My opinions on the first book in Alison Pensy's Custodian Series were not good: the book was too predictable, clichéd and idealized for my liking, and the most upsetting thing was that the story line had the potential to be amazing, but it wasn't.
Despite that however, I was curious as to how the second book would turn out: would it have the same issues or would it be worth the wait?

The Emerald Staff was like the butterfly to the caterpillar of the first book in Pensy's story - it grew in more ways than one and I am convinced that I need to read the third.

Although the book still isn't amazing, it certainly was a great read and so much of what had frustrated me in the first story was improved or completely gotten rid of in this one.
To begin with, the plot. Faedra has accomplished herself as a skilled Custodian and her and Faen's relationship is at long-last existent. Unfortunately the peace that blissfully surrounds Faedra's life will not last long for an old enemy steps out of the shadows and, trust me on this, her entrance is sheer brilliance. But to stop her enemy Faedra must get the Emerald Staff from no other creature but a Dragon. Easy right? The humour in this book was much more effective and made me smile with each small joke and argument. There were even some real problems and conflicts in Faedra's relationship with Faen which made the whole romance so much more relevant and appealing to a young adult audience. An attribute of the book most deserving of celebration was that Faedra isn't so cool-headed anymore; she now faces real consequences and drawbacks of being a Custodian which produced some dramatic scenes and well-drawn emotion. Not to mention the climax at the end where a slightly-hinted secret that Pensy held back in the first book came out into the open, and there wasn't anything predictable about that. I have to admit there were still some parts of the story where things ran a little too smoothly to be realistic or very entertaining. Also there was more description and explanation of events and character's feelings given than felt necessary which was disappointing since the reader had little to figure out. Most of the character's emotions and characteristics were simply given by the narrator rather than through body language or appearance which would have been more engaging. Nonetheless it was a great improvement and most certainly worth the wait!

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