Mature Middle Grade
Written by V. E. Schwab
Fantasy, Witches, Romance, Paranormal
320 Pages
Published January 2020
Thank you to New South Books
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★★★★
The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.
If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.
There are no strangers in the town of Near.
These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.
But when an actual stranger, a boy who seems to fade like smoke, appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.
The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion.
As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.
In the quaint town of Near, the Near Witch sings the hills to slumber each night from her resting place on the moors, the children sing as they play throughout the village. Sixteen year old Lexi Harris remembers the stories her father told her as a child, of the Near Witch and village children who we welcomed to play in her garden, a centuries old fable told by generations of Near, until a boy was found in her garden and the witch was banished to the moor.
Since her father passed away, Lexi lives with her younger sister Wren and her mother on the fringe of Near, the witch whispering on the winds that swept through the moor each night as a stranger arrives in town and Near is awash with speculation. Whispers on the wind are waking children from their slumber, lured into the forest in their nightgowns and disappearing and the town suspects the stranger is stealing their children.
Centuries past, the Near Witch lived on the Near fringe, her cottage garden captivating the village children on the moor. The children of Near sing the fable of the fated witch who sings the hills to sleep at night. If you listen carefully, you can hear her calling on the winds that swept through the moors.
Near is a grudging, prejudice community, thriving on restlessness and governed with a firm hand by three archaic council members, while a vigilante group gathers to restore order. Lexi and sister Wren lost their father three years prior, their father a wonderful man who believed in the folklore of Near and taught his children consideration, independence and to appreciate the Near folklore, including Magda and Dreska Thorn.
Fear is a strange thing, he used to say. It has the power to make people close their eyes, turn away. Nothing good grows out of fear.
Magda and Dreska are the eldest residents of Near, living on the fringe of town on the moors, as the Near Witch once lived. As a young girl, Lexi and her father would visit the sisters who have been ostracised by the village community. The witch siblings are providing the stranger with refuge as the children begin to disappear during the night. Lexi suspects the Near Witch, the villagers accusing the stranger of abducting their children. Lexi is intrigued by the newcomer, his secrets and his story, the young man with the dark fathomless eyes and ashen skin. He is nameless, homeless and Lexi is determined to prove his innocence.
The villagers are positively dreadful, dishonest and vengeful, incredibly chauvinistic. At sixteen, the girls within the village and allowed to legally marry and often betrothed. Women are bakers, seamstresses or homemakers, Lexi consistently reprimanded for wearing the workboots and knife of her father who taught his daughter independence. The men of the village refusing to listen to the resolute young woman who begins skulking around the village at night in the hope to discover where the children have gone.
The trees all whisper, leaves gossiping. The stones are heavy thinkers, the sullen silent types. He used to make up stories for everything in nature, giving it all voices, lives. If the moor wind ever sings, you mustn’t listen, not with all of your ears. Use only the edges. Listen the way you’d look out the corners of your eyes. The wind is lonely, love, and always looking for company.
The Near Witch is enigmatic and enchanting, immersed in mesmerising folklore of a small village community. The lyrical prose is unequivocally captivating.
Written by Meg McKinlay
Middle Grade, Historical, Contemporary, #LoveOZMG
Published March 1st 2019
256 Pages
Thank you to Walker Books Australia
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★★★★☆
It’s 1979 and the sky is falling. Skylab, that is. Somewhere high above Frankie Avery, one of the world’s first space stations is tumbling to Earth. And rushing back with it are old memories. Things twelve year old Frankie thought she’d forgotten. Things her mum won’t talk about, and which her little brother Newt never knew. Only did he? Does he? Because as Skylab circles closer, Newt starts acting strangely. And while the world watches the sky, Frankie keeps her own eyes on Newt. Because if anyone’s going to keep him safe, it’s her. It always has been. But maybe this is something bigger than splinters and spiders and sleepwalking. Maybe a space station isn’t the only thing heading straight for calamity.
Frankie Avery is watching the skies high above her small town in Western Australia where six years prior, revolutionary space station Skylab was launched into orbit. NASA estimates that Skylab will fall to earth within the next few months, reigniting memories of six year old Frankie, two year old brother Newt and their father in their makeshift star observatory, teaching his children about the limitless depths of space before he disappeared from their lives.
