Imago Nine – The Popstar Apocalypse by A.D. Shaddox

June 3, 2026 By 2 Comments


Imago Nine – The Popstar Apocalypse by A.D. Shaddox
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Young Adult (14 – 18 y.o.), Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Amaya Reed never asked to become an Active.

One day, she’s a normal high school junior. The next, she’s cycling through eight unpredictable powers—mind-reading, gravity control, phasing, speed—each one replacing the last, each one harder to control than the one before.

There’s just one problem: once she uses a power, she can’t use it again until she’s burned through all eight.

When a disastrous rescue attempt goes viral, Amaya is branded a danger instead of a hero. But before she can even figure out how to live with her abilities, the mysterious Agency comes calling with an offer she can’t ignore:

Go undercover on the biggest show in America—The Next American Popstar—and stop a killer who plans to strike during the live finale.

Now, Amaya has to survive high school, master a volatile cycle of powers, and compete on a national stage where one mistake could cost her everything.

Because this time, failure won’t just go viral.

It’ll be deadly.

Being a teenager is complicated enough even before magical abilities start developing.

The descriptions of Amaya’s eight powers and how she learned to use them were detailed and memorable. I liked the fact that each ability was not only associated with a color but also had a special name. Once the characters explained them all, it was easy for me as a reader to know what to expect next based on what she’d done recently and which power was next on her rotating list. I should note that it did take a little while for this to be fully explored, but I didn’t mind the wait and thought it felt very natural to learn the last few bits of information when I did. Sometimes life does get in the way of lengthy conversations about important matters, after all!

It would have been helpful to have stronger character development, especially for Amaya. As much as I enjoyed learning about the incredible things she could do, I found myself wishing that I knew more about her personality and the interests she had that were unrelated to her role as an Active. Her relationship with her younger brother, for example, could have been explored more deeply in order to round out her character and give the audience a glimpse of what she was like when she was doing typical teenage things.

Many of the young adult books I read tend to shy away from including social media or reality television in their storylines, so I found it refreshing to see how the characters used and were affected by both the Internet and this style of programming. There are some key differences between teens who grew up in previous generations where these things either didn’t exist at all or were much more niche and people in that age group today who know that anything they say or do could be immediately shared and dissected online.

I was intrigued by Imago Nine – The Popstar Apocalypse.

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Montana El Diablo – The Infinite Adventures by Peter Martin

May 21, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Montana El Diablo – The Infinite Adventures by Peter Martin
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Humor, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Horror, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Montana El Diablo, the manliest man to ever man and the greatest Private Detective to ever detect privately, sits at his desk. It’s all very noir and cool.

The phone rings, but at the same time there is a knock on the door.
Which will he answer? It’s up to you. If you answer the phone, turn to page 30. If you answer the door, turn to page 58, but buy the book first.

Montana El Diablo, The Infinite Adventures is a unique user driven narrative experience where you, the reader, will determine the fate of Montana El Diablo. Cults, zombies, an alien invasion all await Montana El Diablo and, more importantly, you. Will you find the Leprechaun or will the Leprechaun find you?

Together you can forge forward and determine the fate of Montana El Diablo. Will you find success or fall into complete ruination in what has been called “a book” and “pretty neat”. That was from some pretty reserved people, so it was a party popping off for them.

Will the party pop off for you? Only one way to find out, that being to purchase the book and read it. With 60+ possible outcomes, 500 insightful footnotes by the author, the adventure is truly infinite*.

*Except for the fact that 60 is a very finite number**

**This is an example of an insightful footnote.

Any move could be Montana’s last one.

Mr. Martin had a wry sense of humor that worked perfectly for, as he put it, a “non-linear user-driven narrative experience.” I especially enjoyed the many off-topic sections he included in which he rambled on about subjects ranging from cat facts to how echolocation works to the etiquette of Korean bath houses. They were an amusing detour from the zombies, cults, and mysterious beautiful women that Montana El Diablo generally concerned himself with.

