REVIEW The Dragon's Apprentice by James Riley

The Dragon's Apprentice by James Riley
Rating: 4 Stars
Release Date: April 1, 2025
Format: Audiobook (Borrowed from Library) + eBook (Personal Library, Bookshop.org)
Publisher: Labyrinth Road 

The Dragon's Apprentice by James Riley was a really fun new middle grade fantasy read. Audiobook narrator Alana Kerr Collins did an excellent job with her performance bringing both Scorch and Ciara's perspectives to life. I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy humorous reads filled with magic, dragons, and slightly cliche but equally despicable villains.

Ciara is a very relatable protagonist who is willing to do anything to save her mother. When she stumbles upon the journal of the 'lost apprentice' (which also happens to be somewhat sentient), it changes her life and that of her village forever. Enter Scorch, the grumpy and stern Great Dragon. He agrees to help Ciara save her mother as long as she helps him find his lost siblings and determine what happened to his last apprentice. Shenanigans ensue, as they work towards both of their goals. I loved the heart of the book as well as the worldbuilding (one specific power of the dragons was quite cool). There is a major cliffhanger, where the author sets up the events of the next book but it left me excited. If you like dragons, magical mentor-mentee relationships, and/or magic in general, this book is for you.

REVIEW Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston (Sir Callie #1) by Esme Symes-Smith

Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston (Sir Callie #1) by Esme Symes-Smith
Rating: 5 Stars
Release Date: November 8, 2022
Format: Audiobook (Borrowed from Library)
Publisher: Labyrinth Road

First of all, I want to note how much I appreciated the author's note at the beginning of the story with trigger warnings and what they hope readers take away from the book. This was one of those cases where I agree with the author’s note coming before the actual story, as it is quite helpful for giving readers an idea of what they are about to read and allowing them to make a choice for themselves.  

In Esme Symes-Smith’s first book, Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston, readers are reminded that heroes come in all shapes and sizes. Sadly, the same can be said for monsters. Callie, the nonbinary hero and main character of the story, has always known they didn’t fit into the mold of being a girl. They also didn’t fit the mold of being a boy. After years of looking up to their father, the King’s Champion, and dreaming of becoming a knight, the chance finally comes when their father is summoned back to the city to train the young crown prince before his trial. Things are much more challenging than they anticipated, however, as the people of Helston are very resistant to the idea of anything ‘different’ and have no intentions of letting them try for knighthood. Thankfully, Callie meets some friends along the way, and together they team up to save the city and challenge the restrictive gender norms they’ve been living under. 

The worldbuilding in this book is superb. If you’ve read Tamora Pierce’s Protector of the Small series, there are a lot of similarities. There’s loads of typical fantasy things like dragons, witches, and magic. There’s also a bit of Callie’s world reflecting our own - the roles that each gender is assigned are clear, and mimic the gender binary that we are most used to. Girls should be delicate and practice magic only for small things, and males should only become knights and not go anywhere near magic (or have the ability to practice it). If you don’t fit into those molds, you are essentially an outcast for life as far as the people of Helston are concerned.  

While Callie is undoubtedly the main character of the book, all of the children in the story have to face adults and other people in positions of authority who should have protected them but don’t (or at least not as much as they should). As I believe Neal says in the book, “Not all battles are fought with swords. Not all enemies want you dead.” The Lord Chancellor in particular is a jerk, and I really enjoyed the scene where someone finally stood up to him towards the end of the book. On the other side of the spectrum are the children’s allies. I appreciated getting to see the efforts that characters like Callie’s father, Neal (Callie’s pseudo-stepfather?), and the Queen made to protect their children. However, there were times that they didn’t protect them in the name of maintaining the status quo or just due to a lack of understanding and knowledge, and I sympathized with the kids so much in those moments. The author doesn’t shy away from many of the challenges that the LGBTQ community experiences, and I think it's so important that young children get to see that (especially in books like this). As Callie tells Willow after he breaks down from all of the pressures being placed upon him, “It's ok to have complicated feelings about complicated things”. 

Overall, Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston was an amazing read, and I’m so happy I was introduced to it via Tamora Pierce’s blurb (anything she recommends is always great). Dani Martineck did an excellent job bringing Callie’s perspective to life with their performance in the audiobook narration of the story. If you’re looking for a humorous heartwarming read that is LGBTQ positive and kid friendly, this would be a great choice. I’m excited to read more about the adventures of Callie and their friends with the next installment in the series, Sir Callie and the Dragon’s Roost, which is set to be released in November 2023. 

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Child Abuse (Physical, Emotional, Psychological), Misgendering, Deadnaming, Death of a Sibling, Gaslighting, Implied Suicide of a Parent, Grief, Anxiety, Trauma

BLOG TOUR Momo Arashima Steals the Sword of the Wind by Misa Sugiura

Hi friends! I'm excited to be a part of the tour organized by TBR and Beyond Tours for Momo Arashima Steals the Sword of the Wind by Misa Sugiura. Check out my post below to learn more about the book and the author. Make sure you check out the tour schedule and show the other host some love!