The ramshackle observatory sits derelict, high on the hill holding secrets lost to time. Secrets of a father who is no longer of this world. Of a grieving family, an absent mother and a space station that is falling to Earth on the anniversary of her father's disappearance.
Frankie Avery is a wonderful young lady and narrator of Catch A Falling Star. She's mature beyond her years and currently cares for her brother, the namesake of scientific revolutionary Sir Issac Newton. Caring for Newt is a full time position and while Frankie juggles school, her homework and Newt's endless scientific experiments, she feels the frustration of friend Kat who adores Newt but would like to spend time with her best friend without her little brother tagging along. Frankie's mother works long hours, a nurse at the local hospital who is often late home and asks Frankie to prepare dinner and take responsibility for Newt.
Twelve year old Frankie just wants to please others, her mother, best friend Kat and keep Newt safe from harm, usually of his own doing but as the coverage of Skylab saturates the media, Newt begins tracking the falling space station, collecting information, articles and media reports to piece together when Skylab will fall to Earth. As an infant, Newt was always destined for the stars and although he can't remember, would sit upon his father's knee and watch the skies from their wooden observatory. With their mother working long into the night, Frankie and Newt only have one another and a dusty photo album that contains their father's life.
My heart ached for all Frankie endured, the loss of her father, the responsibility placed upon her young shoulders and the grief she suppresses to maintain the balance at home. I loved the nostalgic Australiana of the late seventies, the feeling of warm summer nights, freshly cut grass and walking to the local milk bar barefooted. Meg McKinlay has created a wonderfully gentle narrative, beautifully tender and an exploration of the many facets of grief and how is reshapes families. Absolutely loved it to the moon and back.
Kingdoms and Empires Book Two
Written by Jaclyn Moriarty
Adventure, Mystery, #LoveOZMG
528 Pages
Published November 2018
Thank you to Allen and Unwin Australia
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★★★★★
I was taken by Whisperers at 2:00pm, so I never pulled the lever for the laundry chute.
That's what bothered me most.
This is way ahead in the story, though. A lot happened before that.
The town of Spindrift is frequented by pirates, Shadow Mages and charlatans. It's also home to the Orphanage School, where Finlay lives with Glim, Taya and Eli. Just outside town is the painfully posh Brathelthwaite Boarding School, home to Honey Bee, Hamish and Victor, Duke of Ainsley. When the two schools compete at the Spindrift Tournament, stakes are high, tensions are higher, and some people are out to win at any cost. Before long, the orphans and the boarding school are in an all out war.
And then Whispering Wars break out, and Spindrift is thrust onto the front lines. Children are being stolen, Witches, Sirens and a deadly magical flu invade the town, and all attempts to fight back are met with defeat.
Finlay, Honey Bee and their friends must join forces to outwit the encroaching forces of darkness, rescue the stolen children, and turn the tide of the war. But how can one bickering troupe outwit the insidious power of the Whisperers? And who are the two mysterious figures watching them from the shadows?
Seventeen children have disappeared from Spindrift, thousands of children across the Kingdoms and Empires. The town of Spindrift resides within the Kingdom of Gusts, Gales, Squalls and Violent Storms, each year children within the Kingdom participating in the Spindrift Tournament for prestige, including the children of the Orphanage, reigning defenders of the tournament. Brathelthwaite Boarding School are competing in the tournament, the privileged students and conceited headmaster believe victory is foregone conclusion but when the tournament is challenged, the orphanage and Brathelthwaite Boarding School declare warfare.
Almost eleven year old Finlay is a resident of the Spindrift Orphanage, abandoned as a small child along with best friend and resident storyteller Glim. Twins Eli and Taya washed up upon the Spindrift shore and joined the fray at the Orphanage under the their caregiver Lili Daisy. The children are educated and cared for, although Honey Bee of the Brathelthwaite Boarding School will advise you differently. She'll tell you those unfortunate children are nothing but trouble.
If you ask Finlay, he'll tell you about those entitled children at the Boarding School, sitting on their breeches eating pastries and drinking tea but the Brathelthwaite Boarding School isn't as delightful as Finlay believes. Under the watchful eye of her uncle, the students at the Boarding School adhere to very stern guidelines, anything less could be deserving of a whipping.
