Skandar and the Unicorn Thief is the first book in a middle grade fantasy series by A.F. Steadman. Released 3rd May 2022 by Simon & Schuster on their Young Readers imprint, it's 448 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

This is an engaging and well written series starter for middle grade readers (Lexile measure 830L). The characters are well rendered, and there's plenty of action to move things along. Young Skandar has always wanted to see wild unicorns, but events conspire against him becoming a unicorn rider until he's recruited by a mysterious stranger to save their world.

It's a "chosen one" trope, but well done and an exciting top notch adventure story.

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 11 hours 57 minutes and is capably read by series narrator David Dawson. He has a well modulated professionally trained voice and does a good job of seamlessly hopping through a number of disparate accents of both sexes and a wide range of ages. Sound and production quality are high throughout the read.

Four stars. It would be a good choice for public or school library, home use, or, with 4 books extant in the series (and a 5th coming out), a good binge/buddy read or book club project.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

5-Star Book Review: SKANDAR AND THE UNICORN THIEF by A. F. Steadman

📚 Book Preview: The Island is a place of mystery where unicorns roam freely. Every year 13 year olds must take the Hatchery exam to see if they’re destined to be unicorn riders. If destined for this path, the adolescents go to the Island to hatch their unicorn and bond with them. This act connects their lives and their mortalities together forever. Skandar turns 13 as the balance with unicorns is upset and he is called to help. Unicorns are not how you would imagine them. As shared by the publisher, this is a “world of epic sky battles, dangerous clashes with wild unicorns, and rumors of a shadowy villain amassing a unicorn army.”

🦄 Middle Grade hot take by M, my avid reader daughter, age 10: “I really enjoyed the action and how the author gives a lot of detail about everything that’s going on in the story, especially in how she describes the connections between the unicorns. I also loved the element of surprise used throughout the book. There are exciting twists and turns that kept me guessing. Really fun read.”

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5 stars)

M promptly recommended this to her older brother and read books 2-4 in the series. She is now eagerly awaiting book 5, which comes out in September.

😘 Thanks @SimonKids and #NetGalley for sharing an electronic copy of this book. All opinions are mine and M’s alone.

This book was such a fun, magical adventure! It takes everything you think you know about unicorns and flips it on its head in the best way. The world-building is incredible, full of action, mystery, and just the right amount of darkness to keep things exciting. Skandar is a fantastic main character—brave, relatable, and easy to root for. If you love fast-paced fantasy with unique twists and a lot of heart, this one is an absolute must-read!

I really enjoyed this one. It was hard to put down. It kept me wanting more. The characters are amazing! And I love the title and the story line. Such an amazing book!

This was an enjoyable action filled book. I love how this makes unicorns more into a warhorse/dragon type being and less of a pretty princess thing.

This has a very familiar chosen one/hero plot that would be right up the alley of my 9 year old son. The plot twists I think were perfect for this age range, not too complex yet not too predictable.

I’m a huge fan of Percy Jackson, so I had to pick this one up. I loved it so much I bought it and can’t wait to share it with my youngest who loves to read just like her mom. It’s an exciting and adventurous story with great characters and world building. Target audience may be middle schoolers, but it’s definitely a fun story for all ages.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing and NetGalley for providing an electronic galley of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Skandar is a Mainlander who has waited all of his life to take the test to become a unicorn rider. When the day comes, he is forbidden to take the test. He is heartbroken, but a mysterious stranger comes to him in the night with a chance to get to the Island, where he will have the opportunity to try to hatch a unicorn egg.

Skandar is able to hatch an egg, and for the first time in his life, he finds himself with a friend group. They welcome him, even as they recognize he is not quite like them, and their Hatchling year of training begins. But who was the mysterious stranger? And who is the unicorn thief of the title? And how are their stories connected to Skandar?

Warning: the unicorns of this story are bloodthirsty beasts--those expecting rainbows and My Little Pony type creatures are in for a surprise!

