I will admit, I had to wade into this book, it was start and stop for the first 50 pages. I appreciated the gimmick of writing in the style of a classic odyssey, and going through the layers of scribe to protagonist, to give that feeling of hearing a tale at a tavern, or around a fire, and wondering which parts were true.. After the first 50 pages is when the adventure and intrigue really gets going, and Amina's band of friends and frienemies were all fun and engaging. Colorful tricksters and ambitious adventurers going through midlife crises, and ending up on a high seas "road trip" - do you need a bigger selling point?!

Still, for all its love of history and myths, the book could be awfully dry and predictable at times. It was really great to have such a diverse group of characters, but they were going through a paint-by-numbers pirate tale, each and every plot point could be synced up to a moment in Pirates of the Caribbean. Break the crew out of jail, steal the fastest boat right out from under port authority, head to an island where some paranormal baddies are combing through treasure for a specific piece, get marooned by said baddies, get beaten up by a kraken, go parlay with an even bigger group of pirates to try and organize a righteous fight against the baddies... Yup, I watched those movies, too. Again, very very happy that this version of events includes some queer shipmates, PoC's, and badass ladies. But I did feel a little underwhelmed by Amina's "adventures". Particularly, when Amina herself doesn't live up to her reputation, she gets incapacitated A LOT of the time and needs to be rescued by her friends.

But I will say that even though the plot played it a little too safe, the themes were big and moving and necessary. This book tackled A LOT: Classism, ageism, xenophobia, religious prejudice, sexism, LGBTQA rights, and how humanity wrecks itself with "righteous" wars. The pirates are inclusive, and the open seas are the only safe space where different people can comingle for a common cause. Their life is the embodiment of Freedom. This book is a love story to anyone who ever desired and aspired to be more than society's expectations of them.

A slow start, and a little more cozy than adventurous, but witty and whip-smart and universal. I am so happy this book exists, and I intend to share it like a good fireside tale.

A fun setting for a romcom: Harry Potter meets Dungeons & Dragons. And an endearing, funny cast of characters. I'm always happy to see more diversity and representation, especially in a relaxed, normalized way, instead of either a token way or an overly preachy way.

BUUUUT this romcom follows the classic trope of "If only they had had an honest conversation at the beginning of the story, NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!!!" I find this trope EXTREMELY annoying. Matt and Arek's chemistry is severely hindered by their romcomedy of errors. The book insists that they're close, but they spend WAY too much time bickering and brooding, and not enough time being sweet or swoon-worthy with each other. It tainted my perception of them, and made it really really difficult to root for the happily ever after of two incredibly dumb people. They desperately needed to grow up and improve their communication skills. I mean, why on earth did Arek think it would be better to seduce his entire circle of friends, and every eligible young adult in the kingdom, BEFORE confessing his conflict of interest, i.e. that he's hopelessly in love with Matt?!?!! Why would he assume a substitute would work, and that a soulmate wasn't a prerequisite for a soulbond?!?!?! Because romcom's gotta romcom, I guess. *shrug* I only knocked off 1 star, because this trope is somebody's guilty pleasure, and to each their own. But it frustrated me, and made pushing through to the happy ending a bit of a slog.

I am ashamed that this book took me a year and a half to read X_X. I can only best describe this book as like trying to eat an entire chocolate cake. It's big and dense and rich, full of lore and intrigue and character arcs... And I knew that I could only take so much info, or so many feelings, at once, so I paced myself. (I stopped multiple times to warn my husband - who read these books before me - that if Syl didn't come back, I was going to chuck the book at the wall!) I think there is something profound and beautiful about centering a magical world around "damaged" individuals, people who have to reckon with re-forging themselves after feeling guilt, loss, shame, disillusionment, trauma, etc. That magic can only find us in our moments of transition.

It's a shame that there is so much good writing here, but the book IS sooooo long. Because the series rewards a diligent reader with callbacks and foreshadowing and twists... but they didn't always land for me when, after 1,200+ pages, I couldn't remember the setup that was being referenced in the reveal. I could tell, even as I was reading it the first time, that this was a book that would read even better in a reread, once the reader knew what to look for.

Even so, I don't think my lapsed memory is the only reason why I missed things; I think Sanderson leaves things unsaid. The characters often reference their religion and ancient history in snippets, because it's common knowledge to them, but the audience is never given a nice neat breakdown of Who were the 10 Heralds, What were the 10 orders of Knights and around Which ethics or emotions did each rally, and What were the 10 original kingdoms and did each correspond to one of the chivalric orders? I'm a little frustrated that, after 2,000+ pages collectively, I still have the barest grasp of the mysticism that's enfolding.