Momo Arashima and the Sword of the Wind by Misa Sugiura Tour Schedule (TBR and Beyond Tours)

About the Book

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy Mythology
Publishing date: February 28th, 2023

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Rep: AAPI – Japanese

All Momo wants for her twelfth birthday is a normal life–a life like everyone else’s. At home, she has to take care of her absentminded widowed mother. At school, kids ridicule her for mixing up reality with the magical stories her mother used to tell her.

But then Momo’s mother falls gravely ill, and a death hag straight out of those childhood stories attacks Momo at the mall, where she’s rescued by a talking fox . . . and “normal” goes out the window. It turns out that Momo’s mother is a banished Shinto goddess who used to protect a long-forgotten passageway to Yomi–a.k.a. the land of the dead. That passageway is now under attack, and countless evil spirits threaten to escape and wreak havoc across the earth.

Joined by Niko the fox and Danny–her former best friend turned popular jerk, whom she never planned to speak to again, much less save the world with–Momo must embrace her (definitely not normal) identity as half human, half goddess to unlock her divine powers, save her mother’s life, and force the demons back to Yomi.

Content Warning: misogyny inherent in some of the background mythology

REVIEW of Momo Arashima Steals the Sword of the Wind by Misa Sugiura
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: eBook (Courtesy of Publisher and NetGalley) and Audiobook (Borrowed from Library)
Publisher: Labyrinth Road

Reading is a great way to learn about different cultures without ever leaving your home - in particular, I’ve always loved learning about the mythology of different cultures. Misa Sugiura’s newest middle-grade novel, Momo Arashima Steals the Sword of the Wind, brings readers on a modern adventure through Japanese (or Shinto) mythology and folklore. Our heroine, Momo, is an ordinary (if a bit unpopular) middle school kid who’s grown up on stories of kami, shapeshifters, and monsters for as long as she can remember. After her mother becomes ill, Momo quickly learns that all of those stories are real and she must stop the monsters from escaping and wreaking havoc on the world. 

The mythology and folklore of Japan is rich and expansive, and that’s reflected in the world-building the author crafted in the book. Ms. Sugiura includes a lot of different references, which could be overwhelming in some cases, but I felt she did a great job providing enough context and details through which readers can understand their role in the story. I appreciate the tips on keeping snacks on hand whenever I’m being chased by a shikome, and the insights regarding how to outsmart kappas. Some of my favorite parts of the world-building were learning more about the backstory of Momo’s mother, the mystery of Danny’s connection to the spirit world, and the danger that Momo is tasked with stopping. 

In addition to the mythological and fantastical aspects of the book, Ms. Sugiura also includes important social commentary. Momo, like many other kids her age, wants nothing more than to fit in. Danny, Momo’s unexpected sidekick, was once her friend but eventually evolved into becoming one of Momo’s bullies. The story features how their friendship collapsed, how awkward it is to go on a quest with someone you don’t get along with, and how the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. Race and culture play a factor as well - Momo has grown up immersed in Japanese culture and stories (albeit to her detriment socially at times), while Danny’s adoption by white parents and lack of knowledge about his birth parents has made it such that he’s encouraged to do whatever he can to fit in, even if that means denying his heritage. 

Sara Matsui-Colby did an excellent job bringing Momo’s perspective and all of the various character’s voices to life with her performance in the audiobook version of the book. Overall, this was an excellent book and I’m excited to read future installments of the series. Middle-grade readers who enjoy books like Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series, Lori M. Lee’s Pahua and the Soul Stealer, or Jesse Q. Sutanto’s Theo Tan and the Fox Spirit will undoubtedly find themselves invested in Momo’s story. 

Thank you to the author, the publisher Labyrinth Road, NetGalley and the team at TBR and Beyond Tours for providing me with a complimentary review copy of the book as part of my participation in the blog tour. I appreciate the opportunity to read and review the book immensely. Please note - I voluntarily read and reviewed Momo Arashima Steals the Sword of the Wind. All opinions expressed in the review are my own, and not influenced in any way. 

About the Author

Misa Sugiura’s ancestors include a poet, a priestess, a samurai, and a stowaway. Her first novel It’s Not Like It’s A Secret, won the Asian Pacific Islander American Librarians’ Association’s Award for Young Adult Literature; her highly acclaimed second novel, This Time Will Be Different, made the Best of 2019 lists of YALSA, Kirkus Reviews, the New York Public Library, and the Chicago Public Library. Her short story, “Where I’m From” appears in Come On In, a young adult anthology of stories about immigration. Her latest book, Love & Other Natural Disasters has been praised by the American Library Association as “hilariously awkward” and “honestly poignant.”

Misa was born in Chicago, earned a B.A. in English at Princeton University, and taught English as a second language in Japan before moving back to the States to earn her M.Ed at Stanford University. She taught English at a local public high for several years before “retiring” to be a stay-at-home parent. Currently, she lives and writes under a giant oak tree with her husband, two sons, and two cats. You can find her online at misasugiura.com and @misallaneous1 on Twitter and Instagram.

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