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Review: The Raven Heir by Stephanie Burgis

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The Raven Heir by Stephanie Burgis

The Raven Heir (The Raven Crown #1)
Stephanie Burgis
Bloomsbury Children’s
Published September 14, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Raven Heir

Deep within an enchanted forest lies a castle where a set of triplets and their sorceress mother have lived for years — safe from the decades-long war for the Raven Throne that rages in the kingdom beyond. Cordelia, one of the triplets, has the power to become any animal with just a thought, and she yearns to discover more about the world outside her castle.

But one day, the world comes to her, when the eldest of the triplets becomes the newest heir to the throne. Knowing that being named heir means certain death, Cordelia’s mother hid the truth about which child is the eldest when she hid them in the forest. When her family is captured, it’s up to Cordelia to use her powers to keep her siblings hidden and discover the truth about the Raven Heir — before it’s too late.

A thrilling new fantasy full of magic, adventure, and the power of family.

A set of magical triplets, two warring dynasties, and a broken crown waiting for its rightful owner…

My Review

If you’ve been following my blog for long, you probably already know one of my favorite middle grade series lately has been The Storm Keeper’s Island by Catherine Doyle. The series finale comes out (already came out in the UK) this year, so I’ve been loving that and also dreading being without a powerful and amazing series to look forward to…

Until I read THE RAVEN HEIR.

Because WOW.

Like. Where do I even start? The setting has this beautiful, enchanted vibe to it that I love. The characters are caught in the middle of this huge political power grab, and if they have any chance of surviving it, it will have to be because they figure out how to come together and fight their way out. So it’s serious, but the writing and the characters themselves keep it really firmly anchored in middle grade age range.

The characters. I love the way each of the triplets are different from one another. The whole story is in Cordelia’s perspective, and I love her character best of all. She’s feisty and has a hard time expressing herself in words to her siblings. Her brother Giles is the poet and comedian. Rosalind is fierce and brave. They’re so great.

The plot keeps a pretty quick pace. I think I read the whole book in two sittings, so it was a quick read for me. Every time I thought I’d quit at the end of the chapter, something new kept me reading just one more! I loved it.

For me this book is right up there with my other MG faves– THE STORM KEEPER’S ISLAND and THE FIREBIRD SONG. If you liked either of those, you will absolutely want to read this one. I’m also a fan of Burgis’s earlier books, but she’s absolutely outdone herself with this one. I can’t wait to read this whole series.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Cordelia’s older brother is described as having light brown skin.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have magic. The land also has a kind of magic.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Brief battle scenes.

Drug Content
A woman forces children to drink a potion that puts them to sleep.

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

Review: Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer

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Defy the Night
Brigid Kemmerer
Bloomsbury
Published September 14, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Defy the Night

The kingdom of Kandala is on the brink of disaster. Rifts between sectors have only worsened since a sickness began ravaging the land, and within the Royal Palace, the king holds a tenuous peace with a ruthless hand.

King Harristan was thrust into power after his parents’ shocking assassination, leaving the younger Prince Corrick to take on the brutal role of the King’s Justice. The brothers have learned to react mercilessly to any sign of rebellion–it’s the only way to maintain order when the sickness can strike anywhere, and the only known cure, an elixir made from delicate Moonflower petals, is severely limited.

Out in the Wilds, apothecary apprentice Tessa Cade is tired of seeing her neighbors die, their suffering ignored by the unyielding royals. Every night, she and her best friend Wes risk their lives to steal Moonflower petals and distribute the elixir to those who need it most–but it’s still not enough.

As rumors spread that the cure no longer works and sparks of rebellion begin to flare, a particularly cruel act from the King’s Justice makes Tessa desperate enough to try the impossible: sneaking into the palace. But what she finds upon her arrival makes her wonder if it’s even possible to fix Kandala without destroying it first.

A fantasy series about a kingdom divided by corruption, the prince desperately holding it together, and the girl who will risk everything to bring it crashing down.

My Review

I was super excited when I opened the package that had an ARC of DEFY THE NIGHT in it. I didn’t think I’d be on the list of bloggers who would get a copy (THANKS, BLOOMSBURY!), so I wasn’t even on the lookout for it. And yet! Yay!!!

So when I started reading, I was nervous. If you know me, you’re probably rolling your eyes. I’m always nervous when I start a book. If I liked the author already, I worry that the book won’t live up to my expectations based on how I felt about previous books. If it’s a new-to-me author, I worry that the book won’t be a good fit for me, and I’ll struggle to read it. So. Yeah. Apparently I’m just a nervous reader.

I think the first time I sat down to read, I read like 70 pages. When I quit, I wanted to read more, but I was really tired. I was into the story, had some ideas about where it was headed. (Yeah, okay, I peeked ahead. Did you forget already that I’m a nervous reader?! Ha.)

