A review by clumsyqueenie
Kiki Kallira Breaks a Kingdom by Sangu Mandanna

5.0

“Little girls are always more powerful than people think we are. People think we’re sweet, precious things, all sugar and spice and everything nice, but we’ve got iron and steel in us, too.”

Rating: 5/5
★★★★★

Where do I even start? I think saying that this is my all-time favourite middle grade fantasy is not fair since (a) I haven’t read everything out there and (b) It would be a huge disservice to all my other favourites. But of course, I don’t care and I’m just gonna consider this my favourite anyway.

Kiki Kallira Breaks a Kingdom is a novel I definitely would have fallen in love with, as a kid. Which is clear ’cause I’m no longer one and yet I’m here gushing about this. One of the main reasons I love this book as much as I do is because of the South Indian representation. As a brown girl, finding books revolving around people like me has been hard, but thanks to recent times we see more diverse authors coming up with books of their own. While there definitely are the Aru Shah and Kiranmala series, they are mostly derived from North Indian myths. And to find something that’s close to my home was truly special.

The books starts off with Kiki’s brain conjuring up all sorts of scary scenarios where her mom dies because she wasn’t sure if she locked the front door. Fun, huh? Unfortunately, that is what it’s like, living with anxiety. The way the book explores Kiki’s neurodivergent nature was so cleverly woven into the story and very intriguing to read.

The humour was so on point! I really loved the banter in this book and Kiki’s inner voice just adds to it. The banter also gets so much better in the sequel, Kiki Kallira Conquers a Curse, which is releasing this month. The friendship and found family vibes that this gave out were just as wonderful! The relationship between Kiki, Ashwini, Jojo, Lej, Pip, Suki and Samara were so well-written I was so into their lives more than my very busy and boring life.

Ultimately, this was such a wild ride, in a good way! I also liked the way that this book was self contained and doesn’t necessarily need a sequel. Kiki Kallira Breaks a Kingdom is as easily a standalone as it’s the first in an installment. And truth to be told, I think I enjoyed having this fun break from heart-wrenching cliffhangers.

So if you’re looking for a light read that is also deep, don’t forget to check this book out as it is underrated as heck!

Check out the full review along with Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor on my blog! (read here)