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What Members Thought

Oct 03, 2011
Wendy
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2011-award-possibilities
I was ready to be all "This is like The Dark is Rising but with West African setting and mythology instead of British!" Skimming the comments below, I see that Harry Potter is apparently the proper comparison. Have I lost all credibility because I haven't read Harry Potter?
This is a long book. It isn't so much super-long as that it has a lot of stuff going on. I thought to myself halfway through "It is OKAY that this is so long, because maybe she decided it would be better as one long book than ...more
This is a long book. It isn't so much super-long as that it has a lot of stuff going on. I thought to myself halfway through "It is OKAY that this is so long, because maybe she decided it would be better as one long book than ...more

May 07, 2011
Kris Springer
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2012-newbery-reads
Wow. Setting is probably the strongest element--the imagination in this story is tremendous. 4 young people will fight a terrible criminal with juju and find themselves. Sunny is the protagonist--she is albino and lived most of her life in the US until her parents brought her and her brothers back to Nigeria. Believable characters, believable magic too--humor, emotion...just a great story. Can't wait for the next one.
...more

It's refreshing to read middle grade fantasy where the premise doesn't sound familiar or forced. Not that there's anything wrong with taking a familiar idea and putting a new spin on it - and I know that kids eat up those kinds of familiar stories, which feel approachable and comforting rather than repetitive. There are some enough familiar elements to make the story approachable, though - a girl who discovers that she has a magical heritage is thrown into a series of adventures with new friends
...more

The climax comes a little too swiftly but the rich setting and characters are so engaging, and the diverse sense of magic is very refershing.

Jan 16, 2011
Kathy
marked it as abandoned-2011
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
tbl-mock-newbery-2012

Dec 12, 2011
Jenna
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
young-adult,
fantasy


Jan 03, 2019
Adriel
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
did-not-finish,
ya-diverse

