Tag Archives: low fantasy

Review: Mind Over Monsters by Betsy Uhrig

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Mind Over Monsters by Betsy Uhrig

Mind Over Monsters
Betsy Uhrig
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published July 16, 2024

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About Mind Over Monsters

Gordon Korman meets Scooby-Doo when anxiety-prone middle schoolers try a mindfulness app that has them face their fears all-too-literally in this spooky and humorous middle grade adventure.

FACE YOUR FEARS! That’s what the meditation app with the cheesy name De-stress-o-rama is telling Lena to do. She’s one of seven always-worried middle schoolers trying out this new app to see if it can help students handle stress. But something is going wrong—very, very wrong.

The group’s fears are becoming all too real, first lurking and dangling, then chasing them around and threatening to swallow them whole. From a stubborn inky blob that is fear of the dark, to the queasy giant in sweaty underpants that is fear of public speaking, monsters are invading Cranberry Bog Middle School! Can Lena’s group of worriers figure out how to conquer their fears before the whole school is swarmed?

My Review

This was a really fun book with some really cool moments. I liked that the story featured meditation as a helpful practice for people with anxiety. Of course, if your meditation app created real creatures based on your fears, it wouldn’t be very helpful. I still liked that meditation is shown in the book, and many kids found it helpful (sans monsters).

Another thing I liked a lot was Lena’s relationship with her mom. There was a moment in the book where I thought I knew what was going on, and I remember thinking I was going to be mad if the book left this thing unaddressed. And Betsy Uhrig proved yet again that my trust in her is well-placed because I loved how she handled the issue between Lena and her mom.

The monsters that emerged from the app made sense but also weren’t meant to be super terrifying. It made sense that the kids in the book would be scared, since the creatures were tailored to the kids’ specific fears, but they didn’t make the book overly scary. I think the story is really accessible to kids with big fears. I love that, too.

The monsters emerging into real life in this book made me think of The Darkdeep by Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs. I think readers who enjoyed that series will like this one. I recommend it for middle grade readers struggling with fears, too.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Lena is white, but her group of friends, the Worriers, is pretty diverse.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Lena’s best friend seems to have a crush on a boy who likes her.

Spiritual Content
Fears begin appearing in the form of three-dimensional beings.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Descriptions of fears.

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: Otherworldly by F. T. Lukens

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Otherworldly
F. T. Lukens
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published April 2, 2024

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About Otherworldly

New York Times bestselling author of SPELL BOUND and SO THIS IS EVER AFTER.

Seventeen-year-old Ellery is a non-believer in a region where people swear the supernatural is real. Sure, they’ve been stuck in a five-year winter, but there’s got to be a scientific explanation. If goddesses were real, they wouldn’t abandon their charges like this, leaving farmers like Ellery’s family to scrape by.

Knox is a familiar from the Other World, a magical assistant sent to help humans who have made crossroads bargains. But it’s been years since he heard from his queen, and Knox is getting nervous about what he might find once he returns home. When the crossroads demons come to collect Knox, he panics and runs. A chance encounter down an alley finds Ellery coming to Knox’s rescue, successfully fending off his would-be abductors.

Ellery can’t quite believe what they’ve seen. And they definitely don’t believe the nonsense this unnervingly attractive guy spews about his paranormal origins. But Knox needs to make a deal with a human who can tether him to this realm, and Ellery needs to figure out how to stop this winter to help their family. Once their bargain is struck, there’s no backing out, and the growing connection between the two might just change everything.

My Review

I read SPELL BOUND last year, which was the first book by F. T. Lukens that I’d ever read. I absolutely loved it, and I knew I wanted to read more of their books. When I saw that OTHERWORLDLY was coming out this year, I jumped at the chance to read it.

Just like SPELL BOUND, OTHERWORLDLY takes us to a world much like ours, but with the addition of some magic and a pantheon of gods and goddesses. Ellery lives in what feels like a small midwestern suburb not too far from his family’s farm. The whole area has been stuck in an unending winter for the last five years, though.

The book follows four characters pretty closely. The chapters alternate from Ellery and Knox’s points of view. Ellery’s cousin Charley and her girlfriend are also in a lot of the scenes. I love the fun, closeknit community the four of them make. The relationships between them feel really natural. I found it easy to imagine what life looked like before the story begins.

Honestly, I can’t think of anything I didn’t like. I think readers who enjoy low fantasy with a slow burn romance will definitely want to try this book. I’m pretty sure it’ll be in my top ten favorites for the year.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Ellery is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns. Their cousin, Charley, and her girlfriend are in a romantic relationship.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between a nonbinary person and a boy.

Spiritual Content
The world is governed (spiritually) by three gods/goddesses who rule the sky, ocean, and otherworld, a place souls pass through on their journey to the afterlife. These deities have children and grandchildren who are minor gods and goddesses. They also have creations, such as familiars or shades, who serve them.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Brief battles between Knox’s allies and enemies. In one scene, a monster stabs someone. A couple of characters use magic to throw back enemies.