And characters will leap from having inklings and intuitions, to having sure, large-scale, actionable knowledge, in a way that I couldn't follow. Shallan goes from only having an ancient illustration of an even more ancient mosaic that depicted the legendary holy city of Stormseat, to knowing for certain that it IS a map of The Shattered Plains, Stormseat IS the legendary city of Urithiru, and she just walks out into the plains, gets past centuries of crem-build up, knows how to unlock a doorway using stormlight and her shardblade, and then EFFING TELEPORTS an entire army through the doorway in the secret city to an entirely different country.... She doesn't make a mistake about its location or scale or purpose or any sacrifice needed?... She just easily BOOPS everyone across the continent? Or, Kaladin was barely scaling rock walls with his powers last book, and was struggling with his oaths for most of this book... but when he finds his way again, he suddenly understands Lashings without a hitch, and is flying through storms, changing his center of gravity every which way... It's a cool anime moment, but contains that trope of, "I just believed in myself a little harder, and my powers went Super Saiyan."

But speaking of cool anime moments, this book has some INCREDIBLY CINEMATIC MOMENTS!!! Funny banter, gasp-out-loud fight sequences, standing ovation I'm not crying you're crying found family moments... I could SEE the clash of Blue vs Red storms/armies; I could HEAR the imagined swelling symphony as everything comes to a head; I could feel the rush of Kaladin and Szeth streaking through the sky... For all that this book takes its sweet time getting there, it GETS there! I could reread the last 100 pages for the pure joy of "rewatching" my favorite scenes in my mind's eye. Unreal how astounding, engaging, and inspiring the end of this book is.

I am sooooo ready for Book 3. Let's GO!

Easily my favorite of the Stormlight Archive books, so far! It's odd, because Lift's PoV is such a HUGE tone shift. You've got all these HEAVY books about Kaladin's depression, and Shallan's trauma, and the fate of the continent resting on their shoulders... And then you get this plucky, energetic, light-hearted story about a pancake thief. It's like switching from High Fantasy to Middle Grade Fantasy! But for me, the shift was welcome. I enjoyed the Cosmere a LOT more in this bite-size book. I honestly wish the entire series was like this, with shorter books that focus on one Radiant's PoV at a time, and let the audience infer for themselves where the overlap happens.

But I don't mean to undersell Lift as the comic-relief, kid sidekick, or anything. The many many layers of what she represents are so inspiring! The voice for the voiceless, the person who listens to and stands up for the marginalized. She's a healer, but she's dynamic! Empathy is a choice - reaching out and listening and lifting other people up is a choice - and healing is an action. Everyday comforts have extraordinary healing powers: Being out in nature, cultivating something, eating a good meal, wearing comfy clothes, talking to new people, exploring new places... And even with all the comfort and knowledge available, we still have doubts, fears and questions... but trust your gut.

I love the freshness and optimism of this book: That a kid with a pancake to share is the first step to healing the refugee crisis. Lift is a kid saint with a mouth, and I cannot wait to see what she and Wyndle do next.

This was a real Boys and Their Toys kind of a book: Giant mechs, hoverboards, pirates, highspeed firefights, killer dinosaurs, even Marvel-level Quantum-handwave superpowers/supervillains. There is a note from the author at the end, about how this book evolved out of playing Legos with and telling bedtime stories to his son. It shows, and not always in the best of ways. There is a lot of imagination. But there is also a lot of male-insert fantasy, including some annoying tropes, like the trophy girlfriend.

There were some odd, disturbing, Conservative messages in the story. An angry black girl from a rough neighborhood who lost her brother due to gang violence is told - by a former slave - that she doesn't have to live with anger, and can just choose to keep positive. A "strong female lead" - read as, "a girl who threw a punch one time" - who dreams of becoming a pilot, never once flies a plane in 600 pages, and instead resigns herself to a life of domesticity, even defending her father's choice for her arranged marriage as what's right for her station and her family. The protagonist, Diego, is told that camaraderie and innovation are the only tools for peace, violence is never the answer... but then adults repeatedly arm Diego (not with sci-fi blasters, with actual handguns) and Diego shoots multiple people in order to end the central conflict of the story. The villains themselves are "evil" for wanting to turn back time, which would retcon a bunch of pregnancies, and our heroes pick up the very Pro-Life mantra of "What is made shall never be unmade."
Yeah... One or two moments, I might have cringed and moved on. But after 600 pages, and repeated messaging, I'm concerned. Good guy with a gun, happy slave, child housewife... Not to mention, the overly neat even split of 2 boys, 2 girls, no LGBTQA representation, everybody pairs up like we're planning for Noah's freaking Arc over here!

