Flying horses with a craving for sweets!? Can it get any better than that? Complete with kid warriors, Greek gods, dragons, dungeons, and telepathy, this story promises to keep the reader entertained. If you love mythology and folk lore, you might just love this too. From the first page to the last, this book was easy to enjoy.
Our guide is 12-year-old Faryn. She and her brother, Alex, live with their grandfather. He has taught them many things including respecting and praying to the gods, being honorable, taking care of family, and learning to fight in the old way. Through a series of circumstances, Faryn and Alex become the warriors they often dreamed of–only to find things aren’t always what they seem at first glance and complications soon arise.
The human characters are pretty true to life. Although there are a few mean kids, they all learn some valuable life lessons along the way. There is a bit of magic and fantasy violence. Sometimes they’re fighting on behalf of the gods, and sometimes the gods are fighting them. Through it all, the descriptions and action are kid-friendly. The majority of the book is happy in spite of the difficulties they face, but as the book draws to a close, things take a sudden turn for the worse. The ending was definitely a set-up for a second book that hopefully will answer a few questions and seems worth looking forward to.
Review of an Advance Reading Copy
This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: None
Violence/Gore: The father of 2 preteens disappears several years earlier; a 12-year-old girl battles a demon, some blood, killing it, the head of the beast rolls toward 4 young kids; the mother of 2 preteens dies in childbirth several years before; a 12-year-old girl battles a demon; evil men gather around a family with intent to do harm & scare; an old man dies of sickness and old age; several men fight; several battles with demons that include young teens and preteens, some blood, never gory but descriptive of the battles; several times older preteens & teens are taken hostage and thrown in dungeons, some wounds and bruising, some are skinnier from their time in prison; a preteen boy kicks another boy his age because he was mean to his sister; several demons shot or stabbed and disappear; a preteen girl is killed in the midst of a battle when something large falls on her, not descriptive.
Sex/Nudity: A slight moment of shyness passes between a preteen girl and boy, then they hold hands.
Mature Subject Matter:
A father disappears, a mother dies in child birth, economic class disputes, mean neighbors, death of a grandfather, bullies, name calling, racism, non-binary (transgender, 1 mention), dungeons, kidnapping, adoption kept secret, Chinese gods.
Alcohol / Drug Use:
None
