Litsy

The Girl Who Drank the Moon | Kelly Barnhill

so-so

Willing to chalk this one up to a mismatch between book and reader. I can see a lot of worthy imagination and originality in the premise and execution, there are beloved characters and moments of warmth and spectacle, there appears to be messages of the dangers of being permanently lost to an emotion, but simultaneously the danger of denying it completely, 1/?

Robotswithpersonality 2/? the danger of a stagnant society which does not question its leadership and traditions, certainly themes related to the importance of having the courage to act, to hope, to love, and the necessity of growth, the kind of storytelling that makes sense to encourage a middle grade audience, which also has the potential to appeal to many age groups. 17h

Robotswithpersonality 3/? Also strong themes around parenthood, the desire to protect children contrasting with allowing them room to develop their potential, though I could see this being fairly distressing reading for new parents.
I personally found myself constantly stumbling over pacing issues - did I want the bad thing to be over quicker or was it really taking more time than it needed to, to tell the story? 17h

Robotswithpersonality 4/4 Why did it feel like the plot would slow down for the angst and fast forward through the exposition? I guess I went looking for a fairy tale, and while the Grimm brothers would tell me I should know better, I was not expecting it to be so dark, sad and long. Wouldn't wish to discourage younger readers entirely, but I personally can't say the balance of the ending totally made up for the majority of the book it took to get there. 17h

11 likes3 comments

Robotswithpersonality

The Girl Who Drank the Moon | Kelly Barnhill

🌳🌲💚😌

11 likes

Robotswithpersonality

The Girl Who Drank the Moon | Kelly Barnhill

What a mean baby! 👶🏻🙎🏼‍♂️☺️

11 likes1 stack add

Daisey

The Wild Journey of Juniper Berry | Chad Morris, Shelly Brown

pick

Juniper Berry has grown up deep in the wilderness and knows almost nothing of modern conveniences. Instead she knows how to hunt and forage to survive with her family. Then, her brother becomes acutely ill, and the whole family travels to the city. Suddenly, she has to learn a whole new set of rules while living with an uncle she didn‘t even know existed and cousins who don‘t want her there.

#MiddleGrade #TRS2024

45 likes

mdemanatee

Amari and the Despicable Wonders | B. B. Alston

Review of the latest Amari book up on YouTube
https://youtu.be/wstyB_LgWzc

10 likes

Susanita

Impossible Creatures | Katherine Rundell

This charming MG fantasy was my favorite for October. #12booksof2024

Andrew65

Susanita This is book one of a series, so make that four new series I started last year! 1d

Andrew65 This is on my TBR. 1d

40 likes2 comments

mariaku21

The Tea Dragon Society | Katie O'Neill (Cartoonist)

pick

Got a few more '24 reads to post and here's another that fit into all my reading challenges last year!
An absolutely beautifully illustrated story of Greta, the people and dragons she meets, friendship, and community.

I love the diverse looks of all the characters in body shape, height, and type as there's humans and dragons plus the coloring is just enchanting. I could look through this a few times and not get bored 😍
#pantone2024

17 likes

claripetrone

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Wrath of the Triple Goddess: The Senior Year Adventures, Book 2 | Rick Riordan

so-so

Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Wrath of the Triple Goddess: 6/10 rating

3 likes

Librarybelle

The Bletchley Riddle | Ruta Sepetys, Steve Sheinkin

pick

Carryover read from 2024. Overall, a good middle grade book set at Bletchley Park. There‘s a mystery element, along with code breaking and ciphers. It seemed like the ending was a bit rushed. Still, fun read.

I finished this at my parents‘ house with one of their cats Della on my lap.

dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 2d

63 likes1 comment