What a fun little adventure of a tale! First off I was blown away that right at the start we follow a split family, I think most middle grade books have enough representation so to see a family in this book that has a divorced mom and dad with dual household changes was refreshing and nice. It was also nice to see those same parents have an adult approach to being separated and recognizing that their marriage did not work but in a mature manner.

Next was the cast, I felt like each main character had their own distinct personality and while yes many of them sometimes just fit the generic roles of "mean kid" or "ditzy airhead" they still felt like real people and not like a cardboard cut out. I feel like the dialogue and internal thoughts from Lana really helped with that, so the author did an amazing job at keeping the reader engaged.

I also think that the plot had a nice pacing to it and even though the ending wrapped up 99% of the issues and it all fell into line you are left guessing if everything is going to be on a high note. Keeping that attention even until the final pages in addition to the nice flow of events was done very well.

The only thing that was keeping this from being a 5 star read is that Lana read under her age. She's 14 years old but it seems more like she acts like a 12-13 year kid, seeing as 14 you are almost about to go into high school and just a year away from being able to start driving she still very much has her juvenile dialogue which didn't seem to quite fit (to me personally, others might argue that her character felt more true to age).

Ending notes: this was a great little book that honestly was fast paced but really entertaining and an amazing palate cleanser while still focusing on good life lessons with positive diversity and representation of different households.

4.25 stars

I feel like if you are someone who is wanting your fantasy to be fast paced and action packed then this might not be the book for you. This can you tell was lots of setup of what is to come in the remaining books of this series, so it felt like more of these pockets of short stories between select groups up until the end where we see some of them merge and intertwine.

I think the world building isn't too complex for someone getting into fantasy, things were pretty much developed and the little mystery tidbits that are left unanswered doesn't feel like something incomprehensible but more just added background lore and mystery. I will say that if you struggle with a large cast of characters then you might get a little lost since we follow about 5 sets of people/groups who also have their own added side characters. The character work here that Joe does is pretty amazing, you see these characters grow and develop. You see some characters stay the same and buckle down even harder on their beliefs. None of the characters being the way they are feels accidental or misplaced, you root for people that you are meant to, you find some charming in moments, and all of this to make complex and real personalities.

I did very much enjoy this book but I do feel like because it felt more like an anthology of shorts I didn't have a strong desire to keep pushing through and read it all in one setting. Not that this wasn't a fun and interesting story, but me personally lost a little of that "gripping" and "wow" factor to some of the other fantasy books out there. Even though there were some lulls and some build up I never once felt this books page count. It didn't feel like a slog or a huge commitment that I couldn't deal with, but that might also be because I took more of my time with this and didn't try to rush through which I feel like this book does best in that style of reading (personally speaking). Can't wait to see how more of this world unfurls and what ends up happening to these characters.