The Unfortunate Responsibilities of Leopold Berry by Random Riggs

Leopold, Emmet, and Isabel will begin to unravel the mystery of the ring and what, exactly, has been going on with Leopold's family and their connection to Sunderworld.

Salty about the way Sunder has treated him and sceptical that his mother really meant for him to have the mysterious ring, Leopold secretly wishes he could walk away from Sunder. What he really wants is to finish high school and start living a normal life with his newfound courage. But now the magical world that wanted nothing to do with him won’t leave him alone.

The Department, fascinated by the ring, is hounding him to come back. And Isabel and Emmet want Leopold to help them unravel the ring's many mysteries. When the ring activates during a terrifying Noxum attack, enabling Leopold to perform another magical act of heroism, he knows he can't turn his back on Sunder. Wherever he goes, the magic seems to follow. The answers to all his questions lie in the Lyceum’s well-protected archives, in his mother's letters, and perhaps in the unlikeliest, most unmagical of people: Leopold’s father.

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PRE-READING

I read the first Sunderworld back in 2024, and I've just reread it before coming to Volume 2. I remembered enjoying the strange combination of 1990s fantasy television, Los Angeles magic, grief and friendship, and I was curious to see where Leopold, Emmet and Isabel would go next.

Having read the two books back-to-back, though, I noticed something I probably wouldn't have noticed if I'd had two years between them:

These are quite different kinds of story.

POST-READING

Volume 1 is very much a look, the magic world really exists! Isn't that wacky?! Let's explore it! Oh, there's danger! Never mind, back to the fun! sort of story.

Volume 2 is considerably more:

A DARK SECRET LURKS AT THE HEART OF SUNDER AND IT IS CONNECTED TO OUR HERO'S PAST. WHO CAN SAVE US FROM THE FEAR THAT LURKS IN THE SHADOWS?

Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. In fact, there are things I really liked about the change. The world of Sunder gets considerably more developed, and there is a lot more mystery to uncover. The ring, the Lyceum archives, Leopold's mother's letters and his family's connection to Sunder all give the story a much more academic, investigative feeling.

But reading the two together made the tonal shift feel quite dramatic.

Leopold is also understandably rather fed up with Sunder this time around. After everything that happened before, he wants to finish school, live a normal life and move forward. Unfortunately, Sunder appears to have other plans.

And when magic keeps following you around, apparently “I'd quite like to go home now” isn't considered a valid administrative request.

As I expected

The worldbuilding continues to be one of the strongest parts of the series.

There's much more to learn about Sunder, its history and its relationship with Leopold's family, and I enjoyed the sense that there were still layers underneath what we'd already discovered.

I also liked the more investigative side of the story. The archives, letters and hidden information give this volume a slightly more academic atmosphere, which is very different from the neon-and-shadow feeling of the first book.

And Emmet remains Emmet, which is always welcome.

I was surprised by

The biggest surprise for me was how different the two books felt when read one after the other.

I wonder if I would have noticed the difference quite so strongly if I'd read Volume 1 in 2024 and then waited two years for this one. There would have been plenty of time for the first book to settle in my memory as the beginning of Sunderworld, rather than experiencing it as the first half of a story immediately followed by the second.

This book is more dangerous, more secretive and more concerned with the darker history underneath Sunder.

And then there is the ending.

I have to admit that I found it surprisingly open for a duology. It doesn't feel as though every thread has been neatly tied off, and I was left wondering whether the door has deliberately been left open in case Ransom ever wants to return to Sunderworld.

Which, to be fair, might not be the worst thing in the world. There is clearly more to this world that could be explored.

But if this really is the end of Leopold's story, I did find myself wanting a little more closure.

RECOMMENDATIONS

If you enjoy fantasy where the world gradually reveals itself to be much stranger and older than the characters first realised, try Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend.

For television, The Librarians has that same combination of magical mysteries, archives, strange artefacts and people who really ought to stop opening things they haven't been authorised to open.

MUSIC PAIRING

“Secret” — The Pierces

Because this book has moved firmly from look at this wonderfully strange magical world! to there are SECRETS and they are IMPORTANT and somebody really should have told Leopold about them.

VIBE CHECK

Colour palette: Deep midnight blue, violet, dark green, black and the occasional sharp flash of magical light.

Soundtrack: Rain against library windows, pages turning, footsteps in empty corridors, distant magical disturbances and the ominous sound of a door that definitely should not be opened.

Season: Late autumn.

Mood: Mysterious, dangerous, thoughtful and increasingly uneasy.

Scent: Dusty archives, old paper, candle wax, rain and the faint metallic smell of magic.

Texture: Old parchment, leather-bound books, cold stone, dusty files and polished wood.

If Volume 1 was neon lights and shadowy LA streets, Volume 2 feels like following those shadows into the library and discovering that someone has been keeping records all along.

And unfortunately, Leopold's name is in them.

TAROT CARD PULLED

The Moon

The Moon feels right for a story built around hidden histories, uncertainty, things lurking beneath the surface and the difficulty of knowing exactly what to trust. Leopold is trying to understand a past he never knew he was part of, while Sunder continues to reveal itself in pieces.

There are answers here. The trouble is working out which shadows are hiding them.

Sunderworld: Volume 2 publishes on 13 October 2026. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.