It would have been helpful to see more character development for the protagonist, especially since this was over three hundred pages long. As much as I laughed along the way and enjoyed the plot it self, I didn’t feel as though I got to know Montana particularly well as a individual. Yes, he loved flirting with pretty women, seemed to be extroverted, and was full of zany antics, but I’d find a bit harder to describe other parts of his personality. For example, what did he like to do during his time off from work? Was he close to his family and friends? What were his biggest hopes and fears? If I knew more about him, I would have happily given this a full five-star rating.

I adored the creativity of this book. It’s difficult to discuss specific plot lines as every reader will have his or her own unique experience with that based on which options they choose as they read, but I thought the author did a great job of exploring many different options that ranged from logical to absurd depending on the scene. Some of my favorite moments were the ones that described the multitude of ways in which Montana El Diablo could die if he made the wrong choice. Given how common that type of ending is in the choose-your-own-adventure writing style, I don’t believe that should count as a spoiler so long as I avoid mentioning the specific circumstances of any of his deaths. All other potential readers need to know is that there were some unexpected twists along the way that made me think a lot of work went into developing them.

Montana El Diablo – The Infinite Adventures was a wild ride that I’d recommend to teens and adults alike.

Filed Under: Horror, Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

A Trinity of Chosen – An Age of Avarath by JP Behrens

May 12, 2026 By Leave a Comment


A Trinity of Chosen – An Age of Avarath by JP Behrens
Publisher: Budget Shakespeare Aspirations
Genre: Young Adult (14 – 18 y.o.), Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Billy has felt forgotten and invisible since the day his mother passed away. He tries to escape into the fantasy worlds of video games and books.

One day, while at the mall with his step-mother, they get into an argument and Billy runs away. She tries to give chase, but Billy loses her in the crowd. Before she can find him, reality shifts and Billy finds that no one can see or hear him any longer.

However, one blind girl by the name of Miranda can perceive him by his aura. She’s been trapped in the mall, invisible to the world, for over fifty years. Complications force them to flee the mall and enter the world of Avarath.

Together, with the help of Tuac, a carnivorous, affable giant, and Swift, a feral nine-year-old boy, they must confront their destiny as The Chosen of Avarath. While searching for a way home, they will influence a world.

But whether the change they bring will be good or ill, no one can say for sure.

Anything is possible with a little luck and effort.

Focusing on friendship was a great decision for these characters. Given that Billy didn’t know Miranda, Tuac, or Swift when the first chapter began, I was impressed by how close they all became later on. It’s not easy to weave such a thing together, especially when the protagonists are also attempting to survive in a dangerous world where many different types of creatures are actively hunting them down. Kudos to the author for understanding the importance of these relationships and spending so much time developing them.

I had trouble with the pacing of this novel. Some scenes sped by while others felt much slower to me due to the time spent on dialogue and descriptions of the unusual places the characters visited. While I preferred the faster pacing, I could have adjusted to something slower, too, if every chapter had been written that way. More than anything, switching between the two speeds was what interrupted my immersion in the plot and encouraged me to select a lower rating.

With that being said, the world building was strong and creative. Some aspects of it need to be kept out of this review for spoiler reasons, but I can say that I truly enjoyed the early scenes that showed how Billy shifted into this alternate reality while at the mall with his stepmother as well as the later descriptions of how dragon eggs were incubated and hatched. The inclusion of so many little details like these made this world come alive in my imagination and kept me reading despite my struggles with the pacing.

A Trinity of Chosen – An Age of Avarath was filled with adventure.

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Let’s Fast Forward to the Good Stuff by GetChrissy

May 8, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Let’s Fast Forward to the Good Stuff by GetChrissy
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Young Adult (14 – 18 y.o.), Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

No more waiting around. It’s time to fast forward to the good stuff!

Ross is the most impatient person you’ll ever meet. You don’t want to keep him waiting in line too long because things will get ugly, fast! He wants to zoom through life, and tired of all the waiting that comes along with it. He wants to speed things up a bit. One day, a weird woman leaves a mysterious package for him that will change his life forever. Ross is in for a magical journey which is powered by his thoughts, but soon things begin to take a bad turn. Ross is in for the craziest ride of his life that you don’t’ want to miss!

Excitement comes in many forms.

