Internationally bestselling superstar author Angie Thomas makes her middle grade debut with the launch of an inventive, hilarious, and suspenseful new contemporary fantasy trilogy inspired by African American history and folklore.
It’s not easy being a Remarkable in the Unremarkable world. Some things are cool—like getting a pet hellhound for your twelfth birthday. Others, not so much—like not being trusted to learn magic because you might use it to take revenge on an annoying neighbor.
All Nic Blake wants is to be a powerful Manifestor like her dad. But before she has a chance to convince him to teach her the gift, a series of shocking revelations and terrifying events launch Nic and two friends on a hunt for a powerful magic tool she’s never heard of...to save her father from imprisonment for a crime she refuses to believe he committed.
Review:
I love Angie Thomas’ YA books. I was so excited to learn she came out with a Middle-grade fantasy book. I practically hugged the book when I first saw it. That being said, I didn’t love this book as much as I was hoping to. Maybe my expectations were too high. It wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t great either. And I couldn’t help but keep making comparisons to another book that it was very, very similar to, and not as good as (The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton). It had the same mix of prejudice against a main character who has to prove herself in a world she doesn’t know much about…
I loved how fast-paced the plot was. The pacing reminded me a lot of Rick Riordan’s books. There was never really a good moment to put the book down. And that makes for a fun read. I also love a good story with a family mystery. Why did the father do what he did? I needed to know.
I ended up guessing much if not all of the plot twists. I’m not sure a kid reading would be able to do this. I have read a lot of fantasy books, so it takes a lot to surprise me. That being said, I was kind of hoping to be more surprised about the Msaidizi….But, oh well.
I also never really fully felt like I understood or grasped the world of the Remarkables/Unremarkables. There was a never much world-building. Granted, much of the plot involved being on the run in the unremarkable world. However, I wanted to learn/see more as it went. There were some really cool snapshots of things that just weren’t fully mapped out. Maybe they will be in later installments, but I just felt a little cheated at moments where I wanted more (like during scenes where houses were blowing up or wand trees being searched for).
All in all, there were some good things and some not so good things here. I can see kids really enjoying the pacing and probably being surprised by the plot twists. It was a fun read that didn’t fully live up to its expectations for me. I give it a 7/10.
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