This book had a lot of potential, but it feel flat for me with all the various "dazzle" that wasn't explored enough. I will give it the benefit of the doubt that a lot of it is set up for the series and will be explore further in future books.

The futuristic poverty and crumbling of a society taken over by the elite is well done. The world built feels like a future we could be facing. The struggles to make ends meet, cops being the ones to fear, and a vast class separation in quality of life, all well written and really brought the setting to life.

The magic aspects had a lot of moving parts, many which left more questions than answers. Instead of pulling me through the story it left me wondering why we were even given that information. They mystery ended up being a bit obvious and there isn't really any character growth for those we follow throughout the story. Kind of a "back to where we started" ending.

I will probably read the next book when it hits Libby just to see if it dives more into the magic and the library. If you enjoy paranormal lite, where the average world is laced with magic, and teens saving the day you'll enjoy this story.

TW: Child abduction, child harm. ( )

Shady Baby

I Picked Up This Book Because: Saw it on Scribd

Media Type: Audiobook
Source: Scribd
Dates Read: 10/17/21
Stars: 4 Stars
Narrator(s): Gabrielle Union

The Story:

While I loved Gabrielle’s enthusiasm while narrating I missed having the illustrations. Some type of read-a-long version would have balanced this perfectly. But the story was very cute and I think toddlers would love it. ( )