Ross was a fascinating main character whose flaws made me want to learn more about him even though I found his quick temper and impatience irritating. He had such a short-sighted view of the world that he was often blindsided by things a more rational and thoughtful person would probably be able to predict in advance at least occasionally. While I don’t know that I’d want to hang out with him in person until he’s matured a bit, he sure did make this tale a memorable one.

There were some plot holes involving the mysterious woman and the package she left for the protagonist that made it hard for me to follow the storyline at times. I had several questions about how her present worked and how she became aware of Ross’ existence that were never satisfactorily answered, especially given that the warning about what would happen if he overused it seemed to be brushed over in later chapters. As much as I enjoyed the playfulness of this story, these issues prevented me from choosing a higher rating.

I enjoyed discovering the wild scenarios Ms. GetChrissy came up with for her characters as they continued to play around with their newfound power and figure out what it could and couldn’t do for them. She had some imaginative and sometimes wonderfully frightening ideas about what this device could do and how someone who was impulsive might push the boundaries of how to use it while attempting to skip over all of the boring parts of his own life.

Let’s Fast Forward to the Good Stuff was creative.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Charlie-Man by Thomas Cullen

February 20, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Charlie-Man by Thomas Cullen
Publisher: Brandylane Publishing
Genre: Young Adult (14 – 18 y.o.), Historical
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

It’s August 1994, and Charlie Stewart begins his final year at St. Mark’s Episcopal School, a prestigious all-boys school in Richmond, Virginia. Charlie, an undistinguished student by St. Mark’s standards, faces tough odds as he seeks to rekindle his relationship with Katy Hendricks, a beautiful tennis star, and gain admission to a highly selective state university.

Through it all, Charlie relies on Beau Miller, his best friend and the top student athlete in their class. Despite Beau’s movie-star looks and infectious charm, he has a darker side, which becomes more apparent as the year progresses.

Charlie endures his trials with wry determination and ultimately emerges with a renewed sense of purpose. This is a heartrending but hopeful story of one boy’s journey toward manhood in the American South.

Innocence never lasts forever.

Mr. Cullen had a smooth writing style that I deeply enjoyed reading. He seemed to intuitively know precisely how many details to share about a scene to make it come alive in my imagination without ever slowing down the pacing of the plot in the process. I especially enjoyed his descriptions of the various locations in Richmond, Virginia where Charlie and his friends experienced their final year of high school. They were as vivid as they were achingly honest.

One of the things that puzzled me about Charlie for the first half or so of this novel involved his muted reactions to things like his father’s death or his traumatic experiences at summer camp that I would have expected him to have much strong feelings about. Figuring out why these scenes were written this was what propelled this to a five-star read for me. The author knew exactly what he was doing here, and a few twists later on in the storyline not only explained why Charlie behaved the way he did but gave me an opportunity to get to know this character on a much deeper level than I previously had.

I also loved the complex friendship between Charlie and Beau, especially as it related to Beau’s character flaws impacted both of these teenagers. One of the most challenging parts of growing up can be seeing how childhood friendships permanently change as everyone involved in them transitions into adulthood and begins making choices that cannot always be undone. These were the moments that made me wonder if this was a memoir in disguise due to how skillfully Charlie’s mixed emotions about his oldest and closest friend were woven into the storyline. They genuinely felt real to me.

Charlie-Man made me yearn for more.

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A Friend for Hope by Amie White

February 16, 2026 By Leave a Comment


A Friend for Hope by Amie White
Publisher: Noctilune Publishing
Genre: Children’s (0 – 6 y.o.), Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Nine-year-old Zoe Meadows is the new kid in Ivy Creek. For homeschooled Zoe, every day starts the same: breakfast, then to the living room where Miss Ellis awaits. Only today, Zoe can’t focus—not when she notices neighborhood children playing outside, children she’s yet to meet. Watching all this unfold, Zoe’s parents decide it’s time for a companion—the furry kind, to be precise.

Everything changes when Zoe meets Hope at the dog shelter for the first time. The two girls form an inseparable bond over the following months and find in each other the one thing they both craved for a long, long time: a forever friend.

Loneliness isn’t forever.