When the Orphanage goes up against the Boarding School, revenge ensues until another child disappears. The Whispering Kingdom declares warfare, brandishing Mages, Gnomes and Whisperers in an attempt to destroy the Kingdom of Gusts, Gales, Squalls and Violent Storms. In The Slightly Alarming Tale of the Whispering Wars, our alternating narrators Finlay and Honey Bee are documenting the circumstances surrounding the Whispering Wars, child abductions, a rampant illness and the destruction of Spindrift by the use of illegal shadow magic.
Almost eleven year old Finlay is a resident of the Spindrift Orphanage, abandoned as a small child along with best friend and resident storyteller Glim. Twins Eli and Taya washed up upon the Spindrift shore and joined the fray at the Orphanage under the their caregiver Lili Daisy. The children are educated and cared for, although Honey Bee of the Brathelthwaite Boarding School will advise you differently. She'll tell you those unfortunate children are nothing but trouble.
If you ask Finlay, he'll tell you about those entitled children at the Boarding School, sitting on their breeches eating pastries and drinking tea but the Brathelthwaite Boarding School isn't as delightful as Finlay believes. Under the watchful eye of her uncle, the students at the Boarding School adhere to very stern guidelines, anything less could be deserving of a whipping.
When the Orphanage goes up against the Boarding School, revenge ensues until another child disappears. The Whispering Kingdom declares warfare, brandishing Mages, Gnomes and Whisperers in an attempt to destroy the Kingdom of Gusts, Gales, Squalls and Violent Storms. In The Slightly Alarming Tale of the Whispering Wars, our alternating narrators Finlay and Honey Bee are documenting the circumstances surrounding the Whispering Wars, child abductions, a rampant illness and the destruction of Spindrift by the use of illegal shadow magic.
The children must put their differences aside and work together to find the missing children by becoming missing children themselves. The underlying themes of socioeconomics, concentration camps, abduction and child labour are woven throughout the narrative, a wonderful point of discussion for middle grade children. Jaclyn Moriarty sprinkles a delightful whimsicality throughout the narration, creating enchanting characters that are wonderfully illustrated. A born storyteller and a phenomenal read for the young and young at heart.
Written by Alana Wulff
Feminism, Interactive, Informative
180 Pages
Published October 30th 2017
Thank you to Nero and Black Inc Books
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★★★★
Being a girl freakin’ rocks! But despite all the opportunities available to girls today, the fight for equality and self esteem continues. Filled with information, inspiration, truth bombs and surprises, Girlish is a fun filled self led discovery course in feminism for teenage girls.
Embracing all the beauty, chaos, hope and frustration of being a girl in the twenty first century, Girlish encourages the reader to celebrate who they are, define their values and have fun along the way.
With a playful design, illustrations by Frances Cannon, and featuring quotes from inspiring women from all walks of life, such as Michelle Obama, Amy Poehler, Roxane Gay and Lorde, Girlish is the perfect gift for any teenage girl.
An interactive celebration of inspirational women, activists, feminists and intersectionality through education and empowerment.
Dedicated to the loud and proud members of an ever growing and on going movement against inequality, sexism and oppression. Girls, you are seen and you are heard. And you are awesome.
During our adolescent years can be disenfranchising and empowering as a female. Young women are acclimatising to their environments and discovering who they are as young women, their sexuality, appearance and demeanour.
Female popular culture icons Beyoncé Knowles Carter and Demi Lovato, inspirational women Emma Watson, Michelle Obama, Maya Angelou and activists Malala Yousafzai reinforce intersectionally and the protection of transgender, queer and females of colour by reiterating the importance of language and communication. Exploring the advancement of feminism from suffrage, libation, white feminism to contemporary gender equality and the inclusion of intersectionality.
Throughout history, women of all ages, races and religions have fiercely battled against inequality and discrimination. They gave their blood, sweat and tears for the rights of women to vote, work, own land, run companies and do what we want with our bodies. For the right to make our own choices about our lives.
Featuring Australian women of influence, politicians, Indigenous Australian women and female athletes, it encourages young women to create resolutions, to challenge preconceptions and stereotypes thorough interactive activities, also touching upon the male role in supporting women.
Girlish is an empowered and wonderfully composed interactive experience for young women.
Written by Zana Fraillon
Middle Grade, Australia, Realistic Fiction
234 Pages
Published June 28th 2016
Thank you to Hachette Australia
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★★★★★
Subhi is a refugee. Born in an Australian permanent detention centre after his mother fled the violence of a distant homeland, life behind the fences is all he has ever known. But as he grows, his imagination gets bigger too, until it is bursting at the limits of his world. The night sea brings him gifts, the faraway whales sing to him, and the birds tell their stories.
