Review: Flower and Thorn by Rati Mehrotra

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Flower and Thorn by Rati Mehrotra cover shows a tall cluster of flowers in the center.

Flower and Thorn
Rati Mehrotra
Wednesday Books
Published October 17, 2023

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About Flower and Thorn

One girl. One boy.
A promise broken.
A magic stolen.

Irinya has wanted to be a flower hunter ever since her mother disappeared into the mysterious mist of the Rann salt flats one night. Now seventeen, Irinya uses her knowledge of magical flowers to help her caravan survive in the harsh desert. When her handsome hunting partner and childhood friend finds a priceless silver spider lily–said to be able to tear down kingdoms and defeat an entire army–Irinya knows this is their chance for a better life.

Until Irinya is tricked by an attractive imposter.

Irinya’s fight to recover the priceless flower and to fix what she’s done takes her on a dangerous journey, one she’s not sure she’ll survive. She has no choice but to endure it if she hopes to return home and mend the broken heart of the boy she’s left behind.

My Review

One of the things I’ve learned about myself as a reader lately is that I struggle with long chapters. Chapter length isn’t something I usually know about a book before I start reading. Some books genuinely need longer chapters because of how they’re structured. This one is one of those. But, because I am a reader who struggles with long chapters, it took me a long time to feel like I hit my stride with this book.

Once I did, though, I was completely hooked. Like, I enjoyed the story from the early scenes, but it felt like it was taking a long time to read, and I kept having to stop mid-chapter, which really threw me off when I started reading again the next time.

I loved the story’s setting. It’s set in India at a time when the country is besieged by the Portuguese. The characters hope to use magic flowers as a weapon in the war, and hope to keep their existence secret from the invaders, though it isn’t clear if they can.

The story has some commentary on markets and unfair systems, particularly those that marginalize nomad communities. I thought the commentary on that was thoughtful and well-integrated into the story. Irinya hopes to help her people find a way to sell the magic flowers for a fair price, as opposed to the current system, in which a few powerful, wealthy individuals control the system.

I really liked Irinya’s character. She’s stubborn, willful, and deeply loyal to her people. She’s fierce and brave. Definitely my kind of heroine.

Conclusion

Definitely by the 20 or 25% mark, I was deeply invested in the story and needed to know what really happened with the mysterious stranger who’d promised the world to Irinya and the deep betrayal between her and her best friend, Fardan. I’m super glad I read this book, and I’m eager for more by this author. I really enjoyed her debut, NIGHT OF THE RAVEN, DAWN OF THE DOVE, as well.

Content Notes for Flower and Thorn

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Characters are Indian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Two women are in a romantic relationship. Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Some flowers have magic abilities to heal or travel through time or space. Irinya can hear the flowers speaking to her.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Irinya sees a person killed by deadly wasp stings. Several characters engage in battle with swords and other weapons. Some are fatally injured. Irinya uses a blowpipe with poison thorns as a weapon. Thugs kill a man with a knife. A woman hits someone with a cooking pot in a battle.

Drug Content
References to alcoholic drinks.

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 FLOWER AND THORN in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Through the Moon: A Dragon Prince Graphic Novel by Peter Wartman and Xanthe Bouma

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

Through the Moon (Dragon Prince Graphic Novel #1)
Peter Wartman and Xanthe Bouma
Graphix
Published October 6, 2020

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Through the Moon

Don’t miss this exclusive, original story set between seasons 3 and 4 of the hit animated series THE DRAGON PRINCE!

The Dragon Prince has been reunited with his mother, the Human Kingdoms and Xadia are at peace, and humans and elves alike are ready to move on. Only Rayla is still restless. Unable to believe Lord Viren is truly dead, and haunted by questions about the fate of her parents and Runaan, she remains trapped between hope and fear.

When an ancient ritual calls her, Callum, and Ezran to the Moon Nexus, she learns the lake is a portal to a world between life and death. Rayla seizes the opportunity for closure-and the chance to confirm that Lord Viren is gone for good.But the portal is unstable, and the ancient Moonshadow elves who destroyed it never intended for it to be reopened. Will Rayla’s quest to uncover the secrets of the dead put her living friends in mortal danger?Don’t miss this exclusive, original graphic novel from Peter Wartman and Xanthe Bouma, with story by THE DRAGON PRINCE creators Aaron Ehasz and Justin Richmond!

My Review

I kept seeing this book around. The first place I saw it was on my library’s ebook database, but I wasn’t able to check it out there. I ended up ordering a copy without realizing this is part of a much larger project and takes place between seasons of a Netflix series.