Zoe was a sweet and kind protagonist. Many of the picture books I’ve reviewed have focused on more extroverted and sometimes noisy children for a variety of reasons, so it was refreshing for me as a reader to have someone leading the storyline who was a gentle and quiet soul. There’s something to be said for including all sorts of different personality types in fiction, after all!

I did find myself wishing that the plot had explained why Zoe didn’t seem to spend much time with people her own age since homeschooled children can still participate in all sorts of classes and extracurricular activities that will introduce them to potential friends. My first thought was that maybe she was immunocompromised or had some other serious health problem that made socializing in large groups unsafe for her. While I don’t know if this is what the author was intending to hint at, I would have loved to know more about her backstory and would have chosen a full five-star rating if the narrator had told us why adopting a dog was a better option for the main character than socializing with other children.

With that being said, I thought the adoption of Zoe’s new pet was a heartwarming chapter in her life. I especially appreciated the fact that Hope needed some time to warm up to the family after the stress of being abandoned and living at the noisy animal shelter for so long. This was a great reminder that how a new pet behaves at the shelter or at home for the first little while isn’t always the same as how they’ll act once they feel safe and loved.

A Friend for Hope was charming.

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Candle in the Wind by Kim Baccellia

February 3, 2026 By 3 Comments


Candle in the Wind by Kim Baccellia
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian
Rated: 4 stars
Review by Rose

What if you discovered everything you’ve been taught is a lie? For most of her life, seventeen-year-old Espie Hernandez’s world revolved around the Branch of Thomas, a cult-like haven in what’s left of a war-ravaged America. Their ruler, Reverent Father, keeps them safe from the Others, those outside the compound who wish to harm them. Espie questions what she’s been taught and finds herself banished from the compound. She’s thrust into the harsh world beyond their walls with the mission to prove the Others actually have a plot against them. When tensions escalate, Espie must figure out who to trust before everything she loves is torn apart.

This book kept me enthralled from the first page. Espie and her sister have been raised to believe in the message of their Reverant Father and have been shielded from the Outsiders by their life in a secluded compound after a conflict that left their group fearful for their lives. There is a lot of fear built up in her over that outside world.

Once the questions start, though, so does the action. Espie starts to realize that the message she had heard her whole life is changing…and with those changes comes a disenchantment.

I admired Espie and the author did a good job in capturing the dichotomy in her feelings and emotions as more and more of the truth is revealed. This dichotomy leads to a powerful tension throughout the book as Espie tries to discover the truth.

And the action… it had me turning the pages as fast as I could read in an attempt to find out what happens. I was really caught up in the action. I could so see this on Netflix…maybe a bit expanded because the whole of the action seems to take place in just a few weeks.

I hope there’s a follow up book to this one. I enjoyed the ending but was left with so many questions that I hope will be answered. Thanks for the read.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , ,

The New World by Shirley Bigelow Dekelver

January 14, 2026 By Leave a Comment


The New World by Shirley Bigelow Dekelver
Climate of Fire, Book Three
Publisher: BWL Publishing Inc.
Genre: Young Adult (14 – 18 y.o.), Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Romance
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

It is 2047, two years since Vancouver was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami. Taylor West, Carlie Fleming, and Mai-Li Wong, and two children, Eddie Coleman, and Debbie Ross, fear retaliation from Willie Arbuckle who they banned from their group for stealing food and threatening Carlie. They leave their winter sanctuary and continue their journey to the Interior and arrive at Blackfoot and are welcomed by the Chinese and the Similkameen Band.

Chief Pete Johnson and Mai-Li, now ruler of the Chinese, tell Carlie she must exonerate Willie, as there’s no room in Blackfoot for resentment and malevolence. Taylor tells Carlie he loves her, but before they can be together, she must confront Willie. Without informing her, he leaves with Pete on an expedition. Unable to forgive Willie, Carlie is banned from Blackfoot. She returns to the cabin and Lance, Pete’s grandson, goes with her. He talks about the culture and traditions of the Similkameen people and confesses he has feelings for her.