The most vivid story of all, however, is the one that arrives one night in the form of Jimmie, a scruffy, impatient girl who appears from the other side of the wires, and brings a notebook written by the mother she lost. Unable to read it, she relies on Subhi to unravel her own family's love songs and tragedies.
Subhi and Jimmie might both find a way to freedom, as their tales unfold. But not until each of them has been braver than ever before.
Eight year old Subhi survives behind within the wire compound of the detention centre, overcrowded bodies neglected under the parched Australian sun. Subhi is one child of thousands of men, women and children escaping their homeland and applying for asylum in Australia. Born within the compound, his family surviving the harrowing journey from Burma where his father is under political incarceration. Persecuted and malnourished, families are placed within the compound and abandoned by the Australian government, segregated from their family members while abused and tormented by confinement.
Subhi is a remarkable young man, Intelligent and compassionate. The narrative is incredibly confronting, the lack of empathy towards those who seek asylum, the impoverished conditions and atrocious deficiency of humanity. Subhi imagines a freedom for his ailing mother and sister Queeny, a resilient young woman who has become Subhi's guardian.
Nine year old Jimmie lives within the remote community, occupied by exploring since her mother passed away. While her father is a single parent living below the poverty threshold, all that remains of Jimmie's late mother is her treasured book of stories and her Bone Sparrow necklace. An insufficient education and inadequate parenting, Jimmie is illiterate and continues to grieve for her mother's stories.
Although Subhi is a fictional character, he represents the thousands of children and families denied refuge and placed within detention centres and incarcerated, his narrative instigating important conversations about human rights and the Australian refugee legislation. The conditions within the refugee compound are appalling. Inadequate basic necessities, dehumanised and often brutalised by government employed wardens. Their meagre possessions confiscated upon arrival. Mental and physical health deteriorate as families are segregated. Their voices left unheard.
Jimmie looks at me and nods. 'I know,' she says. 'I hear you.'
The Bone Sparrow is a conscientious and impassioned narrative of the abhorrent treatment and conditions asylum seekers face in Australia. Captivating and confronting.
How you can make a difference
Author Zana Fraillon is raising funds for #authorsforasylum on behalf of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre supporting the #letthemstay campaign. Bid or donate now. Follow the ASRC or Zana Fraillon for more information. Online auction ends at 11:00pm AEST on September 7th 2017.
Written by Tahereh Mafi
Middle Grade, Fantasy
Published September 1st
400 Pages
Thank you to the lovely Valerie
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★★★★★
Born as blank as canvas in a world brimming with colour and magic, Alice's pale skin and milk white hair mark her as an outcast. Because, for the people of Ferenwood, colour and magic are one and the same. And since the disappearance of her beloved father, Alice is more determined than ever to prove herself and her own magical abilities.
To do so she'll have to travel into the mythical, dangerous land of Furthermore, with the help of a fiercely annoying boy named Oliver. But nothing in Furthermore is as it seems, and it will take all of Alice's wits to find her father and return him safely home.
The small town of Ferenwood is an eruption of colour, radiant as the magic that consumes the community. Where up is down and night is day, the sun rarely rains and the blossoming flowers are delicious. But for twelve year old Alice Alexis Queensmeadow, her world has been reduced to monochrome. Born without colour, Alice lives within the shadows as a mere servant of her cantankerous mother, yearning for the man who illuminated her life. Since her father mysteriously disappeared several years ago, the Surrender will ensure Alice will be valued as a member of her community and tasked with a immense quest based on her magical abilities. Except Alice wants to dance and dance she will.
Oliver Newbanks is a bothersome nuisance and despite her defiance, Alice aches to find her father and accepts Oliver's proposition. Alice and Oliver will need to navigate the rules of Furthermore, an enchanting world in which time is a commodity and children are delectable. Alice is on the verge of a tremendous adventure. To survive Furthermore, find her father and paint her own canvas.
My Thoughts
Alice is magnificent, unique and incredibly lovely. The reader is introduced to Alice on the eve of her twelfth birthday, a day that poses great significance in the small town of Ferenwood, a community flushed with colour and magic. With her bangle adorned limbs and ravenous taste for eating blooms, Alice is a monochrome canvas which ensures her unseemly status as a pariah. At the tender age of nine years old, Alice's father mysteriously vanished leaving Alice a wistful version of the girl she one was. But it seems childhood nemesis Oliver knows where her father has gone and although Oliver is an insufferable bore, Alice believes once she finds her father, her world will become radiant once more.