I didn’t have any trouble following the plot of the book even despite knowing nothing about it when I picked it up. The story left me with a lot of questions that I think watching the series or reading the other books would answer. It takes place after a lot of bonds and relationships have formed, so if you want to see how those come about or feel like knowing the results would spoil the beginning of the series, definitely don’t start with this novel first.

I enjoyed the storytelling and the beautiful panels. I tend to like sweeping fantasy graphic novels with really immersive illustrations, and this book definitely delivers that.

Would I continue the series? I think I would watch the Netflix series first and catch up before moving forward with the books.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Some characters are elves with pointed ears and horns on their heads. The book alludes to tension between these two races and how they’re only now beginning to be able to overcome it.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Characters use a phoenix feather to complete a ritual allowing a phoenix to be reborn. Another ritual will open a doorway between the living and those who’ve passed on.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. An appearance of a scary spider-like monster.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: The Song of the Swan by Karah Sutton

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The Song of the Swan
Karah Sutton
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Published October 24, 2023

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About The Song of the Swan

A magical retelling of Swan Lake, featuring a clever orphan, a castle filled with enchanted swans, and a quest to unearth the secrets of the past.

Olga is an orphan and a thief, relying on trickery and sleight of hand to make her way in the world. But it’s magic, not thievery, that could get her into trouble.

When Olga and her partner-in-crime Pavel learn of a valuable jewel kept in a secluded castle, Olga sees an opportunity to change their lives: a prize so big, they’d never have to steal again. But the castle is not as it seems, ruled by an enchanter who hosts grand balls every night, only for the guests to disappear each morning, replaced by swans. Guided by cryptic clues from the palace spiders, Olga soon realizes she’s in over her head—torn between a bargain with the enchanter, loyalty to Pavel, and determination to understand how the enchanted swans are linked to her own fate.

One thing is certain: there is dark magic behind the castle’s mysteries, and Olga will stop at nothing to unmask it.

My Review

The cover copy lists this book as a retelling of SWAN LAKE, and I definitely see some of the elements from the ballet in the story, but I’m not sure it would really be classified as a straight-up retelling. It had some elements, but other elements are absent or very changed.

The biggest change is probably that there’s no prince in this story, and it doesn’t center around a romance. There’s a minor romance plot, and the main character does impersonate the love interest at one point to trick the boy into thinking she doesn’t love him, but it happens really quickly and is a minor point in the story, rather than the big, critical moment that it is in the ballet.

The other big difference is the addition of the spiders and the heartstring magic. I really liked those parts. I felt like it added a whole new layer to the story. The story is also broken into parts. Each part begins with a short tale told by a spider that reveals some important parts of the history of the story world. I really liked the way that structure set the pace of the story. It felt like a really quick read because there were only a few chapters per part.

I also liked Olga, the main character, a lot. She’s flawed and scrappy. But she learns and grows so much. I guessed some of the relationship connections between characters before they were revealed, and I thought they were cleverly done.

All in all, I had a great time reading this book. I loved the fairytale feel of the narrative and Olga’s emotional journey. I think readers who enjoy fairytales will love this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Major characters are white. Some characters are spiders. Readers with a strong aversion to spiders might struggle with some scenes that describe the way spiders move and in which spiders sometimes climb on other characters.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
A boy and girl are in love.

Spiritual Content
Long ago, a spider gifted a piece of silk to a person, and it became their heartstring, a magical string that a person can pull magic from. Some characters have the ability to perform magic which can be used for good or evil.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. In one scene, a soldier shoots a swan with an arrow. In another, a soldier shoots a person with an arrow.

Drug Content
Brief mentions of party attendees drinking alcoholic drinks.

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 SONG OF THE SWAN in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Secrets We Tell the Sea by Martha Riva Palacio Obón, translated by Lourdes Heuer

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Secrets We Tell the Sea
Martha Riva Palacio Obón
Translated by Lourdes Heuer
Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Published October 24, 2023

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About Secrets We Tell the Sea

The only good thing about Sofia’s mom sending her to live with her abuela is that finally Sofia and the sea will meet face-to-face.

The sea has always called to Sofia, even when she and her mom lived in a big city nowhere near its shore. That’s how Sofia always knew she was a mermaid–that, and the fact that the sea and its creatures are much easier to understand than people. Like her mother, who is sending Sofia away instead of her barracuda of a boyfriend; that’s a flying fish if Sofia’s ever seen one, spending so much time reaching for the sky she can’t see what’s going on below the surface. When Sofia meets her abuela, she knows she’s up against a sea fierce and guarded, but maybe not so bad when you’re the one she’s guarding. Still, Sofia longs to meet another mermaid, someone who understands her and the sea completely.

