Category Archives: Book Review and Content

Serendipity by Gabbie Benda

Review: Serendipity by Gabbie Benda

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

Serendipity
Gabbie Benda
Holiday House
Published February 10, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Serendipity

Serendipity is the luckiest kid in the world. But what happens when the luckiest kid in the world becomes extraordinarily unlucky, in this debut graphic novel.

Serendipity is your classic overachiever. She’s class president, lead in the school play, and star of the basketball team. She’s also incredibly lucky, like, wins everything all the time lucky, even random radio raffles.

Which is how she finds herself with free tickets to the town carnival where an accident curses her with bad luck FOREVER.

And just like that Serendipity’s luck really does seem to run out. Missed shots, fumbled lines, and a slip in the polls. Can it get any worse? Oh yes it can. Permanent bad hair days.

Serendipity becomes convinced the curse is real. She’s definitely not disorganized or spread too thin. Nope, it’s all the curse. And she’ll have to find a way to reverse it soon.

Hilariously charming and illustrated in sugar pink hues, this graphic novel is a treat for kids who love middle school dramas and adorable, if impulsive characters. It’s a perfect story for overstressed overachievers looking for a warm reminder that stepping back doesn’t mean stepping down. In fact, sharing the spotlight with good friends is perhaps the luckiest thing of all.

My Review

This book has a wonderful balance between quirky fun and subtle lessons. I love the friendship between Serendipity and Basil, who are very different in personality, but help balance each other.

One theme really stood out to me. After Serendipity believes she’s been cursed forever, she struggles to do all the things that felt so effortless before. She wrestles with all kinds of ways to get back on track and avoid disappointing everyone.

I suspect that will resonate with a lot of high-achieving readers. There’s so much pressure to join everything, fill your schedule with extracurriculars, and never let anyone down by missing a practice or event. Sometimes, that life can be sustainable for a while, so that when it becomes unmanageable, we feel guilty or ashamed for needing to step back. Like, somehow, having limits is a personal flaw.

I love that this story examines that experience, and that Serendipity finds solutions through interdependence and boundaries. Her community of friends helps and supports her without making decisions for her.

The bright color palette emphasizes the fun, energetic story. The subtle messaging encourages readers to lean into supportive relationships and to celebrate not only their own successes but also those of their friends and community.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
List.

Romance/Sexual Content
List.

Spiritual Content
List.

Violent Content
List.

Drug Content
List.

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: Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , , , ,

Legendborn (The Legendborn Cycle #1)
Tracy Deonn
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published September 15, 2020

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Legendborn

After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus.

A flying demon feeding on human energies.

A secret society of so-called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down.

And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw.

The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates.

She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight.

My Review

This series has been on my reading list for a long time, but I finally made the time to read Legendborn this year. I’d heard great things about it, so I was excited to get straight into the story.

Right away, I loved Bree. She’s still processing her mom’s sudden death, which happened right before the story began. All the way through the story, she’s driven by this yearning to connect to her mom, to understand what happened, and why. I found that intensely relatable.

The magical world that she infiltrates is deeply ritualistic and tradition-centric, and very white, as you might expect from something based on King Arthur and his knights. I loved the way that Tracy Deonn unapologetically relates Bree’s experience as a Black girl in those spaces. Connecting that history down through the American colonies and the Confederacy, all the way to Bree’s present, gave the story a rich, sometimes painful, context.

I also love the character arcs between Bree, Nick, and Selwyn. I think I know where the story is headed, and I love that the shifts in the relationships feel natural and experiential. I’m so eager to read more of this series. All the praise I’ve heard has been well-deserved.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used somewhat infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
Several different branches of magical ability exist and are conducted in different ways. One group borrows power from ancestors, repaying it with their own energy or sacrifices. Another group steals power from elsewhere, accruing a debt that will someday come due.

A line of magic wielders descended from King Arthur and his knights continues to use magic to fight demons who slip through gates from other worlds.

Violent Content
Brief racist statements and microaggressions. References to a car accident that killed Bree’s mom. (Happens off scene.) Situations of peril. Battles against creatures called demons made of dark magic from another world. References to assault (not shown on scene).

Drug Content
References to drinking alcohol at formal social gatherings.

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 library. All opinions are my own.

Review: Korobá: The Case of the Missing Kolo by Àlàbá Ònájìn

Book Review and Content, Graphic Novel or Adaptation, Middle Grade 8-12, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, , , , , ,

Korobá: The Case of the Missing Kolo
Àlàbá Ònájìn
Holiday House
Published February 24, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Korobá: The Case of the Missing Kolo

A charismatic young sleuth takes on a case close to home in this new graphic novel series set in a vibrant African community.

Ten-year-old Korobá knows everyone in Makoko, the Nigerian fishing village where she lives.

She knows her way up and down the bright, colorful waterways, knows where to sell fried shrimp, and knows what to look for at the crowded daily market. Makoko is her playground, and she roams free with her best friends, Saidat and Joba, and her adorable dog, Popi.

