Kristin Cashore writes fantasy at exactly the level that I prefer--where there's a note at the beginning saying that she's using days and months of the Gregorian calendar as a shorthand and we should just assume they're "translations" from whatever calendar they use in these fantasy countries. You know what? THANK YOU Kristin, I absolutely have no interest in learning fake fantasy months. (I'm aware that other fantasy readers are extremely interested in that level of fantasy, and to you I say: you have plenty of other books, nerds.)

Kristin Cashore uses the time she saves on not defining fantasy months by developing characters and their relationships and that's the shit I'm here for! I saw some reviews saying the telepathic foxes are silly and honestly, can't relate. Love them.

Anyway, I spent more time talking about who this book is not for than I did on explaining why it is for me. If you liked the others in the Graceling series I don't see why you wouldn't like this. I re-read the 3 previous books in preparation for this one; I'm not sure that was necessary since this is branching off into a new ~realm~ so it's a little bit like a reboot. But I enjoyed re-reading them.

This is a little bit more capital-F-Fantasy than is my usual jam but I still really enjoyed it! Maren is a great protagonist and her love for her girlfriend Kaia is so beautiful ;_; This has IMO exactly the right amount of worldbuilding to be compelling and interesting but without me being like "UGHHHH which was this fantasy dialect again"? And I thought this was a unique take on dragons!

Now I gotta wait for the sequel aaaaa!

I have a hard time retaining details from books after I read them--I mostly remember sort of a feeling/sense of "Oh I liked it" or "It made me feel sad" or whatever and maybe a few key moments. So when I'm reading series books with a pause in between I either need to re-read the series (big time commitment!) or read a helpful wiki summary (my usual go-to). Unfortch Shatter the Sky didn't develop the kind of devoted fandom who would make a wiki for this so I came up pretty dry looking for a good summary of the last one. Someone please make this.

Anyway I couldn't find a wiki and didn't re-read Shatter the Sky and as a result it took me awhile to find my footing with this one. Like wait......who? What? Why is everyone so concerned about essential oils??? (It's because you can use essential oils to brainwash dragons I guess)

So anyway it was kind of a confusing ride which is partly on me for not doing all my research. But still fun and interesting worldbuilding! I've had a big uptick in kids asking for dragon books lately (thanks Wings of Fire) and this has some choice dragon stuff in it.

PS also I read some other reviews on here who are upset bc this book has a love triangle with a bi main character, her girlfriend, and a new boy love interest, and like, not to deny anyone's feelings about wanting more purely f/f fantasy ofc but...it's valid for a bi woman to end up with a man! It doesn't make her not bi! And from the start Maren identified as bi! OK bye/bi.

I read a blurb of this and was intrigued but in retrospect the phrase "a sophisticated literary fairy tale for the twenty-first century" maybe should have been a red flag for me personally. I have a really hard time with a magical realism-type situation (to be clear this is not the classic definition of magical realism but I'm not sure what to call it? Metaphorical fantasy that doesn't want to commit to being an actual fantasy novel?) I just get so peeved when I'm not sure what's actually supposed to be happening. At first I thought this was a [b:Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West|37442|Wicked The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (The Wicked Years, #1)|Gregory Maguire|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1437733293l/37442._SY75_.jpg|1479280]-style kind of satire/in-depth exploration of a fairy tale world but I think it was actually more like a metaphorical breakdown of a 21st-century marriage. Which like honestly I myself am way less interested in.

There are definitely some cool ideas (the immortal mouse saga told entirely in parenthetical asides? I want a whole book about that! Maybe that's just Redwall? Was Olga Grushin just writing Redwall fanfiction in the parentheticals of her novel? HMM) and beautiful lines here but overall this book just didn't really work for me. Would probably be better for higher-minded adult literary fiction readers who don't like the idea of reading fantasy novels.

OK this is great, the art is adorable and it is easy to both 1) tell Francine and Maureen apart but also 2) tell that they are identical twins. I think a lot of tween readers will find this sibling rivalry really relatable and it's easy to symphatize with both twins and to see how it would be hard to be both "the smart shy twin" and "the outgoing, friendly [but less smart] twin".

one lil quibble I have is that I kind of wish the activity that made Maureen start to get out of her shell was JROTC? Like I know that is a thing and I guess even some middle schools have it (though I've seen it more in high school)? IDK, I guess it's something that will be of interest and relatable to some readers but also what can I say, I'm a leftie uncomfortable with the military-industrial complex being marketed to children

Really goofy space fun with some sweet character moments. Also I would read Space Lawyer's spinoff series.

Doctor Strange peaked when he was an unlicensed veterinarian with a ghost dog and that's that on that

I do like his new assistant Kermit but I care ZERO PERCENT about his MEDICAL CAREER and this book seems to believe that I will care SEVERAL PERCENT about that??? like House is over, Stephen, what are you doing

lol this book was dumb. I guess it's from the DC Zoom line (for tweens) rather than the DC Ink line (for teens) which explains why some of the stuff is so simplistic. But also like...science has proven that you can write a good graphic novel aimed at tweens with some complexity and character development in it. Meg Cabot just like...didn't get that memo I guess? I feel like both Marvel and DC are getting these sort of prestigey names to do middle grade and YA books for them and it's real hit or miss. Some of the DC Ink stuff is great (I loooved [b:Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass|50225349|Harley Quinn Breaking Glass|Mariko Tamaki|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1563979244l/50225349._SX50_SY75_.jpg|60077747] for example) but this is just like...not satisfying as a "coming of age" story nor as a superhero origin story. Bleh

Really enjoyed this one! Lo does a great job of introducing you to the culture of 50s Chinatown in San Francisco as well as the culture of underground queer clubs in a way that you can absolutely understand what's happening and what things are big deals, while not dragging the book down with long infodumps. It's a tough balance! And Lily and Kath are an adorable couple to root for.

Mild spoiler:

Spoiler

I appreciate also that this conveys the serious societal risks LGBTQ+ folks faced in the 50s while also showing the potential for happy endings

I like reading YA nonfiction because it's often a good, compelling way to learn a reasonable amount of information about something/someone without committing to like 1000 pages about Charles Lindbergh (for example), and this definitely delivered on that. I thought the prologue with Lindbergh at an America First rally, indirectly reminding the reader of Trump rally, was a good way to start the book--making the content feel fresh and starting you right off with the news that eventually Lindbergh is headed to yikes-town. (I first learned about that era of Lindbergh's life from [b:The Plot Against America|703|The Plot Against America|Philip Roth|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1553896240l/703._SY75_.jpg|911456] lol but I imagine most teens might not be as familiar with Lindbergh's love affair with eugenics). After that prologue it's a chronological look at Lindbergh's life starting with his wack childhood, letting you understand some of why he might grow up to be such a wack adult (though also one with the strength and persistence to, for example, fly solo from New York to Paris). I think Fleming does a good job of not excusing any of Lindbergh's shit but giving you some context for it.

I will say that there is a lot in here about the extremely active role Lindbergh took in eugenic "scientific research" that involves a lot of animal experimentation that made me squeamish! (In addition to the squeamishness over the racism and ableism involved!) Yikes! Anyway between the aeronautics, the eugenics, the kidnapping, the WWII stuff...there's something in this for a lot of readers. Definitely an engaging read, especially for teens interested in science/history.