When Sofia meets Louisa, it seems like she’s found just that–until the sea betrays them both in one irreversible moment. Soon their town is overtaken by hurricanes and floods and emotions and questions so big Sofia doesn’t know what to do with them. Like, how do you catch a flying fish? How do you make friends with the sea again? And how do you calm the rough waters within yourself?

My Review

I loved the sound of this book and the beautiful cover, but I’ll confess that I wasn’t sure what to make of the back cover copy. Is Sofia truly a mermaid? Is it something she imagines? Does the sea actually speak to her?

The story has a very literary voice and really blurs the lines between what Sofia imagines and what is actually happening around her. Sometimes, it’s clear that things are in her mind. At other times, there are explanations for things that happen. For example, one night, she sees her grandmother walking on the beach and the sea and places where her grandmother’s steps are glowing. Sofia learns this is because of bioluminescence rather than some magic of her grandmother’s.

At other times, it seems like the magical/inexplicable things are supposed to be actually happening. For instance, a shell spurts water, vibrates, and changes color to express its thoughts/feelings.

I really liked the relationships between the characters in the story. I think all the major characters are female except one. There are some really heartbreaking dynamics between the three generations of women in Sofia’s family. I felt like the story read in an accessible way to kids, but it’s one where older kids or adults will pick up on a lot of things that happen between the lines, too.

This is a pretty short book. I think it’s less than 150 pages, so I read it in one sitting, and I really loved it.

I think readers who enjoy stories with strong female voices and especially stories about the sea or ocean will love this heartbreaking story of family bonds and the transformative power of friendship.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
Characters are Brazilian and living in Brazil.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
A man signals sexual interest in Sofia by putting a hand on her arm. She avoids him as much as possible. Sofia believes that her mother is a nighttime circus performer after finding a photo of her in a “bathing suit” with her work friends. Later learns about her mother’s real job at a bar at night.

Spiritual Content
Sofia believes that humans start out as mermaids after she learns how a fetus grows in a liquid environment inside their mother.

Violent Content
See sexual content above. A woman tells her family she fell and was injured, but later it’s revealed that her partner hit her.

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 SECRETS WE TELL THE SEA in exchange for my honest review.

Author Q&A with Callie C. Miller

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Q&A with The Hunt for the Hollower Author Callie C. Miller

Today, I have the awesome privilege to host a Q&A with THE HUNT FOR THE HOLLOWER author Callie C. Miller. I loved all the playful elements of this middle grade fantasy novel, so I was really excited to have the chance to chat with the author about the inspiration behind some of her characters and what might be coming next fall in the sequel, THE SEARCH FOR THE SHADOWSOUL.

Let’s get to it!

I find that a story is often inspired by a question. Was there a question that inspired you to write THE HUNT FOR THE HOLLOWER?

HOLLOWER was an interesting writing process for me. There wasn’t a question, but I had Merlynda, Neci, and Iggy very firmly in my mind. I knew they each wanted to be true to themselves, and knew that they existed in a medieval-inspired world, and knew that this story would be full of things that made me laugh, but I didn’t understand what my characters’ journeys were until several drafts in. I was a less experienced writer when I started their story, and had to grow myself as a person in order to help the characters grow in turn.

One of my favorite characters is the wyvern. He’s so unexpected. I loved that he longs to taste funnel cake (who can blame him?). What inspired you to create him?

I love flipping expectations on their heads! Wyverns and dragons are typically depicted as large and vicious creatures, so the idea of Iggy being small and perfectly content to sunbathe amused me (though of course he’s still a beast to be reckoned with!). His voice came to me very clearly. He is funny and fierce, and even if he’s a little afraid of what’s to come he’ll rise to the occasion for his friends and the greater good.

Who is your favorite character? Are there things about your favorite character that couldn’t be included in the story?

I love all of my characters! But my favorites to write in HOLLOWER are definitely Iggy and Fang. Fang originally had a few more sections from her perspective, but they ultimately weren’t moving the story forward so I cut them.

Is there a scene or moment in the story that really sticks with you? Can you tell us a little bit about it and why it is so special to you?

Percy vanishing through the portal hurts my heart every time! Percy is, in a sense, Merlynda’s rock. She’s lost her brother, her partner in crime, and the security that when her magic goes awry, someone will be able to set it right. The fact that she feels responsible for Percy disappearing only twists the knife further. She’s heartbroken, and devastated, and terrified. This is the moment that makes the story so incredibly personal for Merlynda. It took me several drafts to get here, but once I did, everything clicked into place.

What do you most hope that readers take away from your novel?

Embrace all of you with your whole self. Many people will try to write the narrative of You, but ultimately you are empowered to decide who you are. And that somewhere out there, there are people who will love you as you are. If you haven’t found these friends yet—Courage, dear heart! You one day will!

