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Review: The Floating World by Axie Oh

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The Floating World by Axie Oh

The Floating World (The Floating World #1)
Axie Oh
Feiwel & Friends
Published April 29, 2025

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About The Floating World

From Axie Oh, the New York Times-bestselling author of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, Final Fantasy meets Shadow and Bone in this romantic fantasy reimagining the Korean legend of Celestial Maidens.

Sunho lives in the Under World, a land of perpetual darkness. An ex-soldier, he can remember little of his life from before two years ago, when he woke up alone with only his name and his sword. Now he does odd-jobs to scrape by, until he comes across the score of a lifetime—a chest of coins for any mercenary who can hunt down a girl who wields silver light.

Meanwhile, far to the east, Ren is a cheerful and spirited acrobat traveling with her adoptive family and performing at villages. But everything changes during one of their festival performances when the village is attacked by a horrific humanlike demon. In a moment of fear and rage, Ren releases a blast of silver light—a power she has kept hidden since childhood—and kills the monster. But her efforts are not in time to prevent her adoptive family from suffering a devastating loss, or to save her beloved uncle from being grievously wounded.

Determined to save him from succumbing to the poisoned wound, Ren sets off over the mountains, where the creature came from—and from where Ren herself fled ten years ago. Her path sets her on a collision course with Sunho, but he doesn’t realize she’s the girl that he—and a hundred other swords-for-hire—is looking for. As the two grow closer through their travels, they come to realize that their pasts—and destinies—are far more entwined than either of them could have imagined…

My Review

I’m not going to lie; this book had me at Final Fantasy. I may have been waiting my whole life for a book that gave Final Fantasy VII vibes so strongly, and in all the best ways. I may have hummed the Sephiroth theme out loud more than once while reading.

The story mainly alternates between Ren and Sunho’s perspectives. I loved both of them as characters. Sunho has memory gaps that add to the intrigue surrounding him. Ren remembers her past, but she actively avoids thinking about it. A third point of view appears now and then, and his scenes both raise new questions and tie things together.

The story world feels like something straight out of Final Fantasy. It has a clearly defined class system with a shadowy power structure. I loved piecing together what was happening in the mythril mines and figuring out the memories Sunho had lost.

I think this is the first part of a duology. The second part comes out in October and is called The Demon and the Light. I will definitely be reading that!

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Profanity used rarely.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
One character has the ability to use magic. The story explores a myth about a goddess who lost her wings. Strange creatures referred to as demons attack and kill people.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Battle scenes. A girl witnesses a murder.

Drug Content
Someone injects others with an experimental substance, sometimes without their consent.

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: You and Me on Repeat by Mary Shyne

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You and Me on Repeat
Mary Shyne
Henry Holt & Co
Published May 13, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About You and Me on Repeat

In this swoony and hilarious debut rom-com graphic novel, two former friends are trapped in a time loop together, repeating their high school graduation day over and over and over—for fans of Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me, Pumpkinheads, and Groundhog Day.

Chris O’Brien has a genius plan: If he can share the perfect first kiss with his crush, Andy, then of course he’ll break free from the time loop that has him repeating graduation day over and over…and over.

Alicia Ochoa thinks Chris’s plan is doomed. Valedictorian and a total nerd, she knows it’ll take more than a kiss to escape the loop they’re trapped in together. Besides, Chris may be a hopeless romantic, but Alicia doesn’t think he has a real shot with Andy.

Once close friends, Alicia and Chris have history—lots of it. As they got older, the pair fell out after Chris ditched her for the “cool kids” and left her in the dust. But when you’re looping side by side, you never know if friendship might rekindle or what new feelings could spark along the way.

My Review

This story starts out in the middle, backtracks to the beginning, and then moves forward toward the ending. While it was a little confusing in the first few pages, it helps introduce a lot of elements, like Chris and Andy’s relationship, the time loop, the estrangement between Alicia and Chris, etc.

At first, some of the elements seem disparate. For example, Chris and the other kids on the swim team are mourning the loss of their swim coach, who died in a car accident. Alicia behaves oddly about something that later, once Chris puts the pieces together, makes a lot more sense.

