By Ella

Check out our new young adult review (on our For Older Readers page) on Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko, a stunning, exquisitely written novel which is one of our all-time favorites! 

​By Ella

Zoe Washington is sure her twelfth birthday will be her favorite so far. After all, she's gotten a party at a local bakery, and since Zoe loves baking--she dreams of being a contestant on Kids Bake Challenge!--it's just about the best thing she could have hoped for. But then she gets a letter from her birth dad, Marcus, in the mail. 

Marcus has been in prison for years. Zoe has never heard from him before, let alone met him. But he sounds nice. Caring. And he says he didn't even commit the crime he's in prison for. 

Zoe doesn't think such a thing is possible, and she doesn't have anyone she can really ask, not when her mom would be furious if she knew she was writing to Marcus. So she tries to focus instead on a bakery internship, avoiding her ex-best friend...and hiding her letters to Marcus from her mom. Because she can't stop writing to him, not when she might be able to figure out if Marcus is really innocent. 

And if he is--can she help clear his name? 

From the Desk of Zoe Washington is a thoughtful and realistic story. The plotline of incarceration feels nuanced and developed, not shying away from it but also never leaving solid middle-grade territory or feeling preachy. Zoe is much more than the protagonists in some middle-grade novels, created solely to illustrate a theme or issue; she has her own preferences, interests, and personality, and feels as though she has a whole life outside of the pages of this book, which I really appreciated. I recommend From the Desk of Zoe Washington to readers ages ten and up looking for an realistic, well-written, and compelling story. 

By Ella

The Last Fallen Moon is the sequel to The Last Fallen Star by Graci Kim, and the second book in the Gifted Clans trilogy. 

[Look out--there are spoilers for book 1!]

Riley Oh just saved the world--it seems like she should have a chance to celebrate. But since in the process nearly everyone she knows lost their memories of her and the Gom clan no longer has their healing gift...well, let's just say that not everyone is thrilled about what Riley has done. 

Determined to fix at least one of her mistakes, Riley enters the Spiritrealm, or the world of the dead, to recruit a new patron for the Gom clan and restore their healing powers. Only the Spiritrealm is in the midst of its own problems, and with the help of a mysterious, white-haired boy named Dahl, Riley has to figure out what's really going on and stop a particularly nefarious plot before the Spiritrealm and Mortalrealm are endangered. 

I loved The Last Fallen Star, so I was thrilled to read the sequel. I loved it! With the same hilarious characters, fast pace, and intricate plot as book one, The Last Fallen Moon lived up to my expectations and introduced me to a whole new side to Riley's world that was constantly funny, interesting, and unique. I particularly liked getting to know both old and new characters better during this story, especially Hattie and Dahl. I highly recommend The Last Fallen Moon to readers ages nine and up looking for a strong, exciting series full of mythology and magic. 

By Ella

For Julie, fairy tales have never been anything but real--as real as the twisting mess of vines known as the Wild that she hides under her bed. Her mom Rapunzel and a bunch of other fairy-tale heroes and villains escaped from the Wild centuries ago, back when it was grown to its full size, and ever since it's been confined to odd corners of Julie and Rapunzel's house. Sure, it's a nuisance--Julie would rather get out of bed in the morning without discovering the Wild had transformed her shoes or backpack while she was asleep--but as long as it stays there, whatever Rapunzel and all the other fairy-tale characters seem to be worried about can't happen. 

That is, until a wish releases the Wild again. It swallows Julie's Massachusetts hometown in a mass of dangerous, magical trees--and steals her mom and grandmother into its depths. And Julie plunges into the Wild to save them. 

But the Wild is a darker and more dangerous place than Julie ever could have imagined, where familiar people are caught in endless tales and nothing stays in its apparent shape for long. Julie must navigate stories that try to ensnare her, outwit witches, griffins, and giants, and uncover the truth about her mother's past to save her family and her home--and maybe find her own happily ever after. The Wild is determined to stop her, though, trying to force Julie into different stories and break her resolve, and she has to ask herself: what if the price of success is the one thing she's always wanted more than anything? 

I've loved some of Sarah Beth Durst's other books (including The Stone Girl's Story and Spark), and so when I came across Into the Wild, I was hoping it would be just as good. It was. Durst weaves together fairy tales and the modern day into a fully believable story brimming with determination, love, and imagination. All the characters are interesting and well-executed, particularly the fairy-tale characters. I highly recommend Into the Wild to readers ages nine and up. 

