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thatlibrarynerd 's review for:
The Shadow Moth
by Francesca Gibbons
This was published, marketed, and presumably written as a middle grade book.
It's not one.
The young characters have very little agency. They follow around after adult characters. It's one thing for an adult to be the villain, but the main villain, heroes, and side characters are all adults, with the children just along for the ride. It has a sort of fairytale quality in that way, which might work for some readers, but I found it dull. Their growth is also... bad. It's bad. Like does Imogen learn to value Miro? No, she just feels guilty for being rude to him. Guilt isn't a great basis for a friendship. Or maybe that's just me.
So rather than having a solid middle grade book, what you have here is an adult book written for ten-year-olds. It... does not work well.
It's not one.
The young characters have very little agency. They follow around after adult characters. It's one thing for an adult to be the villain, but the main villain, heroes, and side characters are all adults, with the children just along for the ride. It has a sort of fairytale quality in that way, which might work for some readers, but I found it dull. Their growth is also... bad. It's bad. Like does Imogen learn to value Miro? No, she just feels guilty for being rude to him. Guilt isn't a great basis for a friendship. Or maybe that's just me.
So rather than having a solid middle grade book, what you have here is an adult book written for ten-year-olds. It... does not work well.