Reviews

The Golden Frog Games by Claribel A. Ortega

honeycomblibrary's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

sobremesa18's review

5.0

The way I SOBBED for almost this whole ending. Again, this book does a phenomenal job at showcasing friendships through hardship. "Yes I'm still mad at you, that doesn't mean we aren't here for you." GAH. This trio has my entire heart tied around their fingers. I really love how Poppy and Seven's friendship comes back into the mix. These characters are allowed grace (as they should be) and it enriches the story so much. This series does a great job of creating character driven moments and plot progression. The plot dragged in the middle a little bit but I was guessing until the end for who was causing the magical ruckus this time. Excited to continue this series as it releases. 

qace90's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

lalicia_ann's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death and Fire/Fire injury

whewtaewoon's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Golden Frog Games is Claribel A. Ortega's follow-up to her middle-grade fantasy novel Witchlings. Book two follows Seven and her friends as they figure out what's next for them both as a coven and as individuals. The friends clash as they try to figure out who is targeting Thorn during this year's Golden Frog games. But each of them is hiding a secret from the other two. Will the Spares survive the Games? Will their friendship? 

Some Stuff capital S is going down in The Golden Frog Games, but despite all the drama and danger, Ortega manages to keep the core of the story warm and loving. At the end of the day, when everything settles, there is still love and support. Seven, Valley, and Thorn are the recipients of so much love and support as much as they're the targets of scorn. I really think this is a fun story about a young girl finding herself and remembering that her strength lies in being able to count on the people who love her. 

wingspan's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

tamtasticbooks's review

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

hellojamiek's review

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

lostcupofstars's review against another edition

3.5

I thought this was a decent sequel, it took a lil while to get into the story and it would have benefitted from more editing. There are a lot of similarities to Goblet of Fire and as someone who has ditched the HP series I would have loved it to be less similar, but I love these characters and I enjoyed being back in this world.

Everything happens in the last 30 pages (of course) and bc there was so little development for the characters outside of the main three, the reveals didn’t pack as much punch as they should have.
The ending leaves so many questions and I’m a little salty about a kids book having a cliffhanger ending. I feel like in a series there should be clues left to link in to the next book, but each book should be wrapped up especially if the target audience is children. 

That being said, I look forward to those questions (hopefully) being answered in the next book 😊

pooskl's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5