4.5 stars.

I'm loving this fun and fast-paced middle grade series. The writing and creativity style reminds me a little of the Sinister Summer series by Kiersten White, but with a bit more of a serious tone. The imagery is really well done and the plot moves very smoothly. There is some really great foreshadowing and enough action to keep the reader's attention from start to finish. A good and strong female protagonist with a kind heart and an ability to recognize her failures and short-comings that makes her a great role model. I'm looking forward to the next read. Highly recommend.

A Peter Pan style adventure that celebrates the power of imagination. Descriptive and fast-paced, this read is fun with a bit of danger. Small nods to the Wizard of Oz, Narnia, and other childhood favorites are present in the plot, making it a fun read for adults as well as the intended middle grade audience.

Boulley's writing is such a great source of cultural information. I love how well she wraps her Ojibwe heritage into her tales. Though this one isn't quite as powerful a story as her Firekeeper's Daughter, the story is still intriguing and provided many opportunities to really consider how the history of Native Americans, their culture, and their ancestors have been handled. There are so many sad tales and so many moments when colonization has been dismissive of these amazing cultures, their stories, their traditions, and their vast quarries of knowledge.

The story is full of great moments and wonderful characters, but this story did not feel as raw and mature as her debut. Though both shelved as young adult, the tone of this novel felt a bit younger though the actions of the characters still fall within the older teen level. It was an odd juxtaposition that didn't allow me to feel completely immersed. Still, I did enjoy the structure of the story and the many lessons that Boulley has for the reader along the way.

Angeline Boulley will doubtless continue to be a great source of Indigenous literature and I will absolutely continue to read whatever she decides to publish. Her reads are worth your time, but I will still recommend Firekeeper's Daughter as her crowning jewel.

3.5 stars. A fun adventure story for middle graders, but it is definitely dated. I deducted 0.5 stars for some incorrect identifying language and insensitivity regarding Indigenous peoples as well as some issues with current ideas on conservation and interaction with primitive societies.

I will admit that there was childhood nostalgia heavily attached to this book and a modern reread of it did somewhat crush my spirit because of how much I remembered loving this as a middle grade reader. However, the story is still good for action and introduces the reader to some interesting locations and animals. There is a lot of educational information in the plot, but a discussion of some of the outdated ideas and attitudes would be a great idea if you are planning a read with a younger child.

3.5 stars. A little harder to follow than the first in the series, I didn't enjoy this quite as much.

It has been said that the series needs to be viewed as a single book broken into installments rather than a true trilogy, so the construction of the story in that sense makes things work a little better. However, this "packaging" of the narrative did make things a little less cohesive and there was a lot of information dump and setup for the next step in the story rather than a solid encompassed tale.

There was still a lot of action in the story, specifically in the last third. There are a lot of moving parts and the world building is really well thought out. Though listed as a middle grade novel in some spaces, the complexity of the tale definitely verges into early YA territory. There is a lot of scientific conceptual theory and religious background to comprehend that will likely be beyond the majority of the middle grade set. Still, it is a good adventure tale.

I will be continuing on with the finale in the series just so I can get a better feel for how this part of the story fits in. I did enjoy the first book, so I feel like if I have the big picture that will make this book even more enjoyable in the end.

Honestly only avoided a DNF due to the fact that it's fast-paced and short. Do yourself a favor and stick with the original. That's what Dahl should have done. The plot is completely random with no real sense of any logic. The characters are mean and unlikable and there are a few moments that are just downright racist and disgusting. You will gain nothing by reading this.