The tentative companionship between Alice and Oliver was incredibly charming. Oliver is conventional and often demure while Alice is loud, boisterous and fond of adventure. Together Alice and Oliver must navigate Furthermore, an enchanting world in which time shall not be wasted and visitors are appetising. Nevertheless, Alice is absolutely delighted by Furthermore despite Oliver's insistence to keep her oblivious to the dangers the two young travellers are facing.
The world Tahereh Mafi has created is imaginative, whimsical and incredibly vivid. It was devastatingly spectacular. Furthermore also touches on feelings of abandonment, deception and a sense of belonging in a world in which you are labelled a pariah. Alice feels desolate, her lack of aesthetic colour leaves her detached from her community and will resonate with readers. Her loneliness is palpable. One of my favourite aspects of middle grade reads is the absence of romance. It allows authors to create wonderful friendships between characters, as is the case with Alice and Oliver.
Futhermore is a beautiful exploration of middle grade fantasy, captivating and a fantastically fanciful narrative. Tahereh Mafi is an exquisite author who crafts words delicately, lovingly, ethereally and Furthermore is immaculate.
Written by Paul Griffin
Middle Grade, Contemporary
Published June 27th 2016
256 Pages
Thanks to Text Publishing
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★★★★★
A boy’s chance encounter with a scruffy dog leads to an unforgettable friendship in this deeply moving story about life, loss and the meaning of family.Ben Coffin has never felt like he fits in. A former foster kid, he keeps his head down at school to avoid bullies and spends his afternoons reading scifi books at the library. But all that changes when he finds a scruffy abandoned dog named Flip and befriends the librarian’s daughter, Halley. For the first time, Ben starts to feel like he belongs in his own life. Then everything changes, and suddenly Ben is more alone than ever. But with a little help from Halley’s magician father, Ben discovers his place in the world and learns to see his own magic through others’ eyes.Equal parts heartbreaking and heartwarming, When Friendship Followed Me Home is a must read for dog lovers and fans of emotionally resonant middle grade novels.
Abandoned as a baby and raised within an orphanage until adopted by the free spirited, larger than life Tess, a woman who has become the only mother he's ever known. Twelve year old Ben and his mother are planning on moving to Florida after her retirement, Ben figuring it's useless to make friends since he'll be gone soon enough. But Ben hadn't realised how lonely he'd become until a stray little dog follows him home from school.
The newly named Flip seems to have been abandoned and in need of a loving home. The boy and his new best friend are inseparable, a bond formed between the two and giving one another a friendship that neither had known existed. Along with his friendly librarian Mrs Lorentz and her daughter Halley like the comet, Ben begins to believe that he's finally found a place in the world, then tragedy strikes. Ben's world is about to come crashing down and both Ben and Flip will need to learn how to live life again once more.
My Thoughts
When Friendship Followed Me Home is an incredibly poignant yet beautiful middle grade read that proves even in the darkest moments throughout our lives, someone is always willing to leave the light on. From the first instance readers are introduced to Ben, you can feel how remarkable this young man is. He's only twelve, but such an old soul who now feels a sense of family thanks to Tess, a kindhearted speech therapist who adopted Ben two years prior. Their relationship was breathtakingly beautiful, so when their cosy little family of two soon became three, I was so emotionally overwhelmed and placed my faith in that When Friendship Followed Me Home wouldn't destroy me.
But it did, and I loved each and every moment.
Ben is compassionate and sensitive young man who not only is the target of an aggressive school bully, but is hesitant to form friendships as he and Tess plan to move to Florida shortly. So Ben spends his free time nestled within bookshelves at the library with Mrs Lorentz to keep him company. It's there where he discovers Halley her daughter, a girl with a bright personality, warm and wonderfully written, who is determined to fight her diagnosis.
The newly named Flip was a pure delight. A small, neglected dog who desperately deserved a forever home. Flip is cared for, loved and soon becomes apparent that Ben has become his world while charming everyone within his orbit. With his intellect and wonderful nature, Ben begins training Flip as an assistance dog for a children's reading program, in which children read to the loving little dog without judgement and building their confidence.
