All posts by Kasey

About Kasey

Reads things. Writes things. Fluent in sarcasm. Willful optimist. Cat companion, chocolate connoisseur, coffee drinker. There are some who call me Mom.

Review: Sidequested by Ale Presser and K.B. Spangler

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SideQuested: Book 1 by K. B. Spangler and Alexandra Presser

Sidequested: Book 1
Ale Presser
Illustrated by K. B. Spangler
Andrews McMeel Publishing
Published March 17, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Sidequested: Book 1

The course of true love never did run straight…For fans of The Owl House and Critical Role comes the first volume in the lighthearted and epic adventure SideQuested!

Magic makes the world go ’round, but no one in Charlie Goldskin’s world knows precisely where magic comes from. This isn’t Charlie’s problem. She’s the adopted daughter of a woodcarver and is training to be a librarian. It’ll be a quiet life, but that’s fine with Charlie as magic is summoned through conflict and she would like to avoid that, thank you very much!

Then her birth father shows up to take her from her village and bring her to the King’s court.

Prince Leopold is gifted in the noble arts of diplomacy and combat, but he’s never met anyone like Charlie. Falling in love with her wouldn’t be an issue, except he’s already engaged, and his fiancée is the daughter of a very powerful evil witch. Charlie, panicking, decides to break the news to Princess Robin…but then she finds love at first sight, too. To resolve this love triangle, the teens are sent on a quest to discover the source of magic! So much for Charlie’s plans for a quiet life…

My Review

This was so much fun to read! I love that it starts out as if an NPC (non-playing character) has gone on a quest in a tabletop adventure. The early scenes especially seemed to harken back to role-playing game rules and expectations. I loved the playfulness of that approach, and the fact that the first other character Charlie meets is a vulture who thinks Charlie is about to be eaten.

The story takes some common fairytale tropes and turns them upside down while still delivering stakes and great characters. I’m a huge fan of this book. It looks like it began as a webcomic, and now I even want to look that up and find out more about that, too.

Dungeons and Dragons fans and readers who enjoy upbeat fantasy graphic novels will not want to miss this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Romantic tension between characters.

Spiritual Content
Some characters can do magic. Some animals can talk. Dragons exist.

Violent Content
Situations of peril.

Drug Content
An adult character drinks wine.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Guardians of Dawn: Ami by S. Jae-Jones

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Guardians of Dawn: Ami (Guardians of Dawn #3)
S. Jae-Jones
Wednesday Books
Published August 6, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Guardians of Dawn: Ami

When the Pillar blooms, the end of the world is not far behind.

Li Ami was always on the outside—outside of family, outside of friendships, outside of ordinary magic. The odd and eccentric daughter of a former imperial magician, she has devoted her life to books because she finds them easier to read than people. Exiled to the outermost west of the Morning Realms, Ami has become the sole caretaker of her mentally ill father, whose rantings and ravings may be more than mere ramblings; they may be part of a dire prophecy. When her father is arrested for trespassing and stealing a branch from the sacred tree of the local monastery, Ami offers herself to the mysterious Beast in the castle, who is in need of someone who can translate a forbidden magical text and find a cure for the mysterious blight that is affecting the harvest of the land.

Meanwhile, as signs of magical corruption arise throughout the Morning Realms, Jin Zhara begins to realize that she might be out of her element. She may have defeated a demon lord and uncovered her identity as the Guardian of Fire, but she’ll be more than outmatched in the coming elemental battle against the Mother of Ten Thousand Demons…unless she can find the other Guardians of Dawn. Her magic is no match for the growing tide of undead, and she needs the Guardian of Wood with power over life and death in order to defeat the revenants razing the countryside.

The threat of the Mother of Ten Thousand Demons looms larger by the day, and the tenuous peace holding the Morning Realms together is beginning to unravel. Ami and Zhara must journey to the Root of the World in order to seal the demon portal that may have opened there and restore balance to an increasingly chaotic world.

My Review

I can’t remember how the first book in this series ends. I’m not sure if this second book picks up right where the first ends, or if there’s a little time between them. In any case, this book jumps right into the action from the beginning chapter. From there, I felt like the characters hurtled from one crisis to another. They consistently pursue their goal of sealing the demon portal.

This book has a huge cast of characters. The Bangtan brothers, whom Zhara travels with are all named characters with distinct personality traits. They mostly only appear in the early chapters of the book. Zhara also travels with her celestial companion, Sajah, and Han, with whom she has a romantic connection. Yuli, a spirit-walker, also contacts Zhara and her party, sometimes appearing at funny moments.