The second time I sat down to read, I read over 100 pages. The third time, I finished the book. (Something around 250 pages.)

I loved Tessa’s character– and I feel like Kemmerer always does this to me. She always gives us these bright, strong heroines with layers and grief and depth, and I love them from the first pages. I wasn’t sure I’d like Corrick. I mean, I suspected there was more to him than the brutal exterior, because hello, he’s the hero, but, I just wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into.

The story centers around a pandemic in a time of unrest and violence. Brief violent descriptions of death or torture or assassination attempts kind of pepper the whole book. I wasn’t expecting that for some reason, so the darkness of it kind of took me by surprise. They’re almost always brief descriptions, but there are a lot of them. I’m super sensitive to violence, so I kept worrying that it would add up to be too much for me, but I think because it’s usually so brief, I was okay reading it.

I completely bought into the premise and the characters, so I feel like I can’t even evaluate whether they made perfect sense– because I was committed to the story from pretty early on. The danger felt so real. The stakes kept getting higher. And the relationships twisted and turned and revealed new layers again and again.

I also liked that it didn’t end on a cliff’s edge. It had what I’d call a comfortable resolution (??) where, like, things felt completed without at the last minute introducing a new thread to tease us about the next book. So I really appreciated that! We have enough stress and anticipation right now. Haha. I’m excited about the fact that it’s a series, though, because I would definitely read more of this story world. I’m wondering, since it didn’t have a cliffhanger end, if the next book centers on different characters??? I am really excited to find out about that.

At any rate, I think readers who enjoyed A HEART SO FIERCE AND BROKEN will find the same great storytelling and complicated characters here. I might have liked this one better than AHSFAB? I’m not sure. It might be my favorite of Kemmerer’s so far, but I’m a pretty devoted fan of LETTERS TO THE LOST, so that one is tough to beat. Either way, I loved it and recommend checking it out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
I don’t recall any. Maybe mild profanity? If so it’s pretty infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between girl and boy. In one scene, the characters kiss pretty intensely.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Lots of brief violence. Assassination attempts or successes. References to torture. Descriptions of executions. Descriptions of battle or a group beating up one person. Explosions. Most of these things are brief, but there are a lot of them.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: We Can Be Heroes by Kyrie McCauley

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We Can Be Heroes
Kyrie McCauley
Katherine Tegen Books
Published September 7, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About We Can Be Heroes

“Welcome to Bell, proud home of Bell Firearms for two hundred years, and where five months ago, the teen heir to the Bell fortune took his father’s guns to school and killed his ex-girlfriend, Cassandra Queen.” —WE CAN BE HEROES PODCAST

Beck and Vivian never could stand each other, but they always tried their best for their mutual friend, Cassie. After the town moves on from Cassie’s murder too fast, Beck and Vivian finally find common ground: vengeance. They memorialize Cassie by secretly painting murals of her around town, a message to the world that Cassie won’t be forgotten. But Beck and Vivian are keeping secrets, like the third passenger riding in Beck’s VW bus with them—Cassie’s ghost.

When their murals catch the attention of a podcaster covering Cassie’s case, they become the catalyst for a debate that Bell Firearms can no longer ignore. With law enforcement closing in on them, Beck and Vivian hurry to give Cassie the closure she needs—by delivering justice to those responsible for her death.

Kyrie McCauley, author of If These Wings Could Fly, delivers a powerful contemporary YA novel about a trio of girls fighting for each other in the aftermath of a school shooting and the lasting bonds of friendship. Perfect for fans of Laura Ruby and Mindy McGinnis.

My Review

This. Book. Just wow. There are a couple scenes toward the end in particular (which I won’t spoil) but which absolutely wrecked me. The relationships between the characters are so incredibly well done. The friendships between the girls. The relationship between Beck and her gentle, not to be pushed around, strong but silent type grandfather. He’s my favorite literary grandpa EVER.

Then. The layering! The way the story wove together truths about domestic violence and powerful snapshots from Greek myths and the story of two girls grappling with crushing grief in a town refusing to face what killed their best friend. The clips from the podcast focused on exposing violence against women. The Latin expression that was so precious to Cassie that comes up again and again through the story: collige virgo rosas.

I just.

I feel like there’s no way that I can review this book and do it justice at all. It might be the best book at weaving all these things together simultaneously and telling a story that bears the weight of the important topics it explores without being dominated by them.

I loved this book. This is going to be the book you hear about from me for like the next year, so if you know me in real life, probably go ahead and read it now. Ha! Really, though. It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book that felt as gripping and as weighty as this and had the moving writing style to back it up, too. Like maybe since I read THE BOOK THIEF? I’m not sure. I can see why McCauley is compared in the back cover copy to Laura Ruby, who wrote BONE GAP, which was also a densely packed, lyrical, moving book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Major characters are three white girls. One girl is a lesbian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kiss between boy and girl. A girl recalls briefly that she slept with her boyfriend before she was ready and implies that he pressured or perhaps even forced her to do so.