I like the way that the story connects all these dots together. I also thought some of the things Alicia and Chris do during the phase in which they’ve given up on getting out of the time loop were pretty silly.

The time loop also gives Chris a chance to experience parts of Alicia’s life that she would probably have kept hidden otherwise, like her relationships with her siblings. Being so close to Alicia’s family gives Chris an opportunity to confront privilege that he didn’t realize he had. It also helps shed light on why the friendship between them ended and what their moms argued about.

Ultimately, I think this is a perfect book to kick off summer with. Read this while enjoying a bowl of ice cream or lounging by the pool. The story is a lot of fun, and it offers some thoughtful moments as well.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
Multiple characters are stuck in a time loop and repeat the same day over and over.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. References to pranks and hijinks, such as stealing something, knowing that the timeline will reset and the items will return to where they belong the next day.

Drug Content
Teens drink alcohol and get drunk at a graduation 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.

Review: Nav’s Foolproof Guide to Falling in Love by Jessica Lewis

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Nav’s Foolproof Guide to Falling in Love
Jessica Lewis
HarperCollins
Published April 29, 2025

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About Nav’s Foolproof Guide to Falling in Love

Giving the new girl lessons in romance so she can woo your best friend couldn’t possibly go wrong…right? Perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli and Casey McQuiston, this romantic comedy from Jessica Lewis is packed with heart.

Nav knows how to flirt, but she also knows love is a messy, losing proposition. She doesn’t need her best friend, Hallie, the serial monogamist, to demonstrate it to her over and over. So when shy new girl Gia asks Nav for help getting Hallie’s attention, Nav makes sure she seems genuine—she doesn’t want to add another heartbreak to Hallie’s never-ending list. They strike a bargain, and Nav agrees to give Gia lessons in romance. If it works, maybe Hallie can date someone decent for a change.

Except…Gia’s not just bad at flirting, she’s terrible. She’s too anxious to even speak to Hallie, never mind date her. But somehow, every awkward joke and catastrophic practice date makes Nav like Gia a little bit more. And not in a friend way. As the three girls’ feelings get spun around, Nav will have to question if she’s as much of an expert as she thought…or if love might be worth every bit of trouble after all.

My Review

It took me a little while to get into Nav’s character. At first, she seemed pushy and negative. As I got to know her, though, I started to see past her quicksilver moods and high defenses. The story mainly explores her relationships with her best friend, Hallie, and her new friend, Gia.

Both relationships have lots of layers. Hallie and Nav have been best friends since they were babies, and that means they know each other well. But, it also means sometimes they get stuck in patterns that aren’t good for either of them. By contrast, Nav’s friendship with Gia is a new relationship and has all the fresh feelings of discovery and newness. And while it starts out as an endeavor meant to set Gia up with Hallie, it isn’t long before Nav starts having more-than-friend feelings for this nerdy, anxious girl.

I enjoyed the sweet scenes between Nav and Gia. Nav carries some unresolved feelings about her mom’s abandonment, and that comes into play at different points in the story, too.

All in all, this will make a great summer romance to read by the pool or sitting next to a sunny window. Becky Albertalli fans will definitely want to check this one out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used here and there.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. References to hooking up. Two people spend the night together (sleeping).

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
One character experiences panic attacks due to an anxiety disorder.

Drug Content
References to using marijuana and drinking alcohol. (Not shown on scene.)

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: Ollie in Betwee by Jess Callans

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Ollie in Between
Jess Callans
Feiwel & Friends
Published April 8, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Ollie in Between

As endearing as it is humorous, this debut middle grade novel by Jess Callans is a tender, queer coming of age story about the courage it takes to find your own voice and choosing to just be.

Puberty, AKA the ultimate biological predator, is driving a wedge between soon-to-be 13-year-old Ollie Thompson and their lifelong friends.

Too much of a girl for their neighborhood hockey team, but not girly enough for their boy-crazed BFF, Ollie doesn’t know where they fit. And their usual ability to camouflage? Woefully disrupted.