You mentioned that the sequel to THE HUNT FOR THE HOLLOWER comes out next fall. I know I’m excited to read it. What do you think readers who enjoyed the first book in the series will be most excited to see in the sequel?

I hope they’ll be excited about all of it! My goal is for THE SEARCH FOR THE SHADOWSOUL to feel tonally similar to HOLLOWER, but still move the characters forward in a meaningful way. It’s another fun fantasy romp, but we’ll follow a different main character as they work through how they’ve been affected by the events of HOLLOWER. Our questers will reunite with old friends, make new ones, and encounter a mysterious form of magic that even Merlynda doesn’t know about!

About Callie C. Miller

Instagram | Twitter | Website

Callie C. Miller writes for animated television shows, a video game company, and (most importantly) herself. When she’s not writing, Callie is most likely reading comics or playing video games or dreaming about hot chocolate. (Hot chocolate is very important nourishment for writers.) She received her MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. THE HUNT FOR THE HOLLOWER is Callie’s debut novel. Visit her at www.calliecmiller.com

About The Hunt for the Hollower

Review | Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

In this riff on Arthurian legend, a wizardess who is still mastering her powers goes on an epic quest to save her brother from an evil wizard in this “sweet and fun” middle grade adventure that’s “sizzling with magic” (Adam Rex, New York Times bestselling author) and is perfect for fans of Adam Gidwitz and Amanda Foody!

The great wizard Merlyn prophesized that his seventh descendant would do wonderful, miraculous things—baffling everyone when his great-great-many-times-great grandchild turns out to be twins . Soon enough, however, it becomes clear which sibling is the Septimum Percy is a natural with magic. Merlynda (to put it simply) is not.

But Merlynda doesn’t mind. Percy has always been by her side to cheer her up (and clean up) after her magical bungles—until the twins attempt a forbidden spell to help her control her magic, and Percy vanishes through a portal and straight into the clutches of the magic-stealing, mythical Hollower.

Aided by her best friend (who longs to be a knight), a wandering musician (who is fleeing from his past), and her brand-new, fierce familiar (who yearns for a taste of funnel cake), Merlynda sets off on a quest to rescue her brother. But to defeat this ancient evil, she must discover and embrace her true powers—or else lose her brother for good.

Review: Hollowthorn by Kalyn Josephson

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Hollowthorn (Ravenfall #2)
Kalyn Josephson
Delacorte Press
Published October 17, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Hollowthorn

In this spellbinding sequel to RAVENFALL, two kids with supernatural powers must venture into the Otherworld to protect the Tree of Life from a terrifying foe—or risk losing the magic of Ravenfall forever.

Best friends Anna and Colin defeated the King of the Dead on Halloween night, saving the magical Ravenfall Inn they call home. Now, with Hannukah approaching, the kids are looking forward to exploring their new powers—and maybe enjoying a little challah and peppermint cocoa, too.

But then a Raven—a guardian of the supernatural world—shows up at their doorstep with a warning. A demon from Jewish lore is hunting the Tree of Life, a source of untold power and immortality. If they can’t stop him, they risk losing the magic of Ravenfall forever.

As they venture into the Otherworld, Anna and Colin discover a wondrous, menacing realm full of mythological creatures… but is the true danger closer than they think?

My Review

This book begins pretty much right where RAVENFALL ends. Anna and her family are in the midst of running the inn at Ravenfall, but something has gone weird with the inn’s magic. Anna and Colin get what they’ve been truly hoping for: a magical quest with Anna’s dad and a possible new mentor for Colin.

Lots of scenes feature everyone’s favorite cat-who-is-not-a-cat, Max, the cat-slash-jabberwocky. I loved getting to know more of Max’s history and learning how his magic works.

Anna also gets to hone her magic and has chances to make big moves in the story. That was a lot of fun. I also liked the development in the friendship between Anna and Colin, though it wasn’t a central part of the story. They were more living out stories side by side in this book.

I felt like the ending was really satisfying, but it also leaves some room for the third book in the series, WITCHWOOD, which will be out next fall.

I think readers who enjoy stories about magical woods or family magic will find lots to love in this book. Fans of RAVENFALL will enjoy revisiting the quirky, magical world of the first book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
Anna and her family are Jewish.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to perform magic. There are also magical objects that bestow or enhance magical abilities. Mentions of Samhain and Yule celebrations. Mentions of Hanukkah celebrations and Jewish traditions. One character hears voices of spirits and ghosts because of being related to and connected to the power of the god of the dead.

Violent Content
Situations of peril.

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 HOLLOWTHORN in exchange for my honest review.