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adventurous
dark
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
4.5
This is a book that left me immediately wanting to talk about it with others! Good thing I was reading it for a Middle Grade bookclub.
It was my first time reading Royce’s work and I am now very motivated to seek out more.
The author achieved so much in this spooky story:
- a sensitive, complex sibling relationship
- rich introduction to Gullah Geechee culture, and the history and practice of root magic
- downright creepy (venturing into scary) stuff, very vividly written
- strong sense of place: the marsh comes all the way to life due to the sensory style of the writing, you can see it, hear it, smell it
- a memorable, loving family at the centre of it all
Howevers:
- really the only aspect of this that didn’t work for me was the slow start, for the first quarter I felt like there wasn’t enough tension
- while I actually ended up finding the VERY scary climactic moment to be memorable and so well done, it was graphic and some kids might be quite frightened (nightmare territory for some I’ll bet)
I will definitely keep reading more Middle Grade titles by Royce. This was rich and layered and finely imagined.
It was my first time reading Royce’s work and I am now very motivated to seek out more.
The author achieved so much in this spooky story:
- a sensitive, complex sibling relationship
- rich introduction to Gullah Geechee culture, and the history and practice of root magic
- downright creepy (venturing into scary) stuff, very vividly written
- strong sense of place: the marsh comes all the way to life due to the sensory style of the writing, you can see it, hear it, smell it
- a memorable, loving family at the centre of it all
Howevers:
- really the only aspect of this that didn’t work for me was the slow start, for the first quarter I felt like there wasn’t enough tension
- while I actually ended up finding the VERY scary climactic moment to be memorable and so well done, it was graphic and some kids might be quite frightened (nightmare territory for some I’ll bet)
I will definitely keep reading more Middle Grade titles by Royce. This was rich and layered and finely imagined.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality and Racism
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Gore, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Slavery
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