dnf @ page 205

I think the writing style hurt this book. There is TOO much telling and not enough showing; everything will be spelled out and you cannot make any conclusions yourself. The writing felt sterile and lacked emotion for me. There also felt like a noticeable lack of character description.

To be honest, this would work better as a Middle-Grade novel. At times, Darius feels younger than he is, though the narrative deals with the harshness of poverty, drugs, rehabilitation programs for former prisoners, and stereotypes. Also, the way everyone talked about Darius’ dead parents irked me. They talked about him being an orphan like they were sprinkling cheese on a potato, with no sensitivity.

But I thought the initial premise was fun before it meandered. A boy gets a second chance in a superhero world by working in a second chance program. Gave flavors of Static Shock (cartoon) with the metahumans living amongst humans, and a main character with a good heart trying to avoid street life. But there doesn't feel like a major goal the story was working toward even by the 200-page mark. This is slice-of-lifeish with what Darius encounters in his day-to-day job, which works better in a TV medium (animated or live-action) but for a book was utterly dull.

I generally love superhero stories especially when they play with morality, but I couldn’t get into the writing style, so I had a poor reading experience. Now, I don't know if she got more fleshed out past the part I read. But the female love interest felt very underused. To be fair, Darius was too nervous to ever talk to her in more than two words for the majority of the book yet she liked him. Ultimately, this book wasn't for me, but I appreciated the bite-sized chapters. 

Magical realism at its best.

I enjoyed the execution of how Emily’s grief is portrayed. The awkwardness around other people who want to acknowledge your loss but don’t know what to say or are insensitive. Also, that something you love can become unhealthy without balance (i.e baking).

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised, and I think its simplicity will connect to children but really any reader.

SN: if this was for an older audience, I’d want to know more about the effects of the magic baked goods. Like how long does the effect last? What can undo it?

3.5

The artwork is so beautiful!

The characters are messy and complicated here. They feel so human. The parents honestly have Almudena parenting herself through most of this, and her lack of connection to her Guatemalan heritage is a pain point. For example,

everyone goes in on her mom, but like the onus was on her dad to make sure she understood her culture, the actual Guatemalan parent.

But the “it takes a village to raise a child” reigns here as you seen each character Alumdena grows her in some way. From the beginning of summer to the end, you can see Almudena’s maturity.

Also, while Beto was obviously struggling with his own issues, he was terribly nasty to Almudena and NEVER got reprimanded. Queralt was the only one to acknowledge his attitude. “Off-brand” became a tongue-in-cheek nickname, but it obviously hurt Almudena.

Overall, the community aspect was so beautiful, and the portrayal of a different family dynamic (

absentee father returns into life with a “what’s understood need not be explained” woman, still has feelings for the mother, and flirts with every woman that moves; parents have amicable relationship

) will be very relatable for some readers. It's also satisfying to see Almudena connect to her heritage.

SN: Xavier got off so easily. ignore this upcoming xavier rant:

I can see how he was lovable, kindhearted, and fun. but you just know that man isn't faithful, and he kept stringing along Idola. why does his teen daughter have to put a label on their relationship? because that man don't want to.

and providing monetarily isn't enough. you created a child, so you need to be in its life. almudena's mom didn't get to just find herself and it didn't matter whether she was ready to be a mom or not; she's caring for their daughter.  so many excuses get made for why a father couldn't be in a child's life, but single moms get demonized.

Gritty. A lot of messages here about how difficult it is to pull one’s self out of the cycle of poverty, imposter syndrome in creative fields, self-loathing, and issues with education(?).

I thought girl was going to fall into Manic Pixie Dreamgirl, but she had just enough character motivations of her own.

First of all, this story didn’t establish the story or the passing of time AT ALL. We’re just told by everyone that Niobe is a killer. Okay. The pacing is just off though the artwork suffices. I think the worldbuilding here could have been really fun. You see magical creatures and different species just roaming around, but we don’t have enough time to digest it. 

You also get characters magically in love because they said so. When did this happen? I could see maybe a love triangle starting up, but there was NO development for either party, including the love rival. Even the platonic characters are barely introduced. No time to build an attachment to anyone.

The "half-blood" distaste is a little banal, and it’s not delved into fully; for this world, why is race-mixing (or interspecies relationships i.e orcs and elves) looked down upon? 

Overall, with more planning, this could have been a fun series. There are some interesting lines in the dialogue (I am Esufey. I do not make mistakes. You are macgrom. You blunder when you are born; You are legend, my king. But you are not he prize; home is where the hatred hurts most), but it needed to be held together by a more in-tact story.

SN: I find the cover of Amandla’s face here very unsettling. I understand they were the character inspiration, but no. It feels creepy.

Enjoyed the narrative of a boy struggling through a fasting period/Ramadan time before eventually learning to acknowledge his issues.

One of the story's climactic points has Hassan hurt another teammate out of frustration. Neither of his parents addressed this in the story besides a comment, but Hassan does get disciplined by his sports team and eventually gives an apology. 

Overall, not bad

Ending spoiler:

There's an ending conversation where his father tells him to stop beating himself up internally about succumbing to eating before sunset. while fasting can be difficult, it doesn't have to be unbearable. sometimes, telling others can help make accommodations (ex: once the coach knew, they were able to adjust the soccer plays)

I think this is a great passage for other children who may choose to fast.

I thoroughly enjoyed this! 

The narrative voice perfectly captured sibling and middle-school drama. You can really see the maturity in Abby toward the end when she gains a broader perspective of her siblings. I’d read more from this author.