The story also follows Ami, a bookish girl who meets Gaden, also called Beast, because of the mask they wear to cover their face. Ami’s story has some Beauty and the Beast vibes, which I didn’t pick up on immediately as I read the book. There’s a short section at the end of the story that reminds readers about the connection, and it’s hinted at in the cover copy, too.

I enjoyed the book. It’s action-packed, and full of engaging characters and relationships. One of the things I really appreciate about this series is that it feels targeted to a younger YA audience. This is a book you could absolutely give a middle school reader. They’ll get some young adult storytelling while still getting some more gentle content.

I will absolutely continue with this series, though I suspect my reviews will post out of order. The second book released during the Wednesday Books/St. Martin’s Press boycott in 2024, so I missed it. I read them in order, though.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Three instances of profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to perform magic. A few characters are Guardians of Dawn, specific magic-wielders tasked with protecting the world. One character has the ability to compel others to do things. The narrative includes references to reincarnation. The characters pay close attention to the ki of others and the world around them. An evil force which some refer to as anti-ki, or demonic energy, seems to be spreading and causing harm, such as causing undead to rise and attack others.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Some scenes include battle violence. The descriptions of the undead can get a little icky, but they’re short and not a central part of the story.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I borrowed a copy of this book from the public library. All opinions are my own.

MMGM Review: Hafsa’s Way by Aisha Saeed

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Hafsa’s Way
Aisha Saeed
Nancy Paulsen Books
Published March 10, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Hafsa’s Way

In this inspiring stand-alone companion to New York Times bestseller Amal Unbound , Hafsa defies her family’s patriarchal expectations by pursuing her dreams and insisting that her married sister pursue hers.

Hafsa intends to be a doctor one day, so she’s thrilled to be accepted into Bukhari Summer Science Camp for kids who share her dream. Her parents, however, do not share her enthusiasm. They don’t support the idea of girls being doctors, the camp is expensive, and they don’t want to send her off to the big city of Lahore unsupervised. But when her brother-in-law offers to pay, and he and her sister invite her to stay at their house instead of in the dorms, her parents grudgingly give in.

Hafsa couldn’t be more excited, but things get off to a shaky start when it immediately becomes apparent that she accidentally signed up for the wrong program. And since she’s the only one not staying in the dorms, her fellow students treat her like an outsider—and a country bumpkin. On top of all that, she’s worried about her sister, who seems to have set aside her own career goals to please her in-laws.

But Hafsa’s way is to forge ahead, whether that means finding ways to pursue her medical studies, immersing herself in the climate studies program, or taking a pivotal field trip to the zoo—where an encounter with an elephant leads to several unexpected outcomes. It’s not easy to negotiate being part of a community—and a family—that doesn’t support her dreams, but Hafsa’s never been the type to take no for an answer. She’s determined to grab any chance she can for a better future, no matter what the odds are stacked against her.

My Review

I had no idea where this story was headed as I read the first few chapters. Hafsa has big ideas, and I love that there were people in her life who supported her dreams. I like that her dreams shifted a little bit as the story progressed, too. That feels very relatable to me, and definitely something that seems relatable to a lot of young readers.

The story includes many different types of characters. I think readers who aren’t very familiar with life in Pakistan will appreciate that. Some scenes showed Hafsa with her family in their small town. Other scenes showed Hafsa walking through a big city. Still others showed her experiencing a privileged life in a fancy house with hired help.

Yet, in all those places, she faces different kinds of challenges. Some of the girls at the camp were less invested in the curriculum than she was. Others were even more interested. Hafsa made judgments about some of the people she met. She had to reevaluate those ideas as she learned more about each person.

I also really appreciated the relationship between Hafsa and her older sister. While Shabnam’s life was more complicated than Hafsa realized, she still felt a strong connection to her sister, and a desire to see her sister happy. I like that the story made them consider each other’s perspectives more, and to lean into one another’s strengths.

One thing that’s interesting to me is how gradually the plight of the elephant emerges as a central component of the story. At first, Hafsa doesn’t even realize she’s made this connection with the animal. That relationship grows as the story moves forward.

I also really appreciate that the effort to help the elephant wasn’t limited to Hafsa’s labor. What made the experience so powerful was that it brought to fruition all the relationships that Hafsa had invested in throughout the story. It celebrated the power of community and working together.

The author’s note at the back of the book relates the real-life story that inspired Hafsa’s Way. I love the book even more knowing that it was inspired by real events. If you liked The Elephant’s Girl by Celesta Rimington or The Boy Who Met a Whale by Nizrana Farook, be sure to check this one out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Hafsa spends time at her newly married sister’s house and watches her sister interact with her new husband. She hears them laugh, sees them hug one another, and is glad they’re happy.

