| Gifted | YA fantasy |
Millie’s encounter with the parallel world was such a magical adventure! Millie is a sweet 13-year-old girl that becomes a target for bullying after her best friend switches schools. She has loving parents and an older sister Carla. They used to be really close however as Carla entered adolescence, she has no care whatsoever for family anymore. Millie is going through a really difficult time in the beginning of the novel, feeling alone at school and lacking the strong support of sisterhood.
I love how the story shows us the concept of true friendships, which we see with the side characters Oliver and Jenna. Oliver seems really mature for his age and I was hoping for a future love interest, which we see mentions of at the end of the novel. My favorite part was Carla’s redemption arc, I really enjoyed how her character was developed and the ending redemption was great.
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The world building was intriguing, it has a lot of potential to be further explored in future novels. The parallel world seemed in the beginning as a form of escape for Millie, however it is where we watch her grow and find her strength. The magical creatures of Morendale are very unique, my favorite was the fawn. The story has some plot twists which make the tale even more captivating.
Overall, for young adults and middle grade this is a perfect tale of friendship and family, full of magic and royals, as well as bringing important mentions related to the subject of bullying.
You can check out more about the book and the author here.
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