The last thing Korobá would expect in Makoko is a thief. Yet Saidat’s wooden piggy bank—her Kolo—has been stolen. The children of Makoko save coins in their Kolo all year long, waiting to spend their money at the annual harvest festival. Saidat saved and saved, but now she will have nothing. It’s not fair!

Korobá knows what good detectives do…(sort of?). Should the primary suspect be Saidat’s grumpy cousin, visiting on vacation? Or could it be the village carpenter, who has been doing some work on Saidat’s house? It’s up to Detective Korobá to catch the thief and find the missing Kolo before Breaking Day!

Buckle up, budding mystery fans… It’s time to join Korobá and friends on their thrilling chase for the culprit. With rich, detailed illustrations—featuring some very important clues—that bring Makoko to life, this one-of-a-kind graphic novel series is a modern day Tintin meets Encyclopedia Brown.

My Review

I love that this mystery cleverly introduces readers to a tradition in Makoko, a Nigerian fishing village. Children save money in a decorated box all year and break the box open before an annual festival to buy the things they need for the year. This sets up some interesting stakes, because it’s not just a child’s money that is stolen, though that would be horrible. Saidat’s year of savings is taken, and with it, her ability to buy much-needed items for the coming year.

Korobá and her friends juggle family responsibilities with seeking clues and chasing leads to unravel the mystery of the missing Kolo. The pacing was nicely done, and the clues came together organically, so that the resolution made perfect sense while maintaining enough mystery throughout to keep readers guessing.

Many pages were made up of a single panel, and several times, a two-page spread shows a detailed view of a scene, including the market and parts of the city. The illustrations are engaging and help give context to the story.

Perfect for mystery fans and readers interested in international settings.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 7 to 11.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Someone steals a Kolo, a piggy bank full of money, from a child.

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: This Wretched Beauty by Elle Grenier

Book Review and Content, Historical, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , , , ,

This Wretched Beauty: A Dorian Gray Remix (Remixed Classics #10)
Elle Grenier
Feiwel & Friends
Published February 10, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About This Wretched Beauty: A Dorian Gray Remix

Haunted by a portrait that seems to taunt them, a conflicted young aristocrat spirals down a path to the worst possible version of themself in this suspenseful retelling of The Picture of Dorian Gray, perfect for fans of The Spirit Bares Its Teeth and These Violent Delights.

Happiness needs to be earned in the face of impossible odds, or there’s no beauty in it.

London, 1867. Dorian Gray is the heir to a title and their family’s estate, but they’ve never been given the chance to decide whether that’s actually what they want out of life. Forcibly estranged from their father by their manipulative grandfather, Dorian feels trapped in the life that has been decided for them.

Then one night they sneak out of their grandfather’s house, they meet a sweet and talented young painter named Basil, who immediately recognizes Dorian as his new muse. They agree to sit for Basil for a portrait, and Dorian is struck by the beauty and depth that Basil paints into their likeness—and they dare to begin hoping there might be more to life than being their grandfather’s perfect, empty-headed heir.

Dorian is further elated when Basil introduces them to the world of molly houses and drag performers—they’ve never seen such joyful variety of humanity and gender expression. But, as the barrier between the London they know and the one they’re discovering begins to crumble, Dorian must face the fact that freedom and safety do not come hand in hand.

The aftermath of this realization pulls Dorian into a terrible downward spiral, torn between guilt over their own actions and hatred for the suffocating expectations of society. They push away those closest to them, surrounding themself instead with vapid courtiers and decadent socialites. And as Dorian’s spiral of self-loathing deepens, something strange happens—Basil’s portrait of them begins to change. Their smile becomes a little sharper, the glint in their eyes a little colder.

Dorian will have to choose—embrace the wickedness within and allow themself to become what they were always meant to be, or dare to try for something far more fragile and dangerous: a life of their own making.

My Review

I wasn’t familiar with the original work when I picked up this novel, and I wish that wasn’t true. It feels like the kind of story that has something to say in its deliberate reflections and departures from the original story.

Despite that, I found this book to be pretty engrossing. The writing is very voice-y. The style of it constantly reminds readers that this book is from another time, yet it’s not hard to read. I found myself really fascinated with that, especially considering this is a debut novel. It’s pretty impressive to come right out of the gate with writing this clever.

The story approaches horror without delving into it. Dorian feels haunted by a portrait that changes over time, reflecting changes in character that Dorian is afraid for anyone else to see.

Dorian’s interrogation of gender and identity is a little bit subtle as well. I sometimes lost that thread in the midst of other plot elements. However, I think that those questions of identity worked well in the context of the story. They felt like natural questions for the character to examine. It’s hard for me to imagine the original story without them.

Weirdly, reading this book made me want to go back and read Exquisite Things by Abdi Nazemian, which has a lot of themes similar to this book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages LIST.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
List.

Romance/Sexual Content
List.

Spiritual Content
List.

Violent Content
List.

Drug Content
List.

