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Review: Skipshock by Caroline O’Donoghue

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,
Skipshock by Caroline O'Donoghue

Skipshock
Caroline O’Donoghue
Walker Books
Published June 3, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Skipshock

Set in a universe where time is key to power and privilege, this dazzlingly inventive, genre-defying fantasy romance is the first in a duology by best-selling author Caroline O’Donoghue.

Margo is a troubled schoolgirl. After the death of her father, she’s on her way to a new boarding school in a new city.

Moon is a salesman. He makes his living traveling through a series of interconnected worlds on a network of barely used train lines.

They never should have met. But when Margo suddenly appears one day on Moon’s train, their fates become inextricably linked. If Margo wants to survive, she has to pass as a traveling salesman, too—except it’s not that easy.

Move north on the train line and time speeds up, a day passing in mere hours. Move south and time slows down—a day can last several weeks. Slow worlds are the richest you live longer, your youth lasting decades. Fast worlds are sharp, cruel, and don’t have time for pleasantries. Death is frequent. Salesmen die young of skipshock. That is, if they’re not shot down by the Southern Guard first.

As Margo moves between worlds and her attachment to Moon intensifies, she feels her youth start to slip between her fingers. But is Moon everything he seems? Is Margo?

Told through the eyes of both naive Margo and desperate Moon, the unforgettable realm of Skipshock will shake the way you think about love, time, and the fabric of the universe. The first in a planned duology from the best-selling author of the Gifts series, this utterly original epic is a must-read.

My Review

I really like how different this book is than a lot of the other YA fantasy that’s out right now. This is almost sci-fi adjacent. There’s a train that can jump from one world to another, and it’s tightly controlled by a coalition government. There’s another important piece of tech. The story doesn’t deeply explore how the train works; its really something the characters take for granted, and I didn’t mind that. I think if the story had centered that element more, that would have pulled into more of a sci-fi direction, and I’m not sure whether that would have been a good thing.

Moon and Margo visit other worlds with days of different lengths, some as short as 2 hours and others longer. Jumping from world to world too often causes a condition called Skipshock, and once someone starts experiencing the symptoms, it progresses quickly. This created some intense stakes. As Moon got sicker, I worried so much that every jump to a new world would be his last.

I also like how young this story feels. There’s a lot of fantasy marketed as YA that doesn’t feel as anchored in the teen experience as this does. Margo is still in school. She keeps having these moments where she has to take a breath, because here she is faced with saving the world, and she’s still a child. She also confronts Moon about his youth, and especially about his feelings of guilt over something awful he did as a child. I felt like the book stayed aware of itself or its audience more than some of the other books marketed as YA fantasy that I’ve read this year. I really appreciated that.

Margo and Moon have such a sweet relationship, too. It’s a bit obvious from the setup that there will be romance blossoming between them, but I loved the way that played out and how sweet they were with each other.

Skipshock has at least one starred review, and I feel zero surprise about that. It’s a fresh, interesting story with high stakes and an adorable romance. I’m here for wherever this series goes next.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. Brief nudity. One scene leads up to a sexual encounter, then fades to black.

Spiritual Content
The story world involves lots of different worlds connected through special, highly controlled train lines. Moon is part of a race of people called Lunati, who celebrate faith traditions relative to the full moon.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. A man hits another man with the butt of a gun. References to arson. One instance of arson killed a group of people. Moon begins experiencing symptoms of Skipshock, a progressive medical disorder that is fatal, unless caught early and treated. A battle between soldiers and rebels causes fatalities. A bomb kills several people and injures others. Someone appears to have been beaten by soldiers. Moon endures racist comments and prejudice about his identity as one of the Lunati.

Drug Content
Characters drink alcohol in a couple scenes.

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.

MMGM Review: North for the Winter by Bobby Podesta

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Graphic Novel or Adaptation, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , ,

North for the Winter
Bobby Podesta
First Second
Published September 2, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About North for the Winter

From Pixar star animator Bobby Podesta comes a middle-grade classic holiday story about Virginia, a girl who must help one of Santa’s reindeer back to the North Pole before Christmas.

What would you think if you saw a reindeer fly? When this happens to Virginia, she isn’t sure what to do – she’s just lost her mom, she’s in a new city, and everything seems so hard. But when she reluctantly confesses what she saw to her neighbor, Benny, he’s convinced that flying reindeer can only mean one thing: this is Santa business.