Hello all! 

We wanted to let you know that we've now joined Instagram, where we'll be posting about our latest reviews and some sneak peaks to books we're currently enjoying. Please follow us @RapunzelReadsBooks, and thanks for checking out our blog! 

- Lina and Ella
​

PS. If you're on Twitter, you can also follow us there @RapunzelReads! 

By Lina

Natasha Koskinen is going to survive. It doesn't matter that another Flood is coming, the ten mystical storms that precipitate its arrival like the tick of a clock. She's done it before--the orphaned daughter of a disgraced flyer who died too young made her way into the Royal Flyers, the elite aerial acrobat troupe considered the crowning pride of the city, then worked her way to becoming principle flyer. She has fought tooth and nail for a place in a city where she once had no one left. So when she learns that the flyers have lost their once-guaranteed place on the ships the crown is building to survive the Flood, she's aghast--but knows immediately that she'll do whatever it takes to get her and her flyers on one of those ships. Even if the only way is courting the enigmatic Prince Nikolai is himself. 

Ella Neves is going to die. (No, don't worry--she doesn't mind.) She doesn't know exactly how--a palace guard's sword? rotting in the royal dungeon?--but she knows that once she makes it into the Flyers' troupe, she'll gain close proximity to the crown prince, make a plan, and then Nikolai is going to pay, blood for blood, for the life of the girl that once meant the world to her. No matter the cost. Anyway, there'll be no one left to mourn her.

Ella's target is Natasha's only shot at survival. But as the Flood gets closer, so do the two flyers. And as the waters rise and their city begins to fracture with political conflicts and popular resistance, Ella realizes that maybe there's more to life than revenge. And Natasha begins to understand that being dead set on survival might be preventing her from ever really living at all. 

Evocative, atmospheric, and thoughtful, Girls at the Edge of the World has quickly become one of my all-time favorite fantasy novels. Bright, multifaceted characters, luminous worldbuilding, and a deft philosophical undercurrent make it a standout--at once a story of struggling, shining girls in a darkening world, a defiant queer romance, and an ode to living life to the fullest and the things that make it worth living at all. It's a fast read, the writing light but deft, and while there are familiar elements to the storyline, the plot and characters feel fresh and original, dodging clichés with unexpected twists and a distinctly witty, thoughtful narrative. It's also a piercing, contemplative look at heteropatriarchy, religion, colonialism, and how economic and class divides are displayed and exacerbated by climate change--all without being remotely preachy or contrived. I especially loved the flyers themselves, a blend of art and athletics, stardom and symbolism constantly training to bring the city together and earn their own survival; there's believable competitiveness and drive within the troupe, but also fierce loyalty and palpable caring between its members. I would highly recommend Girls at the Edge of the World to readers ages twelve and up; it's an excellent pick for book clubs as well. 

​By Ella

Breaking Badlands is the third and final book in the Talespinners series by Scott Reintgen, preceded by Saving Fable (book one) and Escaping Ordinary (book two). 

[Look out--there are spoilers for the first two books!]

Indira Story has now saved the land of Imagination twice, and she's ready for a vacation. But that's before she gets swept up in a mysterious group known as the Antiheroes, who ask her to go on a dangerous mission to infiltrate Antagonist Academy before the leader of the villain school can execute a plan which would be disastrous not only for Good and Evil in all stories, but the very land of Imagination. Although Indira is at first certain this new mission will be a piece of cake, not all is as it seems. She's defended Imagination from all sorts of nefarious dangers--but can she protect it from herself? 

So often with humorous, brilliant books--particularly when the jokes made are specialized--I find the sequels something of a letdown. I begin them hoping they will be everything their predecessors were, and they never quite are. But just like the second Talespinners book, Escaping Ordinary, Breaking Badlands does something truly remarkable: in my opinion, it not only meets the strengths of book one, it's even better. Breaking Badlands delivers everything which was great about the first two books and makes it all even better, perhaps in part because the cast is all familiar, making it a new and wonderfully clever adventure inhabited by characters who are already old friends. It expertly wraps up the subplots and characters from the previous books, all while shining with new twists, settings, and humor. As a fan of well-drawn villains, the setting of Antagonist Academy was particularly enjoyable to me. I highly recommend the entire Talespinners series to anyone who loves stories and the characters who inhabit them ages nine and up.