Possibly one of the most upsetting messages, for me, was what this book considered "civilized" versus "uncivilized" culture. A loooot of white scientists, or at least modern melting pot Americans, got to be heroes, while Asian and Indigenous peoples were treated like violent, lawless tribes, and were excluded from society. Their territories on the map are even called "The Savage Divide" and "The Badlands".

I am being very hard on the book, because I have high standards for what "representation" entails. I can see that the book tried. I can see that it tried to be multiracial, multi-class, multi-gendered, and address hurdles that all of the protagonists would have struggled with. But the book also had a weird tendency to use pity more than sympathy to try and get the audience to relate to the character. Instead of having the character take actions, or have dialogue, there would instead be a lore drop along the lines of, "Oh, that character has a tragic backstory. Care about them, now."

Instead of endearing character moments, I got a looooot of details on battleships, fighter planes, army vehicles - you name it. It was a little upsetting to see so many technical details, names of models, guns, engines, etc. and which wars these vehicles were relevant to. It was like reading through a museum manifest. "A guide to the world's most famous wars for children!" In the beginning, the details added flavor, to show the clash of timelines. But around the middle, when the children were manning gunner stations, I felt disturbed. If my son develops an encyclopedic knowledge of weapons and war machines by the time he's 13, I will have DEEP deep concerns!

Many times this book felt like a regular action movie, but with a 13 year old protagonist. Fires a gun, drinks wine, drives an amphibious car, punches a punk and earns a kiss... This a middle grade book or a James Bond movie? There are ways to mimic action movies with a sci-fi twist that makes it safe for a younger audience... This book pulled no such punches.

So.... yeah.... a beautifully illustrated, highly imaginative, sci-fi adventure that tried to be inclusive and inspiring in some ways... but that ultimately rubbed me the wrong way, and made me feel like the author was inserting WAY too much of himself into the story.

p.281 "'You know, this is turning out to be really anticlimactic.'"
...
Could not have said it better myself -_-. This book was atrociously boring. It took me almost 3 weeks to slog through this dinky 300 pager, because every time I opened it I groaned, or spaced, or reached to play some mind-numbing match-three game on my phone instead of finishing this ding-dong book! I think it's guiltiest of false advertising. The positive blurb on the jacket claims this is a book filled with "Mystery, Magic, and Mega-Cute Rivals-to-Lovers that [will have you] flipping through pages at lightning speed!"... NOPE, it isn't.

Mystery: There is none. The front cover would have you believe that Rook and Sun are an odd-couple team-up of gadgetry and magic solving a crime in an old haunted house... NOPE! That never happens. There is ONE scene in an old magical house, but it's about tagging the estate's items because the inheritors want to safely dispose of the previous owner's cursed junk. The entire scene is forgotten almost as quickly as it happens, because it's only a vehicle to get Rook and Sun into the same room together. There is no whodunnit. No item or person of significance. There is no grand conspiracy. In fact, the laws about how magic can be used, and how someone will be punished if they break the law, are very direct and understood by everyone. Everything that happens is unsurprising, and entirely Rook's fault for knowingly breaking the law, repeatedly - Rook even admits as much and turns himself over to the authorities, so... Where is the conflict? Where is the intrigue? Where is ANYTHING?

Magic: Not really. For the first half of the book, Rook can't figure out how to cast magic. For almost the entire second half, Sun is stuck as a cat, so neither of them can cast magic. Antonia and Fable are allegedly skilled sorcerers, The Consortium is supposed to have a stockpile of magical energy reserves that fuel some badass bureaucrats a la Agent Smith, even Rook's grandmother is alluded to have been a frightening force... BUT WE SEE NONE OF THAT! When the secret society of sorcerers finally do come to arrest our heroes, they give a FOOT chase, for Merlin's sake! What we DO see of our "magical" heroes are coffee runs, phone calls, carpooling, ordering takeout, napping with a cat... I know that Cozy Fantasy is a genre, but this book took the "cozy" part soooo far that it may as well have been a straight up office romance novel.