In this stunning graphic novel debut from Pixar director Bobby Podesta, two kids and a lost reindeer go up against obsessive hunters, suspiciously convincing department store elves, and radar operators for the Continental Air Defense Command Center. No matter the odds, Virginia’s going to get Christmas back on track!

My Review

This sweet Christmas story begins with a girl and her father on a move from Arizona to Colorado. They’re moving in with Virginia’s aunt, her dad’s sister, to give them both some time to recover from her mom’s death in a car accident. On the way, they encounter a lost reindeer, who seems to form a special bond with Virginia.

Though the reindeer doesn’t ever speak, it licks Virginia’s nose and nods at her in answer to questions. She rides Donner into the sky to escape a trapper, something she finds terrifying at first, and then exhilarating.

Virginia’s relationship with Donner allows her to blossom. She invests in his return to Santa’s team and learns to depend on others and form a new community, too.

The inclusion of the military characters adds a funny note. They’re mystified by the presence of eight flight paths that appear to come from Canada every Christmas Eve.

If you’re looking for a snowy, feel-good Christmas story, put this one on your list!

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Vague references to an adult swearing. One time this is represented by symbols in a speech bubble. A second time it’s just dashes and exclamation points.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Contains flying reindeer, elves, and Santa Claus delivering presents on Christmas.

Violent Content
A trapper pursues Donner, trying to catch him with a net. He fires the net from a launcher that looks a little bit like a gun. One perspective follows military personnel who track unidentified aircraft and send planes to investigate/potentially shoot down anything deemed dangerous.

Drug Content
An elf gives Virginia a powder that puts someone to sleep instantly. She uses this to incapacitate someone during a rescue mission.

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

Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday

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

Review: How Girls Are Made by Mindy McGinnis

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

How Girls Are Made
Mindy McGinnis
HarperCollins
Published November 18, 2025

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About How Girls Are Made

Sex Education meets Euphoria in this dark contemporary novel that tackles perfectionism, emotional abuse, and the dark side of social media.

Fallon is a fixer. From planning prom to organizing her college applications, she’s got it all figured out… except for when her younger sister comes to her with very basic questions about sex. Shocked that she knows so little—and her fellow classmates even less—Fallon decides some practical education is in order. And Fallon isn’t above practicing a little civil disobedience by creating a secret, underground, off-campus group.

Shelby is a fighter. Having her nose broken is nothing new in her semi professional career… but this time it’s her boyfriend that threw the punch. Now her phone is blowing up with texts from a new guy, who tells her she’s perfect, she’s special, she’s everything he’s ever wanted… except for a few small details. Shelby’s happy to adjust for him, because isn’t that what a healthy relationship is about?

Jobie is a failure. She doesn’t have enough followers and her posts never go viral, no matter how hard she crushes challenges and applies exactly the right filter. But a friendly DM from a good girl just like her points her in the direction of a whole new audience of admirers. Guys who just want to talk. Guys who give her the attention she’s always wanted. 

The lives of all three girls intersect in Fallon’s secret class, rumors of which have parents up in arms. Fallon needs to keep herself anonymous, Shelby needs to keep her new boyfriend happy, and Jobie needs to keep her followers… who keep asking for more. Each girl finds herself trapped in an inescapable situation—that will leave one of them dead. 

My Review

Not gonna lie, this book is a hard read. It’s such a compelling story. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, even after I finished reading. These are hard topics to write about for teens, and I think the author does a good job scaling the topics to the audience.

I also really appreciate that each of the main characters seem, on the surface, like they’d be insulated from the kinds of trouble they face. Fallon’s conundrum felt the least unexpected, but Jobie and Shelby both read as the kinds of girls who pretty well stay clear of trouble. Shelby, as a wrestling athlete, is not easily pushed around. Her personality is big, frank, and unapologetic.

And yet, we watch her face intense, painful situations that her physical strength can’t spare her from. As much as she wants to shake off the hurt, sometimes she can’t. Her experiences remind us that having a reaction to trauma doesn’t make us weak. It makes us real.

The ending of the book unfolds at a wild pace, with all three girls in increasingly dire circumstances. Periodic italicized scenes from an omniscient point of view remind the reader that one of these girls doesn’t make it through these events alive.

This certainly won’t be a book everyone wants to read, but I’m so glad that there are books for a young adult audience tackling these topics. Education about abuse, intimacy, and online safety can quite literally save lives. I wish that the book included a note in the back offering resources for readers who need help navigating any of the situations that the main characters face. For example, RAINN, a nonprofit organization, offers help for abuse survivors.

Fans of Courtney Summers, especially Sadie or All the Rage will want to read this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used somewhat frequently. Some scenes show cruel or disturbing social media comments or messages.

