Category Archives: By Age Range

Review: Daughter of the Bone Forest by Jasmine Skye

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Daughter of the Bone Forest by Jasmine Skye cover shows the head and shoulders of a blonde girl with a wolf curled behind her head and one swooping in front of her.

Daughter of the Bone Forest (Witch Hall #1)
Jasmine Skye
Feiwel & Friends
Published February 27, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Daughter of the Bone Forest

Two girls reluctantly bound by fate must weather a dangerous courtship as a prophesied war grows ever closer in Jasmine Skye’s high-stakes, queernormative dark fantasy debut, DAUGHTER OF THE BONE FOREST.

Rosy is a bone familiar, gifted with the power to shift into animals marked with exposed bone. She spends most of her days in the magical Bone Forest, caring for her feral grandmother and hiding her powers to avoid conscription by the Witch King’s army. Until the day that Princess Shaw, a witch known as Death’s Heir, visits the Forest. When Rosy saves Shaw’s life, the princess offers her the chance to attend the prestigious school, Witch Hall, as payment. Though Rosy is wary of Shaw’s intentions, she cannot pass up the opportunity to find the cure for her grandmother’s affliction.

But at Witch Hall, Rosy finds herself embroiled in political games she doesn’t understand. Shaw wants Rosy for her entourage, a partner to help lead the coming war. All Rosy wants is to stay out of trouble until she can graduate and save her grandmother, but she can’t deny her attraction to Shaw or the comfort Shaw’s magic gives her. Will Rosy give in to her destiny, or will the Bone Forest call her home once and for all?

My Review

I got totally lost in this book. It’s the first in a series, but I kept forgetting that as I read it. I loved both main characters– Rosy and Shaw. Rosy’s scenes are told in first person point of view, and Shaw’s are in third person, so I immediately felt closer to Rosy, which I think was the point. Shaw is so closed and carefully measured and controlled.

The romance arc in this one was honestly pretty perfect for me. I think a higher percentage of the girl/girl romances I’ve read have either had an insta-love vibe, and that’s really not my favorite kind of romance to read. This one is much more in the slow burn lane, which has (especially lately) been a favorite flavor of romance for me. So DAUGHTER OF THE BONE FOREST knocked it out of the park for me as a reader in terms of its romance elements.

I also find the magic system really intriguing and different. There are magic users (witches) and shapeshifters (familiars) who often bond with one another for magic and life benefits. I can’t remember all the different magic classes, but I know there was bone magic, which the main characters use. There’s also flower magic and maybe ice magic?

Most of the story takes place at the magic school (Witch Hall) so the book also has a magic boarding school vibe to it, too. I see that more often in middle grade books, so it was really fun to get to read a young adult novel with that element for a change.

All in all, I would absolutely call this one a win for me. I really look forward to where the series goes. I’m already excited for the second book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
I don’t remember there being a lot of physical character descriptions. One character is nonbinary. Another is bigender. Some minor characters are in same-gender couples. The two major characters (both girls) enter a courting relationship with each other.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two girls. Kissing between two boys.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to perform magic of certain types. Other characters have the ability to shapeshift into one or more animal forms. Often, a witch (magic user) will bond with a familiar (shapeshifter), and both receive a power boost.

Violent Content
Situations of peril and battle violence. In one scene, men light a group of unarmed students and a young villager on fire.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Graphic Novel or Adaptation, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , ,

Brightly Woven
Alexandra Bracken
Adapted by Leigh Dragoon
Illustrated by Kit Seaton
Disney Hyperion
Published February 2, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Brightly Woven

A graphic novel about discovering your own power.

Extraordinary things just don’t happen to fourteen-year-old Sydelle Mirabil, a talented weaver who dreams about life outside of her tiny village. But that all changes when a mysterious young wizard named Wayland North appears and asks for Sydelle’s help. He’s got a shocking secret that could stop a war between kingdoms-if he can reach the capital with the news in time. North needs a navigator who can mend his magical cloaks, and Sydelle is perfect for the job.

As Sydelle and North race against the clock to deliver their message, they must contend with unusually wild weather and a dark wizard who will do anything to stop them. But the sudden earthquakes and freak snowstorms may not be a coincidence. As Sydelle discovers more about North’s past and her own strange abilities, she realizes that the fate of the kingdom may rest in her fingertips.

My Review

I stumbled into this book as I was looking for middle grade fantasy graphic novels for my niece. This past year, I read HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE for the first time and loved it, so the comparison of this book to that one also had me intrigued. I guess I see why the comparison was made if it’s because a wizard and a girl who doesn’t recognize her own power travel around and get caught in some political intrigue.

It didn’t take me long to read the novel, and I especially enjoyed the illustrations. I liked the way the relationship between North and Sydelle developed. It’s a sweet friendship with hints at their attraction toward one another.

This graphic novel covers the first part of Alexandra Bracken’s debut novel of the same title, which I have not read. It doesn’t look like there will be follow-up books to this one, which is sad since I’d have liked to read more.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 9 to 12.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
North is a wizard. His family has been cursed.

