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ladyfrecklles's review
4.5
❣️ big huge thank you to netgalley and penguin random house children’s/labyrinth road for allowing me to read an electronic advanced readers copy of this in exchange for an honest review ❣️
╔══ ❀•°𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘°•❀ ══╗
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
╔══ ❀•°𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕕 𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕜°•❀ ══╗
🎩 my way by frank sinatra - “for what is a man, what has he got. if not himself, then he has naught.”
💫 golden slumbers by the beatles - “once, there was a way to get back homeward. once, there was a way to get back home.”
🙌 gilded lily by cults - “haven’t i given enough, given enough?”
╔══ ❀•°𝕗𝕒𝕧𝕠𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕖 𝕢𝕦𝕠𝕥𝕖s°•❀ ══╗
💘 “ when we love someone, we give them permission to hurt us. ”
💧 “ sad doesn’t feel useful in the way that anger does. ”
⚔️ “ there is no valor in suffering. it helps no one. taking care of yourself does. ”
╔══ ❀•°𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨°•❀ ══╗
⭕ o v e r a l l - i liked this book a lot. i have so much love for this entire series and all the characters so it makes sense that this book would be another absolute knockout. i really appreciated getting to see other areas of the kingdom in this book — sometimes i feel like i forget that this takes place in a kingdom and not just helston as a city.
this book, like all books in the sir callie series does not shy away from the more ~mature~ topics of violence, prejudice, and grief. however, it is still clearly written for children in the middle grade genre vein. all these topics are talked about with grace while also being agonizingly real and true. characters in this book go through terrible things not because of plot development or needing to have strong character development. no. characters go through terrible things in this book because children go through terrible things in real life everyday. this is a fantasy story involving dragons and witches but it’s so hard to not remember every 5 pages that this is really just a big metaphor for the things d i f f e r e n t children go through whether that be because they’re neurodivergent, queer, or just seen as wrong in real life. i think it was done amazingly.
💨 p a c i n g - i’m not crazed about how the first 30% felt both agonizingly slow and also unnecessarily jam packed with info loading of current situations where book two left off. i’ll be honest, i read the first 30% and then put it down for about a week and a half before i could go back to it. i came off a high from book two and i knew that if i sped through book three it would be sour in my mouth just in comparison. this book is amazing and i’m glad i gave it that space. these are two different books. both wonderful in their own regard.
🫂 c h a r a c t e r s - i did not really vibe with the multi-pov for this story at the first couple of switches but once we got into the deep sh*t that each character had found themselves in, it was so worthwhile to see every little piece of the puzzle come together all across wyndebrel. every chapter seemed to be a punch in the gut the further and further we got into this book and definitely had me feeling for all the characters (not just the main ones!).
the character’s felt a lot more fleshed out in this one. i love how each character this book focuses on has something that completely radically challenges their beliefs for better or worse. for callie it’s the violence and death in their wake, for elowyn it’s the fact that she has a sensitive heart that people will see as a weakness, and for edwyn it’s the fact that he realizes he can stand up to those that abused him before.
⚖️ m o r a l i t y - i really appreciated how ~gray~ everything was. obviously i think callie stands for a lot of the right things and that the adults are wrong and are terrible but to a certain extent, i feel like this book puts a little more perspective on things. this is by no way translated as a DEFENSE against those who were wrong, just makes you realize that at the end of the day there are no enemies, just humans (and dragons!) making terrible choices (on both sides!).
❤️🩹 c o n c l u s i o n - if book two ended with devastation and death and grief and desperation… book three ends with hope. and that’s enough.
╔══ ❀•°𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘°•❀ ══╗
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
╔══ ❀•°𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕕 𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕜°•❀ ══╗
🎩 my way by frank sinatra - “for what is a man, what has he got. if not himself, then he has naught.”
💫 golden slumbers by the beatles - “once, there was a way to get back homeward. once, there was a way to get back home.”
🙌 gilded lily by cults - “haven’t i given enough, given enough?”