Romance/Sexual Content
Fallon and the girls in her club answer questions from other students about sex and sexual situations (pregnancy prevention, STI transmission, consent, etc.) The information stays pretty generalized. The group discusses the exchange of nude photos and how it’s illegal to send or receive them if the person photographed is under 18 (even if it’s a selfie).

Other references to sex. One scene leads up to a sexual encounter. Another scene leads up to a coerced sexual encounter. Later, someone discovers a video of this experience, obviously recorded without consent.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
One scene shows domestic abuse. The story catalogs an emotionally abusive relationship. Shelby practices wresling with a partner. At one point, someone body slams another person without their consent.

One scene shows an overdose. Another shows a serious car accident. Another shows a fatal accident.

Drug Content
Shelby drinks alcohol at a teen party. One character swipes someone’s pain medication and takes multiple pills.

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.

MMGM Review: The Beasts Beneath the Wind edited by Hanna Alkaf

Anthology or Collection, Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , ,
Version 1.0.0

The Beasts Beneath the Wind: Tales of Southeast Asia’s Mythical Creatures
edited by Hanna Alkaf
Harry N. Abrams
Published October 21, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Beasts Beneath the Wind

A sweeping and magical story collection showcasing the mythical creatures of Southeast Asia, including work by two-time Newbery medalist Erin Entrada Kelly and National Book Award finalist Shing Yin Khor

A turtle the size of an island. A cricket that can possess you if swallowed. A giant who turns enemies to stone. The legends of Southeast Asia—or “the lands below the winds,” as explorers used to call it—are populated with a whole menagerie of colorful beasts that inspire awe and fear in equal measure. Yet, passed on as they are through story and song, so many of these stories remain rooted in some long-forgotten past and bound by the borders of the region, creatures of myth and memory and nothing more. Until now.

Welcome to The Beasts Beneath the Winds, a collection of Southeast Asia’s most elusive cryptids by a team of bestselling and award-winning authors. Within these gorgeously illustrated pages, readers will find the stories of seventeen regular kids who encounter these mythical creatures in the here and now, and—fortunately or unfortunately—live to tell the tale.

My Review

I love how upbeat the tone of this whole collection is. Between each story, a two page spread that looks like pages from a journal introduces a cryptid. Illustrations show what the creature looks like while text describes where it lives, its temperament, and what it’s known for.

The stories often center around family relationships and connecting or reconnecting with the protagonist’s culture. Some stories are set in Southeast Asian countries while others happen in the United States. Sometimes the main character learns something unexpected about a friend or relative through their experience with the cryptid. At other times, the beast appears to impart wisdom or simply remind the protagonist that the world is a larger, more mysterious place than they realized.

I also love that this book introduces Southeast Asian mythology to readers in the context of short stories. This would be a perfect book to begin with for readers interested in folklore but who don’t generally reach for nonfiction. A list of further reading recommendations would have been amazing to add.

All in all, this is an entertaining collection that’s sure to engage readers.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Contains stories about mythological beasts from Southeast Asian folklore and myths. Reference to Muslim holidays and prayer practices.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. In one story, characters stop poachers. In another, a character intervenes to help a creature battling an evil being.

Drug Content
None.

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

Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday

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

Review: These Bodies Ain’t Broken edited by Madeline Dyer

Anthology or Collection, Book Review and Content, Horror, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

These Bodies Ain’t Broken
edited by Madeline Dyer
Page Street YA
Published October 7, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About These Bodies Ain’t Broken

A monstrous transformation within your own body.
A sacrificial imprisonment.
A fight to the death against an ancient evil.

These stories showcase disabled characters winning against all odds.

Outsmarting deadly video games, hunting the predatory monster in the woods, rooting out evil within their community, finding love and revenge with their newly turned vampire friend—this anthology upends expectations of the roles disabled people can play in horror. With visibly and invisibly disabled characters whose illnesses include Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Crohn’s disease, diabetes, PTSD, and more, each entry also includes a short essay from the author about the conditions portrayed in their stories to further contextualize their characters’ perspectives. From breaking ancient curses to defying death itself, these 13 horror stories cast disabled characters as heroes we can all root for.

Contributors include bestselling and award-winning as well as emerging authors: Dana Mele, Lillie Lainoff, Soumi Roy, Anandi, Fin Leary, S.E. Anderson, K. Ancrum, Pintip Dunn, Lily Meade, Mo Netz, P.H. Low, and Carly Nugent.