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: The Spider Strikes by Michael P. Spradlin

Book Review and Content, Historical, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , , ,

The Spider Strikes (The Web of the Spider #3)
Michael P. Spradlin
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published February 24, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Spider Strikes

Amid the chilling rise of Hitler’s Germany, a twelve-year-old boy and his friends confront rising Nazi threats during a family trip to Austria in this third book in the action-packed middle grade series Web of the Spider for fans of I Survived and A Night Divided.

It’s the summer of 1931 and, like most summers, Joshua and his family are vacationing in Salzburg, Austria. But unlike most years, Joshua is looking forward to escaping the upheaval and bigotry back home in Heroldsberg and the Nazi presence threatening Jewish families like his own. This year, he’s invited his best friends Rolf and Ansel to join him for one last summer before Rolf leaves for America with his father.

But the trip becomes far from relaxing as the Nazis take root in Austria as well, and a gang of Hitler Youth set their sights on Joshua and his friends. When the boys decide to hike up the mountains to camp out at Joshua’s family cabin, things go from bad to worse when they quickly realize they aren’t alone. Can the boys evade the Nazis and make it back to their families safely?

My Review

This is the third book in this quick-to-read series. I love how Spradlin breaks down events in Germany during the 1930s into very bite-sized chunks, making the story very accessible to young readers. The characters are pretty relatable. Each book in the series is from the perspective of a different boy in the friend group.

The main character, Joshua, is Jewish, and his family faces prejudice while on vacation in Austria. This highlights the spread of Nazi ideology, which the boys expected to be more restricted to Germany.

A lot of this story takes place in the woods while the boys are camping. I can’t say I’ve ever read anything about recreational camping in 1930s Germany before. That’s such an interesting combination. I wonder if the book will attract readers who enjoy outdoor stories as well as those looking for historical fiction.

All in all, I’ve enjoyed this timely series and really appreciate the gentle hand with which the author delivers these images of history to the page.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Some characters are Jewish.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Instances of bullying and prejudice. Instances of racism.

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: Roar of the Lambs by Jamison Shea

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

Roar of the Lambs
Jamison Shea
Publisher
Published August 25, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Roar of the Lambs

If you knew the world was ending, who would you save? And would they let you?

Sixteen-year-old Winnie Bray is a liar. As the resident psychic at an oddities shop, Winnie truly can see the future. But her customers only want reassurance, and Winnie only wants their money. Favorable fortunes are a fast track to funding her way out of Buffalo, New York for good, after all.

But all of that changes when a vision sends her stalking in the remains her family home that burned down in a fire 10 years ago. Among the ash and rubble, Winnie finds a box made of bone, untouched by flames and…whispering. At the touch of her finger, the box shows her a vision of death, chaos, and apocalypse, with her and rich kids Apollo and Cyrus Rathbun at the center.

Apollo knows their cousin is up to no good, and with the Rathbun family scattered to the wind, they know Cyrus is aiming to present himself as the new patriarch. Despite an initial attraction, Apollo is reluctant to believe Winnie. But soon it becomes clear that their family histories are intertwined, with the whispering, hungry box at the very center, and more than their lives are on the line. Together, they must discover the origins of the box and stop unforeseen forces from fulfilling the apocalyptic prophecy, or die trying.

From the author of I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me comes a speculative thriller about the ties that bind us to places and people, perfect for fans of Andrew Joseph White and Tochi Onyebuchi.

My Review

Premise-wise, this is probably not a book I’d be particularly drawn to, but I loved Shea’s writing in their previous duology, and I am not at all disappointed that I picked up this book.

The story develops slowly, but with a lot of tension. Periodic scenes show glimpses of the past, from the moment the box was discovered to the present. The narrative alternates between Winnie and Apollo’s perspectives, and I loved both characters. I liked how the story paints this picture of these two families, separated by class and racial lines, so entangled in the fate of this strange box.

The tension never slips, and I kept reading chapter after chapter, trying to put together the pieces of what was happening and worrying for Winnie and Apollo every time I learned something they didn’t yet know.

The romance that develops between them also kept me reading. I liked that it didn’t overshadow the main plot elements, but it felt organic and gave me something to celebrate.

All in all, I feel like I have to keep reading more work by this author. I’ve read three of their novels, and I’ve enjoyed all three. If you like intense, voicy horror/thrillers, definitely check out Roar of the Lambs.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
Several characters encounter a box that appears to have some kind of supernatural power. Characters hear it whispering or notice a skittering sound inside the box. Powerful light spills out whenever someone tries to open the box.

Winnie has a psychic ability that lets her see scenes from the future of anyone she has skin-to-skin contact with. She works at a store that sells oils, crystals, and other items used for spiritual purposes.

Violent Content
Situations of peril and brief, graphic violence. Winnie has several visions of the deaths of people she touches. These are usually only very briefly described. A man dies by suicide in one scene. A teenage boy shoves a girl to the ground, breaking her arm. References to a fire that destroyed a home and killed at least one person. Interacting with an item causes the deaths of several people.

Drug Content
References to drinking alcohol. A college student drinks alcohol.

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.