Violent Content
Situations of peril and (cartoonish) battle scenes.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog.

Review: Conditions of a Heart by Bethany Mangle

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Conditions of a Heart
Bethany Mangle
Margaret K. Mc Elderry Books
Published February 20, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Conditions of a Heart

For fans of Talia Hibbert and Lynn Painter comes a funny and unflinchingly honest story about a teen who must come to terms with her disability and what it means for her identity, her love life, and her future.

Brynn Kwan is desperate for her high school persona to be real. That Brynn is head of the yearbook committee, the favorite for prom queen, and definitely not crumbling from a secret disability that’s rapidly wearing her down. If no one knows the truth about her condition, Brynn doesn’t have to worry about the pitying looks or accusations of being a faker that already destroyed her childhood friendships. She’s even willing to let go of her four-year relationship with her first love, Oliver, rather than reveal that a necessary surgery was the reason she ignored his existence for the entire summer.

But after Brynn tries to break up a fight at a pep rally and winds up barred from all her clubs and senior prom, she has nothing left to prop up her illusion of being just like everyone else. During a week-long suspension from school, she realizes that she doesn’t quite recognize the face in the mirror—and it’s not because of her black eye from the fight. With a healthy sister who simply doesn’t understand and a confused ex-boyfriend who won’t just take a hint and go away like a normal human being, Brynn begins to wonder if it’s possible to reinvent her world by being the person she thought no one herself.

My Review

One of the things that this book does so expertly is beginning in the middle. Brynn and Oliver have broken up. Brynn has crafted an entire pretend identity in which she isn’t disabled because she had some terrible experiences when the people around her knew about her health issues. We walk immediately into Brynn’s careful house-of-cards life with just enough time to understand what’s happening and why before the whole castle crumbles around her.

Another thing that I thought was really cool is Brynn’s relationship with her dad. He has the same condition she does, so he’s able to understand and empathize with her in a way that her mom and sister can’t, even though they want to help her.

Brynn has a really interesting character growth arc, too. At the beginning of the book, she’s convinced that keeping her medical diagnosis a secret will make her relationships with her peers less complicated and more stable. As the story progresses, though, she begins to see how many doors she closes by choosing to keep her disability secret (a choice that several characters are careful to point out is hers to make). It takes a lot for her to begin to imagine what a different life could look like, but once she does imagine it, she pushes up her sleeves and starts the work of trying to make that life happen.

All in all, I found this book to be a thoughtful, funny, and endearing story. I loved the romance elements, and the way the family and friend relationships impacted the story and grew through its telling. I think fans of EVERY TIME YOU GO AWAY by Abigail Johnson would really enjoy this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Brynn has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. She’s biracial– white and Asian American. Her best friend is a lesbian and Latine.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. References to sex.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A boy hits another boy and a girl. Some bullying and ableist comments.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: Eagle Drums by Nasuġraq Rainey Hopson

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Eagle Drums
Nasuġraq Rainey Hopson
Roaring Brook Press
Published September 12, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Eagle Drums

A magical realistic middle grade debut about the origin story of the Iñupiaq Messenger Feast, a Native Alaskan tradition.

As his family prepares for winter, a young, skilled hunter must travel up the mountain to collect obsidian for knapping―the same mountain where his two older brothers died.

When he reaches the mountaintop, he is immediately confronted by a terrifying eagle god named Savik. Savik gives the boy a follow me or die like your brothers.

What comes next is a harrowing journey to the home of the eagle gods and unexpected lessons on the natural world, the past that shapes us, and the community that binds us.

Eagle Drums by Nasuġraq Rainey Hopson is part cultural folklore, part origin myth about the Messenger’s Feast – which is still celebrated in times of bounty among the Iñupiaq. It’s the story of how Iñupiaq people were given the gift of music, song, dance, community, and everlasting tradition.

My Review

I loved the writing style of this book. It reads like a folk tale, with straightforward descriptions and a focus on Piŋa’s family’s traditions and ways of life, and a lyrical feel to it, too. The story follows a boy named Piŋa whose family has lost two sons, both while they were away hunting for the family. He and his parents grieve for that loss, and it still feels very fresh.

When Piŋa goes with the eagle god, he worries his parents will assume he has met the same fate as his brothers, and the drive to get home to them helps keep him going as he faces tasks and challenges set out by his host. Piŋa is an easy character to root for. He does his best to be a good son, and he gets frustrated when he can’t master a new task as quickly as he wants to. Super relatable.

I can definitely see this book appealing to modern audiences and readers who enjoy folktales or historical fiction as well. I think the narrative balances the expectations of young readers and the preservation of folk-style storytelling really well.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Major characters are Native Alaskan, Iñupiaq.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
The main character, Piŋa, meets an eagle god and the god’s family.

