A review by moonyreadsbystarlight
Girl Haven by Lilah Sturges

adventurous
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

Parts of this I really liked, other parts I had mixed feelings about. It had a neat adventure in a portal fantasy and I like how it approached the MC's gender and gender journey. I also liked some of the side characters.

However, I wasn't too sure about parts of the story including the resolution.
it's not super surprising that a middle grade would choose to go in the direction of loving someone instead of fighting. Could have been more nuance to that end of things or explanation, but it is a short volume. While I get where it was going with the boys in this, I don't think parts were clear enough, so I get why some people may be confused about parts of the messaging. It tried to spin it as the boys weren't all bad, but it wasn't super clear on that and we didnt get a strong resolution around it.
I am also curious to see how Black readers responded to this. I found it weird that the only Black character in the book was characterized as angry/grumpy, while the others in the friend group had very friendly dispositions. 

I really wanted to like it more. Parts of it were really endearing, but it had its issues and was a bit rushed. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings