Greenwild has all of my favorite things in a middle-grade
fantasy. And don't let the recommended age level keep you from reading this, as
adults should be able to follow along quite nicely.
This book has plant magic!
A smart and resourceful female protagonist! Dashing and heart-warming plot
twists I didn't see coming! The magic system in this eco-fantasy is so fascinating
to read, as the magic welders are called Botanists.
While the ecological theme
is very much present, the adventure is first and foremost and so wonderfully
woven together, like the twisting vines Daisy uses to try and escape the
villain.
Open the door to a spellbinding world where the wilderness is alive and a deep magic rises from the earth itself. Greenwild: The World Behind the Door is the first book in Pari Thomson's extraordinary fantasy series with an environmental twist.
'Greenwild is a thrilling adventure that takes seed in your imagination and runs wild!' - M. G. Leonard, author of Beetle Boy
Daisy Thistledown has escaped from boarding school and has a mystery to solve. Her search for her missing mother will lead her across London and through a hidden doorway to another world, filled with plants and bursting…
After
finding out one of the main characters is a giant Pacific octopus who solves a
cold case of a missing boy, I just had to read it. Marcellus is probably my
favorite character of the year.
It has a little bit of a Flowers for Algernon vibe with an intelligent animal knowing their days are numbered. Unlike Algernon, octopuses are just this intelligent and full of personality all on
their own. Yes, Marcellus has led me on a deep dive into the octopus
world—absolutely fascinating—and I highly recommend Sy Montgomery’s Secrets of the Octopus, which comes out next year.
If I had three hearts like an octopus, this
novel would have warmed and wrung every one of them.
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK
'Full of heart and humour . . . I loved it.' Ruth Hogan
'Will stay with you for a long time.' Anstey Harris
'I defy you to put it down once you've started' Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night cleaner shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium. Ever since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat over thirty years ago keeping busy has helped her cope. One night she meets Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium who…
My first impression of
this YA book was that it's a rural thriller. As I became more immersed in
Roxie Clark's world, I realized it was more about the complicated relationships
with siblings and how one copes with and internalizes grief.
With Roxie's After
Dark ghost tour, she memorializes the women in her family who have died due to
the "Clark's curse" by telling their stories so they aren't
forgotten. I love that. She does the research and finds out as much as she
can about her ancestors and makes them live past death with her
storytelling.
I could not figure out how everything would end
well, lol, and I really enjoy books where the ending both surprises me and
wraps up all the plot points satisfactorily.
A twisty YA thriller about a girl who revels in leading ghost tours, but discovers that even she can be spooked when a chilling murder hits closer to home.
An Indie Next pick!
Roxie Clark has seen more dead bodies than your average seventeen-year-old. As a member of the supposedly-cursed Clark family, most of her ancestors have met tragic ends, including her own mother. Instead of fearing the curse, however, Roxie has combined her flair for performance and her gruesome family history into a successful ghost tour. But her tour never covers the most recent body she's seen-her sister Skylar's…
If her brother could stop existing, could she too?
Sixteen-year-old Bea Pearl knows her brother isn’t dead. Even if her parents don’t agree. Even if the entire town doesn’t believe her. She knows it’s true. When orders came to evacuate Lake George due to rising floodwaters, Bea Pearl saw Jim head toward the river. She followed him. Only she returned.
When her parents have Jim declared legally dead, Bea Pearl decides it’s up to her to figure out where her brother could be if he is alive, and so begins to unravel the mystery of his disappearance. But it seems like someone else wants to know what he was hiding when his bedroom is ransacked. More clues come together: a scrap of paper, mysterious numbers that may lead to swamp monkeys, Jim’s shoes turning up in unexpected places. Bea Pearl can’t figure out what connects them all until she’s stolen from her bed in the dead of night. Bea Pearl’s insistence that Jim’s alive and her quest to figure out why he went down to a flooding river in the first place takes a toll on her shattering family. But she must unearth the truth surrounding her presumed dead brother. Otherwise, the rumors are true and she has killed him. Because if Jim can stop existing, could she too?