When a school project asks them to write an essay on what it means to be a woman (if anyone’s got an answer, that’d be great), and one of their new friends is the target of bullying, Ollie is caught between the safety of fleeing from their own differences or confronting the risks of fighting to take their own path forward.

My Review

Okay, wow. This book. The authenticity of the voice. The raw, aching tenderness with which Callans tells this story. I’m tearing up even reflecting back on the book.

As I read the story, it felt very focused and very linear. It’s easy to follow. Ollie speaks directly to the reader sometimes, which I found endearing. Like, we’re in this together. I loved that.

Upon reflection, though, so much happens in the 244 pages of this book. Ollie grieves over their mom and unborn baby brother, whose deaths resulted from a pregnancy complication. Ollie and their sister, Lila, talk about PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) which runs in the family, and which Ollie may have.

They experience changes in friendships that seem common to middle school years. When their best friends sense pressure to assimilate into other friend groups to avoid being considered weird, they leave Ollie behind. The loneliness and confusion Ollie feels are so authentic. I felt like I was re-experiencing those moments myself. I couldn’t have expressed it nearly so well as Callans does.

Additionally, Ollie wrestles with questions about what it means to transition from girlhood into womanhood. While the people they interview often contribute thought-provoking or poignant answers, they never explicitly answer the unspoken question Ollie is really asking. Only through continuing to ask questions and explore what resonates authentically with Ollie do the answers begin to be apparent.

I also love the way that Ollie’s dad and sister respond to them. It’s not perfect. They make mistakes along the way, which stinks, but also felt so relatable. Oof. I know I’ve been there.

I think fans of books by Alex Gino and Nicole Melleby need to read this one. Ollie in Between also reminded me of Just Lizzie by Karen Wilfrid, another fabulous queer middle grade debut.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
References to the F-slur. (The full word does not appear on the page.) Bullying/homophobic/transphobic words do appear. Other characters condemn those words (though not always out loud).

Romance/Sexual Content
References to dating and kissing. Some discussion about puberty (breasts growing, periods beginning) and what it means to be a woman.

Spiritual Content
Ollie’s mom’s Iranian family stopped speaking to her when she married a white man in the US and had their first child baptized in a Christian church.

Violent Content
Reference to the death of a parent. Some instances of bullying (see above) and homophobic/transphobic behavior. Sometimes, this is perpetrated by people who may be well-intentioned and simply aren’t leaving room for people who don’t fit a gender binary. At other times, it’s clear that people mean to cause harm. Often, those harmful words are challenged or condemned.

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: Meet Me at Blue Hour by Sarah Suk

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Meet Me at Blue Hour
Sarah Suk
Quill Tree Books
Published April 1, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Meet Me at Blue Hour

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind meets Past Lives in this gripping, emotional story of two childhood friends navigating the fallout of one erasing their memory of the other, from acclaimed author Sarah Suk.

Seventeen-year-old Yena Bae is spending the summer in Busan, South Korea, working at her mom’s memory-erasing clinic. She feels lost and disconnected from people, something she’s felt ever since her best friend, Lucas, moved away four years ago without a word, leaving her in limbo.

Eighteen-year-old Lucas Pak is also in Busan for the summer, visiting his grandpa, who was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. But he isn’t just here for a regular visit—he’s determined to get his beloved grandpa into the new study running at the clinic, a trial program seeking to restore lost memories.

When Yena runs into Lucas again, she’s shocked to see him and even more shocked to discover that he doesn’t remember a thing about her. He’s completely erased her from his memories, and she has no idea why.

As the two reconnect, they unravel the mystery and heartache of what happened between them all those years ago—and must now reckon with whether they can forge a new beginning together.

My Review

It was easy to see the parallels between The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and this book. The storytelling is more linear in the book than that movie, though. For the most part, the story alternates between Lucas’s and Yena’s viewpoints. Periodically, short scenes show erased memories from unusual perspectives. For example, one memory is told from the viewpoint of a windchime that one character gives another for a birthday present.

