Oceanforged 2: The Silent Island

By Amelia Mellor

Reviewed by Helen Gearing

Amelia Mellor, whose debut upper middle grade series ‘Grandest Bookshop’ was highly awarded by critics, readers, and booksellers alike has crafted another edge-of-your-seat adventure in the Oceanforged series. Aimed at a slightly younger audience (eight years and older) it hits all the right notes for a thrilling fantasy with an unlikely hero, high stakes, vivid worldbuilding, and rich friendships.

After finding a magical gauntlet, escaping pirates, and discovering she is fated to become the next Champion of Aquinta, thirteen-year-old Cori continues her quest to find the rest of the long-lost Oceanforged Armour in book 2, The Silent Island. Accompanied by Jem, an accident-prone apprentice witch, and Tarn, a boy with the ability to communicate with animals, Cori arrives on the mysterious island of Mutemont.

After being welcomed by the locals, Cori soon realises that getting to the island was the least of her problems. Surrounded by fierce sea monsters, nobody has escaped Mutemount for a century – and Cori only has six months to find all pieces of the missing armour if she is to prevent a looming disaster which will decimate the known world.

After thoroughly enjoying the first Oceanforged title, The Wicked Ship, I was slightly apprehensive picking up the second, concerned this series (like many) may suffer from a flabby middle. However, the developing dynamics between the friends is rich and nuanced as Cori slowly moves from a character whose sole priority is self-preservation to someone willing to risk their safety for a loved one (while remaining deliciously flawed, like when she feigns unconsciousness to continue getting a piggyback up the mountain from her also-exhausted friend).

Another highlight of Book Two, for me, is the way Cori’s long-held distrust of authority equips her to examine gaps and silences in dominant historical narratives. Mellor’s rich worldbuilding and complex secondary characters also support themes of personal integrity and ecological fragility – without ever getting in the way of a roaring good story.

Readers who loved John Flanagan’s Rangers Apprentice series or Skandar by AF Steadman will also devour the Oceanforged series.

Book 3, ‘The Sinking Ruins’, is due for release on 28 July 2026.

Affirm Kids 2026

Amelia Mellor