Mega-Cute: The book INSISTS on itself, especially when in Rook's PoV. The narration will tell us that something/someone is "cute", or "amazing", or "terrifying". The reader never gets to decide that for themselves. I was told how to feel, instead of being given a series of dialogues and metaphors and atmospheric descriptions and /feeling/ the book for myself! As a result, I ended up feeling nothing. Similarly, characters are described as being "genius", or "evil", or "powerful", but we never witness those skills on the page. Telling is not showing. I was not stirred by the plot, nor moved by the characters, because they didn't live up to their own hype.

Rivals-to-Lovers: Rook and Sun aren't rivals. They work amicably on some field work together. Then, they hang out some more, and tutor each other on math and magic. Afterwards, their bosses have a falling out over some work ethics, and INSIST that Rook and Sun break off all contact. But from the moment they met, Rook and Sun almost instantly respected and admired each other, and agreed on everything. Their bosses' weak attempt to sever their connection did not last, and neither blamed the other for their bosses' behavior. And, once everyone got arrested, that ethical line in the sand was completely erased, and everyone became one, big, happy team again. ROOK AND SUN WERE NOT RIVALS! They were not in competition. They were not foils to each other's ambitions. They barely struggled with Feelings vs. Duty, because what conflict could have been stoked by having feuding magic-reversal squads, was instantly dashed by giving them a common enemy, instead.

Everything this book claims to be, it isn't. If you're in the mood for a cozy high school study-buddy, or freshman college intern, romance, sure, fine, enjoy two kids drinking soda and going to grandma's house. But if you want an intriguing, intricate, magical noir, or an adventurous, found family, steampunk fantasy, rivals-to-lovers romance... look elsewhere.

But even if this book had been everything it was purported to be... I think I still would have been disappointed. I came to expect the gimmick of a fairytale retelling, and when I couldn't find it in this book, and the writing continued to be lacking and disappointing... I started to doubt whether F.T. Lukens could write a compelling original novel. Multiply that by the fact that they only seem to write one kind of couple: The Bert and Ernie odd-couple. A happy-go-lucky puppy with a cynical, straight-laced, grumpy cat. 3/3 books, different setting but same couple, I'm over it.

This book was a boring lie, and it made me lose faith in this author. Such a waste. Do not make the same mistakes I did, people! Read something else!!

PS - OH! What was the deal with the Dolores Umbridge of this book being named Evanna Lynne Beech.... EVANNA LYNCH?!?! Why are you dragging Luna Lovegood?!?! Of all the Easter Eggs, why would you do an homage to one of the most beloved cast members, with the villainess hated more than Voldemort?!?! It's just cruel! So, add that to the pile: Boring, Untrustworthy, and Cruel.

DNF at 100 pages (1/3). I'm sure it gets better, but I'm just not interested. Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, or Coraline, already did it better. The characters in this book are flat, each IDed by a single quirk, barely believable. But worse than unsympathetic characterization, the book is just written really awkwardly. I know the randomness of the plot is trying to project dreamlike nonsense with its sudden, bizarre developments. But the literal writing is not atmospheric, it's just hilariously bad. Here are two examples:

1) "[He] pulled out a small book. The cover was made of soft, tough leather, like the reigns of a horse that had been ridden for years through rushing streams, over snowcapped mountains, and burnished in the flames of battle."
.... That line again: The book cover looked like it belonged to a horse who has seen some $#17. XD WHAT?!

2) "'Those are not bags. Those are bats. Thousands of bats.' In a few minutes, Nell would have to climb between the sleeping bats to find a key. But, for some reason, worse than the bats was the sight of a large tangle of balloons in the tree's topmost branches. They were dirty with age, and shivering in the wind, and they filled Nell with a pinching sadness. They were so alone. Alone and abandoned."
... THAT LINE AGAIN: Worse than climbing through a colony of bats: Lonely balloons.... WHAT?!?!?! XD XD XD Nope, sorry, as someone who has had bats get in her house before AND as someone who has bought birthday balloons that have gone sad and half-mast after a month, I can promise you that being surrounded by bats is WAY worse XD.

I'm sure the book gets better once the kids cross over to nightmareland, it is a very very spooky book. I just don't care. I can find better written, more compelling, spooky books to fill my time. Also, in the end, I'm always looking for a book to have meaning, for the fantasy to tell us a universal truth. What is this book trying to say? Nightmares are scary? Moms are great? No duh. This book doesn't resonate with any big feelings I have. It's just... creepy and random, and occasionally, unintentionally, hilarious. XD

Thank you, next.

