I love folktales and metanarratives about storytelling, so I'd been excited for this book since I first heard the concept announced. Tristan Strong is a very endearing protagonist. I really liked that Tristan was a boxer. Aside from it being a cool hobby, it transitioned nicely into him fighting monsters. It was also nice to see a Black character with physical prowess be vulnerable and have a range of emotions. Tristan seems like a sweet kid, has a very close friendship with Eddie, and isn't embarrassed about needing therapy. Gum Baby, who has some moments of character development but mostly exists for comic relief, was hit or miss for me, but I'm too old to be the target demographic. I know some of the catch phrases and jokes that annoyed me were things I would've loved when I was in middle school. In terms of critiques, there is a central plot thread that I didn't think made sense. This is the 1st of a series, so it could be too early to tell, but it seemed unnuanced, especially considering how Mbalia was able to discuss histories and inter-community tensions without making one side seem particularly deficient. I also think it would be really cool for Mbalia to look at the fraught history of researching and cataloguing African American and West African folklore in upcoming books in this series. All in all, a fun read and great for kids.