My Review

I love the premise of this collection and how it’s set up. The anthology opens with a note from Madeline Dyer commenting on how horror often limits the presence of disabled characters to the villain roles. (For more on this, please read Amanda LeDuc’s incredible book, Disfigured: On Fairytales, Disability, and Making Space.) This collection gives its disabled characters protagonist roles. A brief essay by the author accompanies each short story, where the author will, if desired, offer information about their experiences that informed the writing in the short story. The essay offers some context about the disability represented in the work, too.

I really like how the disabilities represented in each story impact the protagonist’s experience. There’s no magical healing. There’s no special exception to the rules simply because plot. These protagonists must fight their way through literal horrors despite the limits of their bodies.

The stories span many places and range from long past to present-day settings. Some characters are in the midst of adjusting to or preparing to leave for college while others navigate grief, military capture, and long distance moves.

Because horror has so many layers and often requires buildup, I imagine it was challenging to write succinct, compelling tales. While a few had some meandering moments, most drew me immediately into the strangeness of the story and had me rooting for the main character to make it through.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Reference to romantic feelings. Kissing. Mentions of marriage and pressure to become pregnant. References to child marriage.

Spiritual Content
Reference to spiritual beliefs and practices, including sacrificial rituals. Reference to Catholic services and practices.

Violent Content
Some stories contain instances of ableism, homophobia, transphobia, and bullying. Some instances of body horror and gore. References to murder, imprisonment, and assault. One story has implied sexual assault, reference to child marriage, and emotional abuse. Some stories show self-harm, suicidal ideation, or mention of suicide. A couple stories include references to cannibalism, and one includes human sacrifice.

Drug Content
Characters drink alcohol in several stories.

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 Tear Collector by R.M. Romero

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

The Tear Collector
R.M. Romero
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published October 14, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Tear Collector

This darkly fantastical climate change tale explores hope, memory, and what really makes a monster—set after the end of the world.

Climate change culminated in the Flood, an enormous wave that wiped out entire countries. Malka and her younger brother Ezra survived and now live with Dr. Jonas Hollman on the Island, the only piece of land left on Earth. Scavenging useful things from the shoreline under the watchful eye of the Island’s sinister leader Mr. Gray, Malka and her family get by. Barely.

But an illness called the Sorrow is changing people into monsters when their memories of the Mainland grow too sad…and Ezra is the latest to get sick. Desperate not to lose her brother, Malka throws herself into helping “Uncle” Jonas with his research to find a cure.

Then her family’s dismal lives are turned upside down by the mysterious Olivia, who crashes a plane on the beach. More people are out there, she says. The world isn’t lost forever. To save Ezra and the other Islanders, Malka will have to uncover the secrets of her flooded world—and the lies even the people she loves have told her about the true nature of the Sorrow.

R.M. Romero tackles our fear and anxiety surrounding climate change and weaves it through with hope in this beautifully told adventure that will resonate with readers young and old.

My Review

With her signature darkly whimsical writing, Romero introduces readers to a small island populated with survivors of a catastrophic flood. They subsist on items that wash up on the shore, scavenging for signs of life before the flood. The island community has a very rigid hierarchy, with a rich man at the top. He kidnaps any residents who become the Sorrowful, people who lose hope and grow animal-like characteristics. It’s a desperate way to live, and one that no one challenges until Olivia and her plane crashland on the island.

Olivia’s presence changes everything. Suddenly, someone voices the injustice and asks the difficult questions out loud. Someone offers the islanders hope, the thing they most desperately need and are most afraid to grasp.

I really enjoyed the reminder of how important hope is. Earlier in the story, the islanders are scared of remembering the past and feeling sad. They worry that if they think of sad things, they’ll lose hope. But, of course, they come to discover that sometimes remembering the sad things gives them reasons to hope for the future. I liked that the story explored that nuance a bit.

At one point Olivia needs a new engine for her plane. She and another character carry one from a car over to the plane to install it. I don’t think that would work in real life, but I was content to suspend my disbelief.

Throughout the book, I kept asking myself whether the story was stigmatizing depression. It clearly isn’t the author’s intent, and the difference between grief and depression doesn’t really come up in the story. That might have been something interesting to explore or to include in a note at the end.

All in all, I think readers who enjoy standalone fantasy about siblings will love this one. Give this to fans of The Firebird Song by Arnée Flores.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
People who lose hope transform by growing extra limbs, fur, wings, antlers, etc.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. One character enslaves others and imprisons them in his basement.

Drug Content
An adult character drinks champagne at a party.

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

Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday

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