, it is the kind of book that needed to take its time to solve the mystery, but every chapter had something important happen and we are constantly reminded of the stakes and what has happened – what questions Lillian has so we can go on the adventure and mystery with her. I enjoyed this book – it had everything a Kingdoms and Empires book needs to have and I do love that every book manages to connect well with each other, ensuring the series will work well when it comes to its conclusion.

Another fantastic Kingdoms and Empires book.

Catch up with: The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone

The Slightly Alarming Tale of the Whispering Wars

The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst

The Astonishing Chronicles of Oscar from Elsewhere