Taylor and Pete arrive at the cabin; Lance must return to Blackfoot to undertake leadership of the Band. Carlie refuses to return and is left on her own. She discovers an interest in wildfires and while exploring one day, is captured by Lars, a violent man from Taylor’s past who has a grudge against him. She escapes and is injured when she falls from an embankment. Will help arrive in time, will she find the strength to absolve Willie, and find peace and contentment with the man she loves?

Letting go of the old ways is the only way to survive.

The foreshadowing was handled nicely. While Carlie continued to make some decisions that she really should have thought twice about given everything that had already happened to her, I liked the way Ms. Bigelow Dekelver used those lapses in judgement to push the storyline forward. Everyone makes mistakes, after all, and there is something to be said for seeing what happens when someone had advanced warning that certain choices aren’t the best ones but insists on taking that route anyway.

Just as I mentioned in my review of the second instalment, Treachery, I once again found myself wishing that the romantic subplot had either been given more space to grow or left out of the tale entirely. I was happy to see a little more attention paid to it this time around, but it still didn’t have enough development for this reader’s tastes. This was especially true due to how many other conflicts Carlie was juggling simultaneously. She had such limited free time even before romance came into play. Of course I wanted her to find true love and live happily ever after, but at this point in her life she didn’t seem to have much energy to devote to a longterm relationship.

One of the things I’ve consistently appreciated about this series is how much effort it puts into describing what life would be like if society as we knew it disappeared. That is to say, Carlie and every other survivor had to adapt to a world where there were no stores left to buy essential things like medicine, food, or clothing. The social safety net that still existed in this universe relied upon small groups of people taking care of each other and sharing what little they had which meant that something as ordinary as falling off of a horse could have much more serious consequences than it would in the before times when doctors and hospitals still existed.

This is the third book in the Climate of Fire series that should be read in chronological order for plot and character development reasons.

The New World made me hope that we’ll someday have a fourth instalment!

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Enchanted Horse (A Tale from the Arabian Nights) by Albert Seligman

January 9, 2026 By 2 Comments


The Enchanted Horse (A Tale from the Arabian Nights) by Albert Seligman
Publisher: Dulacebooks
Genre: Young Adult (14 – 18 y.o.), Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Historical
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

The Enchanted Horse, also known as ‘The Magic Horse’ or ‘The Ebony Horse’, is one of the most loved of all the Arabian Nights tales. It is also an early example of stories about flying machines, which have been contemplated since stories were first recorded.

The Tale begins with a Persian king who has a son and three beautiful daughters. During a New Years’ festival, three sages bearing gifts present them to his majesty. One is a golden peacock which kept the time of day by fluttering his wings. Another was a trumpet which would blast if an enemy approached. The third, and best of all, was an ebony horse, whose rider could ascend into the clouds and ride anywhere on the earth in an instant.

The King greatly desired to own the magic horse, but wanted to verify that not only the sage could command it, so his son, Prince Firouz, took to the saddle and took off. He didn’t know how to control the horse, so he rose into the sky and was not seen afterward. The sage was thrown into the dungeon.

He finally gained control and descended into a strange land, where, naturally, he meets the beautiful Princess of Bengal. Her father was not too keen on a sudden relationship, but the Prince said he would prove his worth by fighting the king’s entire army at once.

The army was unprepared for an aerial assault, and the Prince and Princess escaped together and returned to his own kingdom triumphant. Prince Firouz hides her in the summer palace while he visits his father and prepares for her entrance. But here the story takes a bad turn. The sage is released from jail, but demanded the king’s daughter in marriage in return for the magic horse. He manages to escape, but with the Princess of Bengal as his prisoner instead . The sage forces her to mount on the magic horse and they fly to a far away land.

He immediately begins mistreating her, but is seen by a hunting party of the Sultan of the land where they landed. He imprisons the sage and decides to marry the beautiful Princess of Bengal himself. She doesn’t like the idea, preferring her young Prince Firouz, and feigns madness to delay the wedding.

Meanwhile, Prince Firouz is roaming the land looking for his Princess, and hears rumors of a flying horse and a mad Princess. He disguises himself as a doctor, and offers to cure the Princess. She recognizes him immediately and they devise a plan of escape. He tells the Sultan that he can cure her and destroy the spell she is under by lighting a great fire. In the confusion, he escapes with the Princess and the magic horse and returns to his own land.