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: The Absinthe Underground by Jamie Pacton

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The Absinthe Underground
Jamie Pacton
Peachtree Teen
Published February 6, 2024

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About The Absinthe Underground

Moulin Rouge meets Holly Black in a thrilling sapphic friends-to-lovers romantasy!

For Sybil Clarion, the Belle Époque city of Severon is a wild, romantic dream, filled with cafés, cabarets, and glittering nightclubs. Eager to embrace the city’s freedom after running away from home, she’s traded high-society soirées for empty pockets and barren cabinets. At least she has Esme, the girl who offered Sybil a home, and maybe—if either of them dared—something more.

Ever since Esme Rimbaud brought Sybil back to her flat, the girls have been everything to each other—best friends, found family, and secret crushes. While Esme would rather spend the night tinkering with her clocks and snuggling her cats, Sybil craves excitement and needs money. She plans to get both by stealing the rare posters that crop up around town and selling them to collectors. With rent due, Esme agrees to accompany—and more importantly protect —Sybil.

When they’re caught selling a poster by none other than its subject, Maeve, the glamorous girl doesn’t press charges. Rather, she invites Sybil and Esme to The Absinthe Underground, the exclusive club she co-owns, and reveals herself to be a Green Faerie, trapped in this world. She wants to hire thieves for a daring heist in Fae that would set her free, and is willing to pay enough that Sybil and Esme never have to worry about rent again. It’s too good of an offer to pass up, even if Maeve’s tragic story doesn’t quite add up, and even if Sybil’s personal ties to Fae could jeopardize everything she and Esme have so carefully built.

Jamie Pacton, author of THE VERMILLION EMPORIUM, dazzles in this lavish and decadent LGBTQ+ fantasy romance that will leave readers utterly enchanted!

My Review

I don’t know how Jamie Pacton does it, but both times I’ve read her fantasy books, I’ve fallen deeply into them and not surfaced until the story concluded. I love this immersive fantasy world inspired by 1890s Paris.

The chapters alternate point-of-view, flipping back and forth between Esme and Sybil’s perspectives. Esme is organized and orderly. Sybil is pure creative chaos, but somehow, the pair really works. I liked the differences between them and watching them navigate those differences in their friendship and as participants in a dangerous heist.

The girls pine for one another a lot throughout the story, which was okay, but sometimes felt a little bit distracting from the other elements. The romantic arc progressed perfectly, though. I loved that– it’s so sweet.

The Fae elements felt both magical and otherworldly, which I find I really like as well. The magic elements were used in very cool ways in connection with the plot.

All in all, this is another hit for me with this author. I think fans of Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fae series or Roshani Chokshi’s The Gilded Wolves books will very much enjoy this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Sybil, whose family is wealthy, has had past romantic relationships with people of all genders. Esme, who grew up poor and in an orphanage, would like a romantic relationship with a girl.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used very infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two girls. The story hints they slept together but does not show this.

Spiritual Content
Contains Fae and characters who can use magic.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. References to physical abuse. Two characters get into a fight, and one is stabbed with a knife.

Drug Content
Characters drink a strong alcoholic drink called absinthe.

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 this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions my own.

Review: No Time Like Now by Naz Kutub

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

No Time Like Now
Naz Kutub
Bloomsbury YA
Published February 6, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About No Time Like Now

A teen finds himself in a race against time when he learns he’s given away more years than he has left to live in this thought-provoking speculative romp.

It’s been one year since Hazeem’s father passed away unexpectedly, and one year since Hazeem got his special ability: He can grant any living thing extra time. Since then, he’s been randomly granting people more years to live: his old friend Holly, his study buddy Yamany, his crush Jack. . . . The only problem is, none of them wanted to spend any of that time with Hazeem.

Now, Hazeem spends most of his days with his grandmother. When she experiences a heart attack, Hazeem is quick to use his power to save her–until Time themself appears and tells Hazeem he has accrued a time debt, having given away more life than he has left to live and putting the entire timeline in serious danger of collapse. In order to save the timeline and himself, Hazeem must take back some of the life he has granted other people. Suddenly, Hazeem is on a journey through and against time, but as he confronts the events of the past, he must confront the mistakes he made along the way. Hazeem will come to realize that when it comes to time, quality is more important to quantity–but is it too late to reclaim the life he’s given away so he can really start living?

NO TIME LIKE NOW is a timely twist on A CHRISTMAS CAROL that takes readers on a thought-provoking adventure, asking what matters most in life.