Violent Content
Piŋa learns that the eagle god killed both his brothers.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: The Someday Daughter by Ellen O’Clover

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

The Someday Daughter
Ellen O’Clover
HarperTeen
Published February 20, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Someday Daughter

Years before Audrey St. Vrain was born, her mother, Camilla, shot to fame with Letters to My Someday Daughter, a self-help book encouraging women to treat themselves with the same love and care they’d treat their own daughters. While the world considers Audrey lucky to have Camilla for a mother, the truth is that Audrey knows a different side of being the someday daughter. Shipped off to boarding school when she was eleven, she feels more like a promotional tool than a member of Camilla’s family.

Audrey is determined to create her own identity aside from being Camilla’s daughter, and she’s looking forward to a prestigious summer premed program with her boyfriend before heading to college and finally breaking free from her mother’s world. But when Camilla asks Audrey to go on tour with her to promote the book’s anniversary, Audrey can’t help but think that this is the last, best chance to figure out how they fit into each other’s lives—not as the someday daughter and someday mother, but as themselves, just as they are.

What Audrey doesn’t know is that spending the summer with Camilla and her tour staff—including the disarmingly honest, distressingly cute video intern, Silas—will upset everything she’s so carefully planned for her life.

My Review

While I didn’t feel the immediate connection with this book that I did with O’Clover’s debut, I think there’s still so much to love about her sophomore novel. There’s lots of room in the young adult book sphere for mining mother-daughter relationships, especially complex ones. At times, I worried that the story would drift into condemning Audrey for her wounds and boundaries with her mom, and though there were a couple of conversations I wish had gone differently, the story explored those hurts and responses to hurts with a lot of sensitivity and depth.

The romance subplot moves very slowly, which actually really works here. Because the story is largely focused on Audrey’s relationship with her mom, the way her mom’s book has made her feel, and the way people treat her because of her connection to her mom, I think the romance needed to be more of a back-burner-simmer rather than demanding the spotlight. It also helped to showcase what supportive relationships can look like– they don’t demand centerstage when the moment isn’t right.

All of that to say that two books in, I’m still a huge fan of Ellen O’Clover’s writing. I love the depth that she creates and explores in her main characters, and I’m absolutely here for whatever book(s) come next.

Fans of Emery Lord or Ashley Schumacher will want to check this one out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
One minor character is Asian American. Another is gay. Another is a lesbian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Audrey recalls a time that her mom showed up at her school (for other reasons) and wound up having a sex education with the other girls in her dorm. References to sex.

Kissing between boy and girl. In one scene, they undress together, and the scene ends with their intention to have sex.

Spiritual Content
A girl gets out an Ouija board, intending for the group to use it.

Violent Content
A girl nearly drowns in a lake. A tropical storm brings violent wind and rain.

Drug Content
Teens drink alcohol at a club.

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

Review: The Unicorn Legacy: Tangled Magic by Kamilla Benko

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The Unicorn Legacy
Kamilla Benko
Bloomsbury
Published February 27, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Unicorn Legacy: Tangled Magic

From the creator of The Unicorn Quest series, a wondrous new series set in the magical land of Arden, full of unicorns and mystery!

Magic pulses bright in Arden, a world where humans who craft magic have been at war and separated for hundreds of years. Now a new era has dawned, the unicorns have returned, and the prime minister has decreed that apprentices from all four guilds will learn in the newly formed Unicorn Academy. But peace is tenuous: As rumors spread of dark magic and of unicorns disappearing, twelve-year-old apprentice Olivia Hayes is caught between her joy at newfound magical abilities at the academy and proving to everyone that her older sister, Laurel, is NOT a unicorn poacher. She and her friends must untangle the truth and the secrets of the past to spin a stronger future-or else the unicorns of Arden may be lost forever. This sweeping middle grade fantasy is about friendship, choice, and the ties that truly matter.

My Review

If you know me at all, you know I absolutely love sister books, and that includes the books in the previous series by Kamilla Benko, The Unicorn Quest. Getting to visit the land of Arden again (and even getting a quick cameo by a character from the other series!) was such a treat.

In this book, Olivia, who worries she has no magic at all, accepts an invitation to a special school for magic users of all kinds. Her older sister is a magical prodigy, having completed her training in record time, and Olivia feels even more left behind by the way her sister has changed in the face of her new success.

So many pieces of the story were placed opposite one another in the perfect way to create tension. Lots of times, I thought I knew what was going on, and then new information made me see things in a different way. I love when a well-constructed story does that.

The end of the book leaves no doubt this will be a series I closely follow. This book reminded me all over again why I loved Kamilla Benko’s writing and the sweet, complex sister relationships she explores in her stories. Fantasy fans looking for a magical school or unicorn story will not want to miss this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
One of Olivia’s friends is Black.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Very brief mentions of adults in romantic relationships. One line mentions a man married to a man. A woman blows a kiss to another woman.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to use magic. Unicorns and other magical creatures exist.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. A monster tries to eat a girl and injures someone. An earthquake destroys a building.

Drug Content
None.

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

Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays

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