One of my favorite elements of The Eternal Sunshine is the way that the movie explores different facets of a memory loss procedure and how it might be used in harmful ways. While Meet Me at Blue Hour doesn’t follow that thread, it does explore the impact of memory loss on the community surrounding the person who has had memory alteration. The narrative leads us to think not only about the ramifications of erasing memory but of preserving it as well. Pretty fascinating stuff!

In addition to the thoughtful exploration of those ideas, the author delivers a compelling romance between two people with past connections. The pacing of their relationship is perfect– I felt like I was on the edge of my seat hoping for them to find the answers they were looking for.

Additionally, I loved the South Korean setting. It’s been a long time since I visited Seoul, and I have never been to Busan, but I found some of the descriptions of the markets and stuff triggered fond memories for me, too.

If you like thoughtful stories or sweet summer romances, add this one to your reading list! Adam Silvera just announced that he will be hosting a speculative romance book club, and this book will be the first pick for the group to read.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Very infrequent use of profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
Characters discuss the social and communal implications of a person’s memory loss.

Violent Content
Nightmares and a brief panic attack. References to the loss of a parent and other repressed trauma.

Drug Content
Lucas and his uncle drink an alcoholic drink together.

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 Underwild: River of Spirits by Shana Targosz

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The Underwild: River of Spirits
Shana Targosz
Aladdin
Published March 25, 2025

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About The Underwild: River of Spirits

A stunning debut middle grade fantasy about a girl caught between the realms of the living and the dead who gets lost in the Underworld—perfect for fans of Greenwild and Rick Riordan.

Senka lives between the realm of the Living and the realm of the Dead. As ward to Charon, the Ferryer of the Underworld, Senka assists in ferrying recently departed souls across the river and into their afterlife. Although Charon has taught her many Rules about life in the Underworld, there is much he avoids telling her. Though she doesn’t understand why the Rules are so important, she listens—she must heed them in order to become an official Ferryer, just like Charon.

Then a Living girl, Poppy, enters the Underworld to plead for help in finding the ghost of her brother. Poppy’s grief tugs at Senka’s heart—but helping Poppy goes against the very Rules Senka is so desperate to follow. When Poppy is yanked away by the river’s current, Senka leaps to save her, and she and Poppy are swept downriver, far from everything Senka has ever known.

Lost in the Underwild, Senka and Poppy encounter malevolent spirits of lore and eccentric ghosts—and not all are willing to let souls slip through their grasp. Senka knows the Living can’t stay in the realm of the Dead for long, and if Poppy isn’t returned home soon, she will risk becoming lost to the Underworld forever. But as Senka travels deeper into the Underwild, she discovers there are secrets her guardian has kept from her, including the mystery surrounding her own existence. As Poppy and Senka dodge angry demigods, hungry wraiths, and terrifying dragon chimera, Senka gets closer to learning the truth of her own past. Soon, Senka won’t just need to save Poppy’s life—she’ll also need to save her own.

My Review

One of the really enjoyable things about this book is the voice. Senka speaks directly to readers, offering bits of advice for anyone brave or foolish enough to venture into the Underworld. It made the story feel very conversational.

I also liked Senka’s relationship with Charon and Poppy. I especially liked the evolution of her connection to Poppy. At the beginning, Senka’s pretty much humoring her just enough to hopefully get her back to the Land of the Living before Charon finds out she was involved. As she gets to know Poppy, though, she begins to root for her and even to help her on her quest.

Senka also has an engaging personal story. Initially, she accepts a simple explanation for why she lives with Charon and isn’t allowed to wander far from her island home. But as events bring her backstory into question, she begins seeking answers, even if they disrupt the only life she knows.

The story has plenty of unexpected moments and reasons to keep turning the pages. It’s on the longer side of middle grade fantasy at a little over 400 pages, but the chapters are short, and the scenes move quickly, making it feel like a fast read.

Readers who enjoy the Percy Jackson series and other middle grade fantasy reimagining Greek mythology will find lots to love in this debut novel.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Senka lives in the Underworld with a guardian who ferries souls from the Land of the Living to the afterlife. She meets other deities and mythical creatures.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Dangerous creatures called mormos feed on the memories of the living. A living person will become a mormo if they spend too much time in the Underworld. Mentions of death. Loss of family members.

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.