Spiritual Content
Cassie is dead, but every night she appears as a ghost in the van owned by one of her two best friends.

Violent Content – Trigger warning for domestic violence/abuse and for gun violence and suicide and bullying.
Some descriptions of domestic violence. Some descriptions of a school shooting in which Cassie was killed and one of her best friends injured before the gunman ended his life. Those things happened before the book begins, so they’re related in short flashes of memory by the characters.

At one point, a girl finds a hateful message spray painted on her door. (I’ve referred to this as bullying, but I’m not sure what the right label for it is.)

Drug Content
The girls drink alcohol together and get drunk together as teens more than once.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog. I received a free copy of WE CAN BE HEROES in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna by Alda P. Dobbs

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The Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna
Alda P. Dobbs
Sourcebooks
Published September 14, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna

It is 1913, and twelve-year-old Petra Luna’s mama has died while the Revolution rages in Mexico. Before her papa is dragged away by soldiers, Petra vows to him that she will care for the family she has left―her abuelita, little sister Amelia, and baby brother Luisito―until they can be reunited. They flee north through the unforgiving desert as their town burns, searching for safe harbor in a world that offers none.

Each night when Petra closes her eyes, she holds her dreams close, especially her long-held desire to learn to read. Abuelita calls these barefoot dreams: “They’re like us barefoot peasants and indios―they’re not meant to go far.” But Petra refuses to listen. Through battlefields and deserts, hunger and fear, Petra will stop at nothing to keep her family safe and lead them to a better life across the U.S. border―a life where her barefoot dreams could finally become reality.

My Review

I read this book in one sitting, both because it’s a pretty easy read, but also because I couldn’t stop. Petra is bright and full of curiosity and determination to keep the promise she made to her father to care for her family. She makes sure they stay together, helps them when they’re weak, and stays focused on what matters, no matter what comes across her path. Her relationship with her grandmother is complex– there are levels where they just don’t get each other, and others where they deeply connect. I loved that.

The descriptions of the places Petra travels are vivid and gripping. I felt like I could almost taste and smell the food sometimes. And the hot dry desert and its affect on them as they traveled felt so real.

Though there’s some violence, it mostly happens off-scene, with some one-line references to what’s happened. In the author’s note, the author talks about how she learned about these events from her own family’s history rather than at any point in school. I didn’t learn about these events in school either, so I was really moved by the history in which THE BAREFOOT DREAMS OF PETRA LUNA takes place. It made me want to learn a lot more about Mexican history.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. The characters really resonated with me, especially Petra and Marietta, a captain in the rebel forces. I think readers who enjoy historical fiction or stories about strong female heroes will love this book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Major characters are Mexican.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Petra and her family seek refuge in a church. Petra’s grandmother has taken them to mass only rarely.

Violent Content
Soldiers force boys and men to join their ranks, executing them by firing squad if they refuse. (That’s referenced, but not explicitly shown.) Soldiers tear apart Petra’s home looking for her cousin. They burn the village, and Petra and her family flee. They threaten to kill civilians.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog. I received a free copy of THE BAREFOOT DREAMS OF PETRA LUNA in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Other Side of Luck by Ginger Johnson

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The Other Side of Luck
Ginger Johnson
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Published August 10, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Other Side of Luck

Follows two children from opposite circumstances as their fates cross and change both their lives forever.

Ever since her mother’s death, Princess Una has suffered through years of loneliness in the royal palace, where girls are treated as an afterthought. She yearns for a different life but is unsure how to make anyone notice her. Then her father announces a special contest: Whoever finds the rare Silva Flower can present it to Una for her twelfth birthday and receive a reward. Frustrated by her father’s grand but empty gesture, Una decides to take her fate into her own hands.

Julien, a young pauper, has tried his whole life to make something of nothing, alongside his hardworking Baba. When Baba is arrested by terrifying debt collectors, Julien’s only hope to save his father is to win the palace contest–to find the elusive Silva Flower. Little does he know that Una has decided to embark on a journey to find the prize, as well. As Una and Julien search for the flower, their destinies intertwine and offer a reward greater than anything either could ever hope for.

My Review

This book. My heart.

When I see a book that’s being promoted as having a lyrical or poetic style, I’m always drawn to that. Sometimes it’s a bit of a two-edged sword, though, because sometimes I get excited and expect something specific, and then end up disappointed. This time was not one of those times, though!

From the very first page, I loved this book. The writing is definitely more poetic and lyrical. Because both main characters have one really strong sense (smell in one case and hearing in the other), the descriptions for those characters major on their strong sense. I felt like this created a really immersive story. Even though some of the scenes had a little bit of a bird’s-eye-view type feel, the sensory details kept the story feeling really close and personal, super emotive.