This story really got moving for me as the connections grew between both the friends and their unicorns. I look forward to reading the rest of the series!

Great new series for boys and girls with lots of adventure, surprises, suspense, friendship drama, and charm. I read this aloud to my daughter and son (10 and 8) and they were both addicted to it and kept wanting me to read more and more every night. My son particularly liked that the unicorns are tough and powerful and my daughter connected with the friendship development and magical nature of it. The writing is sophisticated enough to be just challenging enough for a middle grade reader in terms of vocabulary and sentence structure. There are hints at family trauma but it isn’t as in your face as other middle grade books, which I appreciated. My kids can’t wait to see how those series progresses and I have to admit I’m invested as well!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance electronic copy. All opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing | Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for a free digital copy of Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by A.F. Steadman. I think middle grade readers will enjoy this fantasy story. It was face-paced and filled with adventure. It follows Skandar as he studies to follow his dream of becoming a unicorn rider. This story had friendship, a villain, and secrets. There are some similarities to Harry Potter, but overall, I thought it was fun.

This is such an amazing series. My daughter and I both fell in love with this book and the characters. We own all four books in this series and have two signed copies that we ordered from Waterstones. This is such a great series for kids. I highly recommend!

I really enjoyed this book. After reading a lot of fantasy. It' is a simple but exciting fantasy. Great world building, fast pace, mystery, adventure, and unicorns. What more can you ask for.

I tried to like this, I really did. But sometimes cliches are cliches for a reason, and though some troups are fun, these were just boring.

There are other, better adventure books out there. I would suggest finding them.

I'm sure the author worked very hard on this, but we need new and exciting stories, not ones that have been done before.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

This book was fun to read! I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

The characters in the book were engaging and we saw character growth throughout the book. I found them to be very relatable. The world was interesting and unique with a magic system all its own. The plot was fairly standard but it has a few nice twists as well. The writing was easy to read and engaging.

I like the characters and stuff the grafices and the colors I would read it again and that I would recommend it it was right up my alley

Skandar grew up preparing for the Hatching test because his greatest dream is to be a unicorn rider, but he's barred from entering the testing room and he thinks he's lost his chance. A midnight visitor gets him to the hatching site and he manages to hatch a unicorn and get a space in the training school. But there are secrets and dangers he never imagined and training to be a unicorn rider will be more dangerous than he could have ever imagined.

I'm way out of the target age group for this but still found it super entertaining. There are great plot twists that work without making the story too complex for younger readers. I really enjoyed the very different angle Steadman has on unicorns. I love that it was a surprise to most of the world that they're not only real but completely the opposite of what everyone thought they were. This means that I would definitely not recommend it for young readers who are big fans of unicorns, but it does make a great action read for readers looking for a fully developed action story.

Happy thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for the fun read!

Really captivating fantasy book for middle grade readers. This book introduces world building to new fantasy readers. The language is clear and easy to understand and the story is interesting.
Thank you for the eARC!

This review is from my 8 year old. Skandar and the Unicorn Thief was a 5/5 read! The plot kept me hooked from the beginning. I plan to buy a copy of this book so I can re-read it over and over again. An instant favorite! Thank you to the publishers and to NetGalley for the free advanced readers copy. All opinions are my own!

A fun MG fantasy tale with unicorns and magic. Children will love it and so will adults young at heart.

This is not my genre and I don't have enough time to read all the books I want to, let alone ones I don't enjoy. However, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It had the classic sort of school for people with magic powers type plot, with some unicorns thrown in. It was captivating and so special.
Full review on YouTube

I actually really enjoyed this fresh take on unicorns. There were similarities to the Percy Jackson series and Dhonielle Clayton's The Marvellors series that will make young readers excited. I did find Skandar to be a little too much of the Chosen One archetype at times, but his friends Flo, Mitchell, and Bobby were fleshed out companions that I'm excited to see more of in the next book. I think that the next books exploration of spirit will be really interesting.