I occasionally like to grab a middle grade fantasy to sort of reset my palate after a bunch of serious literary reviews, and this one satisfies. It's light and fun and undemanding. The recurring characters from the earlier books are back along with some new faces.
Although the book is somewhat 'genre'/flavor of the month, and the plot is fairly predictable, it's rollicking and fun and will undoubtedly be a favorite for middle graders. I did enjoy it and found myself smiling and chuckling fairly often. I do have to admit that calling Rumplestiltskin 'Rump' every other sentence began to wear on me after the first few pages. The main character Gilly, is stubborn and somewhat hotheaded but is (mostly) true to her friends and will be relatable for most middle graders.
The book is well written and plotted and I didn't find it lagging for me or failing to keep my interest. It's fairly long for a middle reader book at 304 pages and is available in hardback, paperback, ebook and audio formats. Published 6th March, 2018 from Sourcebooks Jabberwocky imprint.
At the end of the book is a 2 chapter teaser for the author's newest book, Misfits book 1 in the Royal Acadamy Rebels series (due out in October 2018).
Three and a half stars, enjoyable.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.
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