And they live happily ever after, and he eventually ascends to the throne.

This Tale is illustrated with the finest artwork of the 19th and 20th century. Illustrators include Edmund Dulac, William H Robinson, Thomas H Robinson, Eric Pape, William Harvey, HJ Ford, Frances Brundage, John Hassall, George Sopor, AB Houghton, AD McCormick, Helen Stratton, Anne & Janet Johnstone, Walter Paget, René Bull, Monroe S Orr, JD Batten and JC Clark.

Adventures can be found anywhere.

This tale was originally told at a time when women had few rights, so some scenes were completely at odds with how I’d expect female characters to be treated in a contemporary times. While some of those moments were hard to read due to those individuals having virtually no say in the course of their own lives even when it came down to something as simple as where to live or whom to marry, I’m glad they were left in because of how important it is not to sugarcoat the past. The historical genre is at its best when it acknowledges such things in my opinion.

The plot twists were imaginative and kept me guessing. I especially appreciated seeing how certain personality flaws of some characters were used to push the storyline forward while also giving those individuals a chance to reconsider their ways. This is exactly what legends and fairy tales are supposed to do, and it was a great deal of fun to see how that trope played out this time as the characters were faced with one surprise after another.

There’s something to be said for an ending that fits the tone of a piece perfectly. I chuckled as I read it and thought it couldn’t have been done better. Not only were all of the most important plot threads tied up neatly, the fates of the main characters matched both their personalities as well as their stations in life. Given how important social rank was in this society, it made total sense for it to also affect that final scene the way that it did. I know I’m being a little vague here, but this truly is one of those times when readers should have a few hints as possible about what is to come so hopefully they can be just as entertained as I was.

The Enchanted Horse – A Tale From the Arabian Nights made me yearn for a sequel.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Wild Dogs of Kumamoto by Luc Jorgart

January 8, 2026 By Leave a Comment


The Wild Dogs of Kumamoto by Luc Jorgart
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Young Adult (14 – 18 y.o.), Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by: Astilbe

The Wild Dogs of Kumamoto is a gritty, emotionally intense coming-of-age novel that follows Ryuji Nagata, a rebellious teen from the quiet Iki Island, who is uprooted from his home and sent to a boarding school in Kumamoto City. Behind his tough exterior lies a troubled soul; haunted by family trauma, bullying, and a desire for freedom. His father is in prison for vehicular manslaughter, and his mother remains emotionally distant.

At school, Ryuji is quickly targeted by a group of bullies who physically and emotionally torment him. Even attempts to seek help from teachers fail him. His only escape becomes a cabaret bar, Club Avon, where he finds an unlikely guardian in Nana Hirose, the sharp-witted and compassionate bar owner who sees through his pain. But true change doesn’t come until he crosses paths with a member of the Kumamoto Wild Dogs, a feared bosozoku gang.

Change is always possible.

The realistic dialogue made me feel as though I were eavesdropping onto the characters’ conversations. This is something I always appreciate as well-written dialogue can be a great way to get to know the characters on a deeper level. For example, Ryuji wasn’t something who liked talking about his feelings very often, and it showed in his brief responses to many of the questions he was asked. I also thought the conversations with this characters’ mom and grandparents were well worth paying close attention to given how important they were for what happened later on in the storyline.

It would have been helpful to have more plot development in this book. Ryuji grew and changed as a person, but there wasn’t as much time spent exploring the catalysts for his growth as I would have preferred to see. This made it tricky for me to remain invested in his life as I didn’t have a lot of context to help explain why these changes were happening or what the protagonist thought of them.

My favorite portion was the ending due to some intriguing plot twists involving the main character’s future that happened in those last few chapters. While I can’t go into detail into where life would lead him to next, the author’s willingness to take risks here was easy to take note of and is something I think should applauded. There is definitely something to be said for storytellers who remain playful and creative while they’re writing.

The Wild Dogs of Kumamoto was thought provoking.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , ,
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