╔══ ❀•°𝕗𝕒𝕧𝕠𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕖 𝕢𝕦𝕠𝕥𝕖s°•❀ ══╗
💘 “ when we love someone, we give them permission to hurt us. ”
💧 “ sad doesn’t feel useful in the way that anger does. ”
⚔️ “ there is no valor in suffering. it helps no one. taking care of yourself does. ”
╔══ ❀•°𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨°•❀ ══╗
⭕ o v e r a l l - i liked this book a lot. i have so much love for this entire series and all the characters so it makes sense that this book would be another absolute knockout. i really appreciated getting to see other areas of the kingdom in this book — sometimes i feel like i forget that this takes place in a kingdom and not just helston as a city.
this book, like all books in the sir callie series does not shy away from the more ~mature~ topics of violence, prejudice, and grief. however, it is still clearly written for children in the middle grade genre vein. all these topics are talked about with grace while also being agonizingly real and true. characters in this book go through terrible things not because of plot development or needing to have strong character development. no. characters go through terrible things in this book because children go through terrible things in real life everyday. this is a fantasy story involving dragons and witches but it’s so hard to not remember every 5 pages that this is really just a big metaphor for the things d i f f e r e n t children go through whether that be because they’re neurodivergent, queer, or just seen as wrong in real life. i think it was done amazingly.
💨 p a c i n g - i’m not crazed about how the first 30% felt both agonizingly slow and also unnecessarily jam packed with info loading of current situations where book two left off. i’ll be honest, i read the first 30% and then put it down for about a week and a half before i could go back to it. i came off a high from book two and i knew that if i sped through book three it would be sour in my mouth just in comparison. this book is amazing and i’m glad i gave it that space. these are two different books. both wonderful in their own regard.
🫂 c h a r a c t e r s - i did not really vibe with the multi-pov for this story at the first couple of switches but once we got into the deep sh*t that each character had found themselves in, it was so worthwhile to see every little piece of the puzzle come together all across wyndebrel. every chapter seemed to be a punch in the gut the further and further we got into this book and definitely had me feeling for all the characters (not just the main ones!).
the character’s felt a lot more fleshed out in this one. i love how each character this book focuses on has something that completely radically challenges their beliefs for better or worse. for callie it’s the violence and death in their wake, for elowyn it’s the fact that she has a sensitive heart that people will see as a weakness, and for edwyn it’s the fact that he realizes he can stand up to those that abused him before.
⚖️ m o r a l i t y - i really appreciated how ~gray~ everything was. obviously i think callie stands for a lot of the right things and that the adults are wrong and are terrible but to a certain extent, i feel like this book puts a little more perspective on things. this is by no way translated as a DEFENSE against those who were wrong, just makes you realize that at the end of the day there are no enemies, just humans (and dragons!) making terrible choices (on both sides!).
❤️🩹 c o n c l u s i o n - if book two ended with devastation and death and grief and desperation… book three ends with hope. and that’s enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Homophobia, Trafficking, Death, and Transphobia
ashley30sawatzky's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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? No
5.0
Absolutely incredible! Review to come!
beyondthebookcase95's review
5.0
ARC received bc of job. All thoughts are my own.
I love this series (I think it might be a new favorite of mine for a children’s series and I recommend it to everyone) and I think this is the strongest installment yet. It is tense and action packed and it talks about heavy topics with ease. I eagerly await each installment and I love the characters. In this the one Callie, Willow, Edwyn, and Elodyn really begin to come into their own and forge their paths while learning more about themselves. I was sat on the edge of my seat in enjoyment with the action and adventure waiting for it to continue. I didn’t even realize I finished the book until I hit the acknowledgements. I wish there was more and I eagerly await it.
I love this series (I think it might be a new favorite of mine for a children’s series and I recommend it to everyone) and I think this is the strongest installment yet. It is tense and action packed and it talks about heavy topics with ease. I eagerly await each installment and I love the characters. In this the one Callie, Willow, Edwyn, and Elodyn really begin to come into their own and forge their paths while learning more about themselves. I was sat on the edge of my seat in enjoyment with the action and adventure waiting for it to continue. I didn’t even realize I finished the book until I hit the acknowledgements. I wish there was more and I eagerly await it.
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