Then Ben's world is torn apart.
My heart ached and found myself distraught on Ben's behalf. I was so deeply invested in his character, that on several occasions I could barely read through my tears. The one constant throughout the book is Flip, Ben and his friendship with Halley, who are writing a fantastical novella together to cherish all the people who are in their lives and inspired by her librarian mother and father, who is a magician and illusionist.
The Final Verdict
As charming and enchanting as When Friendship Followed Me Home is, it's also absolutely heartbreaking and one of the most poignant reads you'll ever have the pleasure of experiencing. It's utterly lovely, yet explores issues of abandonment, domestic violence, homelessness, illness, grief and socioeconomic diversity. It was utterly beautiful and has stayed with me long after the final page was turned.
For those asking about the fate of Flip
May contain spoilers for book one Akarnae, See my review here
Written by Lynette Noni
Fantasy, Magic
Published March 23rd 2016
Thank you to Pantera Press
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★★★★☆
Returning for a second year at Akarnae Academy with her gifted friends, Alexandra Jennings steps back through a doorway into Medora, the fantasy world that is full of impossibilities.
Despite the magical wonder of Medora, Alex’s life remains threatened by Aven Dalmarta, the banished prince from the Lost City of Meya who is out for her blood.
To protect the Medorans from Aven’s quest to reclaim his birthright, Alex and her friends seek out the Meyarin city and what remains of its ancient race.
Not sure who, or perhaps what, she is anymore, all Alex knows is that if she fails to keep Aven from reaching Meya, the lives of countless Medorans will be in danger. Can she protect them, or will all be lost?
Alex is now entering her second year as a student at Akarnae, a boarding school for gifted teens to nurtured and to fight against the darkness of their world. With her parents having returned from their expedition, they both agree that Akarnae is the best environment for Alex to continue learning about her new world and have agreed to join her to explore Medora, the magical plane here on Earth.
With the banished Mayarin prince Aven being able to access the hallowed grounds, Alex's training has intensified and is now facing her toughest challenge, taking the fight to Aven with the Mayarin's overseeing her progress. But nothing can prepare her for what's to come. A life will hang in the balance as one of her own will unknowingly betray her trust. Aven is desperate to gain access to the portal home that only Alex can open, Alex will need to fight against the banished prince with the weight of both worlds now resting on her shoulders.
Kelly's Thoughts
Raelia is a wonderful edition to The Medoran Chronicles, engaging and delightfully surprising. The storyline resumes shortly after Akarnae, after coming close to losing her freedom at the hands of Aven. Now Alex is back with a vengeance, her training has increased in order to protect the institute and the portal that Aven is so desperate to find.
After the revelations of the first book in the series, Alex's character growth was immense. She's always been resilient, but has taken her place at the Akarnae in her stride and is relishing in her new found role as a protector of the library and the institution itself. Old characters and friends return, while readers are introduced to new characters in the mystical kingdom of Meya. I enjoyed seeing characters such as the dashing Kaiden and roommate in D.C become part of the core character group, with much stronger storylines and interactions with Alex, Bear and Jordan.
One of the most appealing aspects of The Medoran Chronicles is the adventure. Comparable to the Harry Potter series, it appeals to young adult and mature middle grade readers as the storyline is morally uncomplicated and doesn't rely on a romance to develop characters or further the storyline. It's a breath of fresh air. I loved the attraction blooming between Kaiden and Alex and hoping the third book in the series explores a potential romance between the two.
Once again Lynette Noni's writing is a mixture of sass and humour. The series is perfect for non fantasy reader such as myself as it offers a lighter take on the genre, making it easy for young teens to engage with and relate to well written and it's depth of characters.
I love a well written villain and I need more Aven. Aven is mysterious, sinister and delicious. He's single minded in his determination to find the doorway back to Meya, where he is now the exiled prince. I needed him to ignite and his cunning surprised and delighted me, even as villainous as he's portrayed. Be warned, Raelia ends with a heart wrenching revelation. The fate of one character rests upon Alex and her strength to fight.
The Final Verdict
Raelia is an wonderful installment in The Medoran Chronicles. First time author Lynette Noni is a magnificent storyteller, crafting a beautifully written, engaging and enchanting new young adult series with a touch of Australian charm and warmth.
My only gripe is that all the characters seem to mumble. Speak clearly children.
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