Spiritual Content
References to Muslim prayer practices.

Violent Content
A devastating storm sweeps through the town where Hafsa is staying, damaging buildings and homes. Some people are left carrying belongings through floodwaters.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday

I’m sharing this post as a part of a weekly round-up of middle-grade posts called Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday. Check out other blogs with posts about middle-grade books today on Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays at Always in the Middle.

Review: Daughter of the Cursed Kingdom by Jasmine Skye

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Daughter of the Cursed Kingdom (Witch Hall #2)
Jasmine Skye
Feiwel & Friends
Published February 24, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Daughter of the Cursed Kingdom

Two girls, bound by magic, must work together to stop an oncoming war, while grappling with unresolved feelings and terrible secrets in Daughter of the Cursed Kingdom, the thrilling conclusion to Jasmine Skye’s queernormative romantasy duology.

“If I ask you to walk into danger with me, Rosamund Holt, will you do it?”

Born a bone witch, with the power to raise the dead, Shaw has spent her life preparing to take her place as Death’s Heir, so she can lead her people to victory in an unavoidable, prophesied war. But then she met Rosy, sweet, stubborn Rosy, the most powerful bone familiar she’s ever known, and the only person Shaw has never been able to predict. Rosy, who doesn’t believe in the prophesied war that has consumed Shaw’s entire life.

“I won’t be their weapon, but I will be yours.”

Shaw has won Rosy’s loyalty, but Rosy has made it very clear she’s not willing to share her heart, a fact that Shaw is determined to respect… no matter how much it hurts. But now, as tensions with Vinland rise and secrets about the Witch King’s motivations are revealed, Shaw needs Rosy and her entourage more than ever. Will Shaw become the conquering warlord she was prophesied to be, or will she be strong enough to find a new path forward?

My Review

I loved the first book in this duology and really looked forward to the conclusion of Shaw and Rosy’s story. Weirdly, it took me most of this book to notice that Shaw’s perspective is written in first person and Rosy’s is in third person. I’ve read books like this before, and obviously, it didn’t bother me. It didn’t register with me until I was hundreds of pages in.

Rosy is my favorite character of the two, but I loved Shaw more and more as the story progressed. She faces such hard decisions and grows so much as a character. The relationship between her and Rosy stays largely in subplot territory throughout the book. Considering the threats the two girls face, it’s unsurprising that this would be the case. I liked the balance between the romance arc and the rest of the story.

I couldn’t always keep the magics sorted in my head, but I love the attention to the different types and how they work together. That made the story world feel rich and full to me. The cast of characters is inclusive in terms of gender identity and the relationships represented. One character also becomes disabled during the course of the story. At first, the others focus on healing their friend. When it becomes clear that even magic cannot provide a total physical healing, their focus shifts to addressing pain management and mobility needs. This character maintains an active role in the story until the conclusion. I appreciate that Skye not only included a character with a disability but also showed the experience of injury and recovery.

All in all, a conclusion worth reading. It’s a little longer than I’m comfortable with these days (470 pages), but I managed to make my way all the way through the story, and I’m glad I did.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used very infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
Characters have the ability to perform magic. Some can shift into animal shapes. Some characters encounter ghosts. A ghost can become angry and attempt to possess someone. This is dangerous and harmful. The fix is to soothe the ghost and help their spirit find peace. A bonding ceremony can relationally join two people and allow them access to one another’s magic.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Shaw and her classmates have been raised to serve in the military and attend an elite magic military school. Characters face battles and ambushes in some scenes. References to the death of a comrade. One character becomes disabled as a result of injuries from an attack. One character violently ends their life in one scene.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Front Desk by Kelly Yang

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Front Desk (Front Desk #1)
Kelly Yang
Arthur A. Levine Books
Published May 29, 2018

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Front Desk

Mia Tang has a lot of secrets.

Number 1: She lives in a motel, not a big house. Every day, while her immigrant parents clean the rooms, ten-year-old Mia manages the front desk of the Calivista Motel and tends to its guests.

Number 2: Her parents hide immigrants. And if the mean motel owner, Mr. Yao, finds out they’ve been letting them stay in the empty rooms for free, the Tangs will be doomed.

Number 3: She wants to be a writer. But how can she when her mom thinks she should stick to math because English is not her first language?

It will take all of Mia’s courage, kindness, and hard work to get through this year. Will she be able to hold on to her job, help the immigrants and guests, escape Mr. Yao, and go for her dreams?

My Review

I am amazed at how much Kelly Yang successfully weaves into this short novel. It’s under 300 pages, and the plot moves along at a reasonable pace. I felt like I got to know some of the motel residents, Mia’s family, and her friends from school.