A book about the magic of music AND math?!?! What an incredible message! I know I'm a Hermione at heart, but this book made me nostalgic for my favorite teachers XD. These kids kick a mad scientist's butt, save a village's worth of orphans, telepathically fly an airplane, all because of S.T.E.A.M.?!?! (Talk about a steampunk fantasy, har har, mom joke XD). I was so proud that my sons were riveted by this tale, but I was even more tickled that my husband was really into it, as well! This book brought us all together, it was wonderful! Action packed, witty, full of intrigue, and inspiring. Read this book, and then immediately take your family to the nearest children's museum! XD

Catanese has an immaculate writing style: No words wasted, the characters speak for themselves, and the danger and the intrigue keep your heart in your throat throughout the whole book! Definitely a master class in How to Write a Book!

I was head over heels for the premise: Snow White retold as a sibling rivalry instead of a mother-daughter relationship. The protagonists are 12 year old twins, and all the jealousy, insecurity, desire to impress, budding independence, and struggles with family, are all extremely relatable to a middle grade/teenage audience. I was especially moved by the too-real devolution of two kids who used to be best friends falling out when the world tested them.

I did, however, remove a star because the book got a little bumpy after page 200. The focus wasn't so much on the brothers, but rather on their abusive uncle. Giving them a common supervillain to face meant that the brothers never really had to reconcile with the choices they made earlier on, especially Bert, who gets welcomed back like a hero. And the story wraps up very abruptly and saccharinely, which I felt cheapened what the book had set up.
However, on the flip side, once the story switched its focus to the abusive uncle, Bert's chapters got REALLY dark: His uncle starves him and chains him up; Bert's magic-withdrawal is described like an addict suffering from drug withdrawal and he gets horribly sick; he becomes depressed and fatalistic; and the demon whose magic he craves literally sucks his soul out. Don't do drugs, kiddies! O_O This whoooole chunk of the book was for a much more mature audience than the first half or the finale were.

But compliment sandwich: I could tell that this was the first draft of Happenstance Found. I could see how the demon which can see you wherever you go, or the protagonist who feels disconnected from his feelings, were going to evolve into a book for an older audience. It was nice to see Hap again ^_^. Made me nostalgic, and it makes me want to find more Catanese books!

A worthy read if you love dark fairytale retellings.

This book left a bad taste in my mouth :'(. A pale-skinned, blue-eyed race has been practicing eugenics for years, and they grandfather in our blonde waifish protagonist to their private school. She almost didn't qualify because she has brown eyes. But hey, at least she's not like those other "stupid" or boorish "chubby, brown-skinned" races, who are inferior intellectually and morally, and - at best - are grateful for any menial labor the pale race throws their way.
....
See what I mean?

But hey, maybe you're not in the mood for positive messaging in your middle grade fantasy. Maybe you're just here for the magic and glitter. Ok, let's talk glitter:

Sophie the Snowflake is the Bella-est of Bella Swan's: Wah, I'm so smart and magical and misunderstood and well-ahead of my peers. I feel like a loner even in my own family. But when a magical teenager shows up and tells me how amazing I am, I instantly romanticize him, allow him to kidnap me, adopt his family as my own, and want to abandon my life for his world.

The "wise", emo protagonist is tropetastic, as is the magical boyfriend and the hidden magical race and being whisked off to magic school... I can't be mad that these tropes are in this book; they're tropes for a reason, and any one of them could be a sub-genre onto themselves. But there is something particularly icky about how the tropes were handled in this book. Sophie isn't an older teen on the cusp of adulthood, uncertain of her future, ready to leap into a wild romance or adventure that will test and shape her. Sophie is 12! She is not even a teenager, being treated with the same level of maturity as a high school senior. No upperclassman should be whisking her anywhere. Fitz's behavior is predatory: He grooms her by telling her how special and unique she is, negs her family and her school, then isolates Sophie. He makes decisions for her without informing her, consulting her, or waiting for consent. He insults everything about her, from her intellect to her diet, while championing her looks and anything she has in common with him, like her magic. He is an arrogant, racist elitist, who immediately makes her feel ashamed of her family and upbringing, and insinuates that Sophie will only continue to be special to him if she molds herself to be exactly like him.

A looot of red flags. A LOT! There are far superior magical academy or paranormal boyfriend or parallel world stories out there.