This book became vaguely predictable midway, but the extent of the twist was unexpected. I found that the ending fizzled a bit for me though. Like the character suddenly achieved a massive amount of growth based solely on some revelations - there really wasn’t a resolution that I found satisfying. That said, this is a really creative novel with some biting cultural commentary that I found compelling and thoughtfully puzzled through by the authors. As in, there’s nothing right or wrong with having a basketball court or starting “yes, and!” product pitch meetings - it’s the culture regardless of the perks. Quiet, insidious cultural bias that leak in. Recommended.

I’ve read several other books by this author and loved them - and I really wanted to like this more than I did, i guess? I definitely enjoyed it and appreciated what a fresh take it is. In fantasy and Science Fiction it’s hard to come across truly new concepts, and well this has clear references I’ve never read it in quite this way.

Queens and Bronx were definitely my favorite characters. Also knowing that it’s a trilogy helps quite a bit. I found the ending rather unsatisfying and almost annoyingly convenient. Knowing there’s two more coming I’m much more accepting of it.

Spoilers:

While she doesn’t particularly deserve it, I do hope Staten Island gets an opportunity to realize the error of her beliefs and fears and redeem herself. I also hope Mannys new British roommate gets a chance to come back. I particularly enjoyed that character.

Just finished reading this out loud to my son. Phew, that’s a long one. I never read these as they actually came out, just saw the movies, so the novels are pretty much new to me too. Of the series this is my favorite so far, and Max reports it’s actually his second favorite. As an adult I’m not surprised it’s been my favorite, as it was the most riddled with politics and drama of the non-kid adventure variety. I’m surprised Max liked it as well, but he said that this book made him understand Dumbledore more and made him think about his teachers differently. Also I think living through Covid, social media, the Trump administration, and hearing us talk about misinformation, the whole department of mysteries and the ministry of magic coverups hit differently for him than they would have otherwise.

I also found Sirius’ death interesting. While in battle, it wasn’t particularly heroic. He was sort of celebrating hitting her and she hit him back and he was gone. In truth he probably shouldn’t have even been there.

Max and I also talked a lot about how Harry feels versus how the adults react to him. It was an interesting talking point for us.

What a strange little trip this book was. Surreal and mysterious, for the first quarter you just must submit to being along for the ride. Once you begin to get an inkling of what’s happening it’s still satisfying. I appreciate that in the end the author didn’t desert her characters for the sake of an easier ending - there is resolution, but it’s like real resolution in that it’s not wrapped up in a perfect bow.

Eleanor’s review: I think it was four stars because the ending was good but the middle had boring parts. My favorite thing is the horse got free. Felicity was my favorite character.