My Review

I really like the concept of this book. I think I imagined something a little bit different based on the cover copy, though. Like, I thought maybe we were going to see him giving away bits of his time here and there before the crisis point. Instead, what happens is that he has given away twenty-two years of his life three times, in three different instances. Early in the book, he tries to do this a fourth time, which puts him in arrears. Now, he has to decide who he will take his life back from so that he doesn’t break the whole universe.

Some parts of the book were cute and unexpected. Hazeem is super close to his pet…. hamster. Yup! You read that right. Haha. He imagines conversations between him and the hamster, which is kind of a sweet way to show us the depth of his loneliness without being too grim.

He is a lonely guy, though. As Time drags him back through his past to help him make his decision about whom to take his life back from, Hazeem walks readers through the disastrous mistakes he’s made that cost him some of the relationships he considers most precious.

Conceptually, I thought this was really cool. Practically, though, I found it hard that none of his friends considered the grief or suffering he’d endured when his dad passed away. There was very little nuance to the friend breakups in two of the cases. The offended party felt offended and, therefore, terminated the friendship. I found myself wishing those relationships had more layers or complexity.

Conceptually, the story is really cool, even if the pacing and some of the characters’ relationships proved a bit challenging to me. There are some sweet scenes between Hazeem and a few people he desperately needs guidance from. There is some exploration of grief and sorrow and what it’s like to get stuck in your grief. Those elements are pretty cool. Plus, again, imaginary hamster conversations. I think fans of Kutub’s debut will like the blend of magic and (time) travel in this novel.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Hazeem and his family are Asian American and Muslim. Diverse minor characters.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two boys.

Spiritual Content
Hazeem gifts three people twenty-two years of his life each. A personified version of Time visits him and tells him he must choose someone to take time back from, or the universe will be destroyed.

References to reading the Koran.

Violent Content
Three scenes show someone dying. One falls from a fatal height. Another dies in a car crash. A third dies of an unspecified medical condition, maybe a heart attack. There are also references to Hazeem’s dad’s death.

Drug Content
Hazeem attends a party where kids drink alcohol. He and a friend drink, too.

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 NO TIME LIKE NOW in exchange for an honest review. All opinions my own.

Review: Amari and the Great Game by B. B. Alston

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

Amari and the Great Game (Supernatural Investigations #2)
B. B. Alston
Balzer + Bray
Published August 30, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Amari and the Great Game

Artemis Fowl meets Men in Black in this magical second book in the New York Times and Indie bestselling Supernatural Investigations trilogy—perfect for fans of Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, the Percy Jackson series, and Nevermoor.

After finding her brother and saving the entire supernatural world, Amari Peters is convinced her first full summer as a Junior Agent will be a breeze.

But between the fearsome new Head Minister’s strict anti-magician agenda, fierce Junior Agent rivalries, and her brother Quinton’s curse steadily worsening, Amari’s plate is full. So when the secretive League of Magicians offers her a chance to stand up for magiciankind as its new leader, she declines. She’s got enough to worry about!

But her refusal allows someone else to step forward, a magician with dangerous plans for the League. This challenge sparks the start of the Great Game, a competition to decide who will become the Night Brothers’ successor and determine the future of magiciankind.

The Great Game is both mysterious and deadly, but among the winner’s magical rewards is Quinton’s last hope—so how can Amari refuse?

My Review

I loved the first book in this series, so I knew I would continue reading with AMARI AND THE GREAT GAME. Amari and Elsie are my favorite characters. I love their friendship and the way they challenge each other and back each other up.

Amari feels both very believably thirteen and mature for her age. Her reactions to things make a lot of sense, and honestly, her response to some of the adults in her life has made me think back on some things from my own childhood and my reactions to things even now.

I was really fortunate in that I had a lot of trustworthy adults around me as a child. So often, even if an adult did or said something I didn’t like, I trusted that they had a good reason because my experience taught me that was probably true. But Amari doesn’t really have that experience. She does have some trustworthy adults in her mom, her mentor Magnus, and instructor Fiona. But she also has a lot of awful experiences in which her needs or her experience are denied or silenced. I guess reading the book made me stop and think about how that experience would change your reaction to adults. Anyway, just food for thought, I guess.

There were a couple of moments where I thought others’ reactions to Amari didn’t make a lot of sense and were stretched to support a plot point. For example, Amari physically can’t talk about an event because she’s taken a vow of secrecy on it. When Elsie asks her about it, Amari clams up and can’t speak. Elsie assumes that Amari is willfully keeping secrets or playing some kind of joke on her. Elsie can see auras, so I kept wondering why she couldn’t see Amari’s distress from keeping a secret from her.

There were only a few moments like that, though, and often I was able to skip past them pretty easily to focus on the next step in the plan to save her world.

Conclusion

All in all, I think fans of the first book will love getting more of the story and the relationships we loved in the first book. The story ends in an intense place, so I’m already eager for book three.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Amari and her family are Black.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to perform magic. Some characters have been created by magicians.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Magic battles.

Drug Content
None.

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