During the story, Mia begins writing letters. She writes to someone’s potential employer. She writes to an employer who has been abusing his workers, demanding that he give back the passport and ID card to the worker. Her letters make a difference, even while Mia’s mom keeps reminding her that she wasn’t born in America, and that she’ll never speak “native English,” like the people who were. Mia’s letters prove that her voice matters, and her words have power, despite the other messages in her life.

Mia is also a first-class community builder. She connects with the motel residents, those there for a short while and those who stay much longer. She reaches out to the other business owners around the motel. Soon the Calivista is known up and down the coast.

Some parts of the book are sad. Her parents’ employer is cruel and takes advantage of them. Kids at school make fun of her for her clothes and her identity. She witnesses racial prejudice against a Black man who lives at the motel. Someone attacks another person, leaving them injured and bleeding. Mia is the first to find and help them.

But those sad moments only make Mia’s triumphs more impactful. They show the depth of her spirit and the strength of her heart. By the end of the book, I was cheering for her and her family. I definitely want to read more of this series.

One of the amazing things about the series is that the author drew inspiration for Mia’s story from her own experiences helping manage a motel with her parents when she was Mia’s age. This explains the story’s 1990s setting, too.

This is a great fit for readers looking for pre-2000s novels, especially middle grade books on the shorter side.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Two instances of mild profanity. A few instances of racist comments.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A drunk man scares Mia. One scene shows someone who has been attacked by two people. (The attack happens off scene.) References to threats from loan sharks.

Drug Content
A drunk man scares Mia. He’s quickly dealt with.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I borrowed a copy of this book from my library. All opinions are my own.

Review: Ramin Abbas has MAJOR Questions by Ahmad Saber

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Ramin Abbas has MAJOR Questions
Ahmad Saber
Atheneum Books
Published March 3, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Ramin Abbas has MAJOR Questions

An intensely brave, beautifully honest, and wryly funny story about a gay Muslim teen who has to choose between being true to himself or his faith—and his realization that maybe they aren’t as separate as he thought.

Ramin Abbas has spent his whole life obeying his parents, his Imam, and, of course, Allah—no questions asked. But when he starts crushing on the ridiculously handsome captain of the soccer team, so many things he’d always been so sure about are becoming questions:

1. Music is haram. But what if the Wicked soundtrack is the only thing keeping you sane because you’re being forced to play on the soccer team? With Captain Handsome?!

2. A boy crush is double haram, and Ramin’s parents will never accept it. But can he really be the only Muslim on Earth who feels this way?

3. Allah is merciful and makes no mistakes. Then isn’t Ramin just the way Allah intended him to be?

And so why should living your truth but losing everything—or living a lie and losing yourself—have to be a choice?!

My Review

I really appreciate that authors are writing stories that boldly ask hard questions about the intersection of faith and identity. These kinds of questions aren’t easy to answer, no matter what age someone might be, and it’s easy to oversimplify or lean on easy answers when those answers don’t directly impact one personally.

I think it’s also brave to write a novel featuring a protagonist who still feels positively about his faith despite having questions. That’s a real experience that a lot of people are having, and to find that reverently reflected in literature is so important.

Ramin is a perfect protagonist for a story like this. His relationships with his family members are tense and complicated by grief. He attends a private school for Muslim students, which is an experience many readers may not be directly familiar with, but I thought the descriptions and situations would be easy for anyone familiar with other private religious institutions to understand.

In the course of the story, he joins a soccer team and finds a place among the players. This gives the story some additional structure and offers more experience that will resonate with readers.

I also really appreciate that through the course of the novel, Ramin encounters lots of different views on practicing Islam. Some views were more restrictive, while others challenged his thinking. Ramin began to examine different parts of his faith alongside one another. He began to question whether ideas that appeared contradictory were a paradox or evidence of a need to update his ideas. I love the sensitivity with which the author explored these topics.

If you enjoyed The Golden Boys Guide to Bipolar by Sonora Reyes or Only This Beautiful Moment by Abdi Nazemian, add this remarkable debut to your reading list.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used very infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. Vague reference to sex. Brief mention of masturbation in the context of asking if it’s permissible in Islam.

Spiritual Content
References to some verses in the Quran. References to daily prayer practice. Ramin is a person of deep personal faith. He speaks with the Imam, asking questions about the intersection of faith and identity. He wrestles with questions about Allah’s love and judgment for sinners.

Violent Content
References to harsh judgment for sinners, such as having boiling lead poured into their ears. Some homophobic comments and statements. A student threatens to out Ramin. In an angry outburst, Ramin kicks a soccer ball through a window.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.