Kalyn Josephson

Ravenfall

Disclaimer: I received an e-arc of this book. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Diversity: Jewish decent MC and characters

Recommended For...: middle grade readers, fantasy, paranormal, supernatural, horror, mystery

Age Relevance: 12+ (death, gore, parental death, murder, violence, animal death, scary moments)

Explanation of Above: There is a death/murder that happens in the book and parental death is discussed. Nothing graphic is shown, but there is some blood mentioned in the book and some physical and weapon violence. There is an animal death in the book and there are some scary moments.

Synopsis: Thirteen-year-old Annabella Ballinkay has never been normal, even by her psychic family's standards. Every generation uses their abilities to help run the Ravenfall Inn, a sprawling, magical B&B at the crossroads of the human world and the Otherworld. But it's hard to contribute when your only power is foreseeing death.

So when fourteen-year-old Colin Pierce arrives at Ravenfall searching for his missing older brother and the supernatural creature who killed their parents, Anna jumps at the chance to help. But the mysteries tied to Colin go much deeper than either of them expects. . . .

As the two team up to find answers, they unearth Colin's family's secret past and discover that Colin has powers beyond his imagination. And now the supernatural creature, one with eerie origins in Celtic mythology, is coming after him. If Anna and Colin can't stop the creature by Halloween night, the veil to the Otherworld could be ripped open--which would spell destruction for their world as they know it.        

Review: For the most part I thought this was a good book. The story is riveting and I loved the use of the multi-POV. I really liked how Addams Family this book felt and it was a great mystery/comedic horror book as well. The book did well with the world building and the character development.

However, I thought that the book was too fast paced and that it offered little explanation of what was going on in the book. The book was confusing and sometimes hard to follow. I think that the arc I got was just very raw and I have very high hope that the finished product is polished and well written, but for this copy it was just hard for me to figure out what was going on.

Verdict: It was good, just needs a little work.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received an e-arc of this book. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

 

Book: Ravenfall

 

Author: Kalyn Josephson

 

Book Series: Ravenfall Book 1

 

Rating: 3.5/5

 

Diversity: Jewish decent MC and characters

 

Recommended For...: middle grade readers, fantasy, paranormal, supernatural, horror, mystery

 

Publication Date: September 6, 2022

 

Genre: MG Paranormal Horror

 

Age Relevance: 12+ (death, gore, parental death, murder, violence, animal death, scary moments)

 

Explanation of Above: There is a death/murder that happens in the book and parental death is discussed. Nothing graphic is shown, but there is some blood mentioned in the book and some physical and weapon violence. There is an animal death in the book and there are some scary moments.

 

Publisher: Delacorte-Press

 

Pages: 256

 

Synopsis: Thirteen-year-old Annabella Ballinkay has never been normal, even by her psychic family's standards. Every generation uses their abilities to help run the Ravenfall Inn, a sprawling, magical B&B at the crossroads of the human world and the Otherworld. But it's hard to contribute when your only power is foreseeing death.

 

So when fourteen-year-old Colin Pierce arrives at Ravenfall searching for his missing older brother and the supernatural creature who killed their parents, Anna jumps at the chance to help. But the mysteries tied to Colin go much deeper than either of them expects. . . .

 

As the two team up to find answers, they unearth Colin's family's secret past and discover that Colin has powers beyond his imagination. And now the supernatural creature, one with eerie origins in Celtic mythology, is coming after him. If Anna and Colin can't stop the creature by Halloween night, the veil to the Otherworld could be ripped open--which would spell destruction for their world as they know it.        

 

Review: For the most part I thought this was a good book. The story is riveting and I loved the use of the multi-POV. I really liked how Addams Family this book felt and it was a great mystery/comedic horror book as well. The book did well with the world building and the character development.

 

However, I thought that the book was too fast paced and that it offered little explanation of what was going on in the book. The book was confusing and sometimes hard to follow. I think that the arc I got was just very raw and I have very high hope that the finished product is polished and well written, but for this copy it was just hard for me to figure out what was going on.

 

Verdict: It was good, just needs a little work.

Ravenfall

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