Impossible Creatures: The Neverfear | a book review

Goooood morning, folks! I hope you’re all doing well and have been having a fantastic start to the summer!! How are y’all?? And to all my fellow writers out there, how have your projects been faring? This shall likely be the last ARC review of the summer, since I shall be taking a break from book reviewing to finish my WIP! It is a cozy middle-grade fantasy with pixies, lanterns, random arguments over bread, and the villain has been giving me an absolute headache. XD

But today, I have returned with a review of an upcoming middle-grade fantasy (which also happens to be the third book in a series I utterly adore): Impossible Creatures: The Neverfear by Katherine Rundell! A thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children’s Books for the ARC. (And isn’t that a pretty cover?) This book comes out September 1st, 2026.

The blurb reads: The highly anticipated third book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Impossible Creatures series. Join Christopher and Anya on their next daring adventures in the magical Archipelago!

It’s the Midsummer Feast on the Islet of Glimt, and on this magical moonlit evening, the word on everyone’s lips is bandits. Reports of masked men burning villages are spreading throughout the Archipelago, but worse is still to come: Christopher and Anya are ambushed and one of the people closest to them is put in terrible danger.

Now Christopher must face fearsome giants, win a daring race, and outwit deadly enemies, all to save the people he loves most...

This was a really fun read!! I utterly adored the first two novels in the Impossible Creatures series, and so it was such fun to slip back into the world and see all of these new, fascinating creatures!!! Christopher and Anya are wonderful protagonists, and I also loved the side characters, especially Jacques who is… as Jacques-like as ever. XD And Meri!!!! Meri’s such a sweet mouse. He reminds me a bit of Despereaux, for some reason.

Christopher’s new ability was also so very fascinating to read about!! I also loved all of the challenges that Christopher and Anya have to complete throughout the book, and how they’re all related to Greek myths! (More specifically, the myth about Hercules! As someone who probably re-read and re-read and re-read that myth a million times when I was younger, I loved how that was included in the story.)

Teren is a sweet, fun kid, and I love his character too! However, I must confess that it was strange reading about him. Because on one hand, he is technically the Immortal and he is Mal but also isn’t. *weeps* And I miss Mal a great deal and don’t believe I have ever forgiven Katherine Rundell for the ending of book one.

But as riveting and fascinating as the plot is, I think my favorite part of the book was the villain. Which is probably terribly odd, but I found the villains so very interesting! Unlike the previous books in the series, there are multiple chapters throughout this book told from the point-of-view of the villains, so you get a lot of hints of what they’re plotting behind the scenes. Astor Morax is a truly malicious villain, and I also loved Carla Venasque’s character! (Not that she’s a nice character, but she’s most interesting.) And while we do get chapters from their POV, there is still so much that we don’t know, and it just adds so much mystery to the story!

I loved the concept of the snake bracelets too!!! AND THE ENDING!!!

Oh my.

The ending.

There truly is so much that is added to the story in book three, especially towards the end. Who are these people?? What on Earth is Christopher’s ability?? And what do they want with the Immortal?? So many questions and so little answers…..

The US edition (which is the one I got an ARC of!) also has the most gorgeous illustrations!!! I was debating for a very long time whether to get the UK or US edition when book three came out (since I already ahve the first two books, only they’re the UK edition and I do like my book series to match.), but seeing as the US cover is oh-so gorgeous and has illustrations, I shall probably get the US edition. XD (That is, if it’s available in China. *sighs*) Although I must confess that I don’t imagine Nighthand to look like that at all.

However, as much as I do love all the lore that is added to the world in this book, I didn’t love it as much as the previous books. I think this is partly because it feels like much of the character development has already happened in the last two books, so there wasn’t as much of that here. And for much of the story, we don’t really understand why Anya and Christopher must go through these challenges (as in the actual reason the villains picked these challenges) till the very end. Also, I feel like the kidnapping would’ve had more of an effect on me if I’d been more attached to said kidnapped character.

But overall, this is still a really fun book and I loved getting to step back into the world of the Archipelago! It is definitely a world that is full of adventure and magic and mythical beasts, and I highly recommend it to any middle-grade reader! 4 out of 5 stars from me. :))

And, of course, we cannot leave out thoughts from the Cute Fluffy Comrades… (And it’s Scrabble’s first time appearing here as a book reviewer! Best of luck, Scrabble!)

The Cute Fluffy Comrades. Izzy on the left, Charlotte on the right, and Scrabble perched atop Pages & Co.

Izzy: This was an interesting read. I’ve read and loved the Impossible Creatures series and so it was splendid fun getting to read this book before it was published!!! Christopher is my favorite character, though I like Anya too. AND THE VILLAINS!!!! It has some simply splendid villains. While not as good as the previous books, it was still a delightful read!

Charlotte: A SPLENDIFEROUS FANTASY SERIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I adore Impossible Creatures with all my heart, even though I’ve never forgiven the author for what happened to Gelifen. I loved reading this story! It was so much fun and full of magic and adventure!!!! There are magical, terrifying tigers in mirrors! AND BANDITS AND PIRATES AND DRAGONS AND MICE!!!! And it’s so splendiferous. Five out of five stars from me!!!

Scrabble: Oh my. H – Hello, blog readers. *clears throat* Right, well, I think it’s a fascinating read. There are so many magical creatures (so many that I’ve never heard of before!!!) and so many wild adventures!!! It was an interesting read. I do not read much epic fantasy, but this will be a good book for fantasy lovers. Four out of five stars from me.

Well, there you have it folks! Thoughts from the Cute Fluffy Comrades of this blog! Do let me know down in the comments what you thought of this review and if you’ve read the previous books in the Impossible Creatures series! :)) I love hearing from y’all! And, of course, don’t forget to check out Marvelous Middle Grade Monday, where Greg Pattridge and a bunch of other amazing book bloggers come together every Monday to share MG book reviews, interviews, and more!

Till next time and have a splendiferous week, y’all!

-Isabelle