Every book really does get better and better with this series, and with how good it started off, that's really saying something. The charm and whimsy and humor and found family are all there tenfold, so heartfelt and adorable that it feels like a literal sucker punch when you get to the sad, creepy, tense, or downright scary scenes. The world-building and scene setting are fantastic. I cannot wait to see how this series evolves as Morrigan grows up and grows into her talents. Part of me is hoping for an almost redemption arc for Ezra, despite how much I normally hate those. I would be absolutely thrilled if it came out that he's still a surly, selfish, uppity prick but who once tried to take over the world (and might still harbor those ambitions) but who develops a soft spot for Morrigan. That trope is my absolute weakness, and if we're heading there, it will absolutely cement this series as one of the greats for me, children's series or not. It's definitely already high up in my rankings list, and one I would recommend to absolutely anyone at this point just looking for a really fun time.

Even better than the first, and that's saying something! Everything felt a touch darker, the stakes higher, and so I was more invested than ever rather than just coasting on the whimsy vibes of exploring a new world as in the first book. This one had all the character growth and let the side characters really shine. I adore Hawthorne. Hell, I adore this series. This is peak. The ending actually had me in tears and grinning like an idiot.

I needed something to break me out of my rut with lackluster, disappointing reads recently and thank the Lord this one delivered. It came supremely highly recommended, so I wasn't expecting much less, but I tend to be the unintended wet blanket of readers sometimes so ya never know.

This was delightful. I might honestly enjoy this more than the first few Harry Potter books, which unfortunately must be drawn in comparison as titans of the middle grade fantasy genre. This was so tender in areas, and yet had me downright snorting at other passages. The characters are so fleshed out and unique. I adore the set up for this, and can't wait to read more.

Someone said, "I finished 50% of this book knowing the exact clothing description of seventeen side characters but not understanding the basic structure of society" and that's literally this book in a nutshell.

The minutiae was focused on in such vivid, almost painful detail, while everything of substance that should have been important to this book was either glossed over with minimal attempts at explanation or ignored entirely. A city half submerged due to climate change, where the people have to get around by gondolas and boats because the roads are gone, but there's an intact train/subway system? And a chase scene on foot through one such alley train station? Are we underwater or not??? The political structure makes absolutely no sense, nor does the school. What exactly are these kids coming here to learn? What are the parameters guiding whether they graduate or not? What jobs can they then go on to have with whatever nonexistent education they received? What even are Storm Breakers???

The characters really weren't any better. I know nothing about any of them except their hair color and some of their outfits, as that previous reviewer so aptly put. They all had one-note personalities and their drama just had me rolling my eyes at the predictability of it all. The physical descriptions of the MMC had me not just rolling my eyes, though, they had me downright guffawing--the way this dude was described by the ever-horny FMC, was he a 19 year old kid or a 30 year old war veteran?? Muscles and calluses and tapering waists to huge burly arms, I ain't never met no 19 year old that looked like that. Get that Steve Buscemi weirdo outta here.

I honestly am surprised I got through this one. It just gives insanely mid, try-hard vibes. Everything here's been seen a million times. Now, does that make it inherently terrible? No. And that's why my rating is a little higher than perhaps it should be. I'm reserving judgment because--believe me when I tell you this--absolutely no questions were answered and no resolution was reached by the end of this book. The entire world-building and plot are open-ended here. So there's a small possibility that the author has some insane reveals planned for the sequel that will shed a different light on the things that happened in this book, but I'm not holding my breath.

I’ve owned this book an embarrassingly long time without actually having read it, but these were favorites of mine when I was a kid. Now that I’m older a few of them still hit, a few still got a chuckle, and I’ll definitely be teaching the kiddos of my family to love reading through them.

This was adorable and charming and definitely one of the better cozy fantasies I've read. Others within this micro-genre seem to stray a little bit towards the boring end of the spectrum, as they neglect any sort of plot or action in the name of the coziness. This book suffered none of that nonsense. There's movement to the story, characters do develop, and relationships are forged. They might forge a touch too quick for my tastes, which is a large part of the reason for my rating in addition to the immaturity of the FMC in some ways, but I still greatly enjoyed this read.

Fans of cozy fantasies or even just cozies in general will be absolutely feral for this one, and they should! It's such a cute, cozy perfect little summer read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bramble for this free eARC in exchange for my honest review!

It’s definitely not the worst book I’ve ever read, but I don’t think I really enjoyed it either. It definitely leaned into the YA aspect of its writing, and while there’s nothing wrong with that whatsoever, it meant for a very unsurprising and even at times boring reading experience for me. I was able to predict every single plot point with brutal accuracy and I’m far from some literary genius, if it’s obvious enough to occur to me, we got a problem. The main characters frustrated me to no end. You’re telling me Fox—and let’s not even get into how stupid these names sound, even in the context of their world—is supposed to be, what? 17? 20 at most? With a big ol’ man chest of golden skin, enough sexual experience to have all the ladies falling over themselves, and hands coarsened by “years of labor”? My friend, is he a teen or a 30 year old? But I digress. This is likely me simply being frustrated with the YA genre here as a whole. Like I said, there’s nothing truly wrong in the writing of this story, and the right person at the right time will probably eat this up.