In other words, all things I like!

And the themes. Oh goodness. Grief and estrangement. Fear and anxiety. Loneliness. Those were all so deep and well done. Best of all, though, was the exploration of the healing power of friendship and found family. Those all wove together and created such a moving, soothing story. I love it so much.

Every year as I read, there are a few books that I hold on to as possible Christmas gifts for family and friends. This one will be at the top of that list. I think readers who like whimsical, sweet and deep stories like THE FIREBIRD SONG will love this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Julien is white and Una is described as having brown skin.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Some magic. Julien can hear leaves unfurling and other sounds that plants make. A woman makes a special soup that has healing properties.

Violent Content
A man lies to authorities so than an innocent man is arrested of a crime he didn’t commit. A band of robbers kidnap and tie up victims, threatening to kill them. Children face situations of peril.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog. I received a free copy of THE OTHER SIDE OF LUCK in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Lord of the Flies by William Golding

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Lord of the Flies
William Golding
Penguin Books
Published December 16, 2003 (Originally Published 1954)

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Lord of the Flies

At the dawn of the next world war, a plane crashes on an uncharted island, stranding a group of schoolboys. At first, with no adult supervision, their freedom is something to celebrate; this far from civilization the boys can do anything they want. Anything. They attempt to forge their own society, failing, however, in the face of terror, sin and evil. And as order collapses, as strange howls echo in the night, as terror begins its reign, the hope of adventure seems as far from reality as the hope of being rescued.

Labeled a parable, an allegory, a myth, a morality tale, a parody, a political treatise, even a vision of the apocalypse, LORD OF THE FLIES is perhaps our most memorable novel about “the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart.”

My Review

LORD OF THE FLIES is one of those iconic books that gets referenced all the time in our culture, but I’d never read it before. My daughter had to read it for school last year, and she had some anxiety about the content. I decided to read it first so she’d be ready for anything that might be difficult for her.

I read the book last fall as things were heating up before the presidential election here in the US. At that time, I actually wrote an initial review. But because I kept pushing back the date for posting the review, I have updated the review and added some more stuff that I’ve thought about on reflection.

Before I started reading LORD OF THE FLIES, I felt really weird reading all these big name authors talking about how pivotal this book has been for their writing. I think it’s Suzanne Collins who says that she reads LORD OF THE FLIES every year. That seemed really weird to me for a book with such a dark reputation. Every year? I mean, no offense meant. When a book resonates with you like that, I get wanting to read it every year. For a long time I had a book that I read every year, too. I guess I just found myself surprised about people feeling that way about a book that’s often referenced to describe uncontrolled violence or mayhem.

Anyway. So I went into the book with both some dread (expecting violence, which can be hard for me to read), and some, I don’t know, fascination, I guess?

The thing that still stands out to me most about the book is how easily some boys began to think of others as not human, as animals to be hunted. There’s a moment, after one boy has been killed where two boys talk around what happened. One boy comes right out and says that it was murder. The other boy recoils and tries to defend what happened as something else. He tries to explain it away as something not evil and wrong. It doesn’t work, and for a moment they’re both confronted with the horrible truth.

Watching the vigilantism and the violent language increasingly used by elected officials and repeated online while reading LORD OF THE FLIES was really creepy, y’all. Like, it seriously marked me. I would read a scene and feel like, this is awfully close to the way people are talking to each other or about each other right now. Or I’d get to a scene and think, well, surely our leaders won’t sink this low. And then. Stuff happened.

I couldn’t stop– and still can’t stop– thinking about the way the story explores the power of fear. The collapse of reason that happens when people are afraid and respond with that fear and anger. The steady shift toward things that once seemed unimaginable. I knew what was coming because I’d heard enough about the book that I basically knew what to expect. And yet, the violence of it and the dehumanization of it still shocked and shook me.

Reading this book, I can see not only from the story why it endures, but also from the writing. Like, I felt genuinely pulled into the tale. Even when I wasn’t reading, I thought about it. I wanted to know what would happen. Even though I already pretty much knew what was coming, I couldn’t look away from what was happening. It gripped me and paralyzed me with horror. (Much the way I felt weeks later watching the coverage of the January 6 insurrection.)

Honestly, I won’t say I enjoyed it– not like, celebrated reading it. But it really moved me. I think I would read it again. I think I NEED to read it again.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
All the boys are British private school students.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
The boys fear a mysterious evil they call the Beast. They leave food sacrifices for it, hoping that this will keep the Beast away from them.

Violent Content
At least one racist comment equating Indians with savages. Multiple violent descriptions of hunting and killing pigs. Boys beat another boy to death. A boy falls to his death after being hit with a rock.

Drug Content
None.

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