The Last Fallen Star .

I love a good middle-grade fantasy novel, and The Last Fallen Star was an amazing read.

Riley Oh is not magic. She was adopted by a family of talented healers. There are six gifted clans: the Horangi (scholars), the Gom (healers), the Gumiho (illusionists), the Tokki (infusers), the Miru (protectors), and the Samjogo (seers). Each clan has their own motto, niche, and special powers and is guided by a goddess. Well, except for the Horangi, as the clan suddenly turned villainous and were exiled from the gifted temple and community forever.

Riley desperately wants to fit in with her magical community, especially because her sister and parents are skilled healers. The story unfolds when Riley and her sister try to share magic through a spell, but there are unexpected consequences. They then attempt to summon the mother of all creation, Mago Halmi, which goes terribly wrong. She then must go on a journey to discover who she truly is, rescue her sister, and save the world, of course. She encounters many challenges along the way, but she makes new friends and learns about herself and her past.

The Last Fallen Star is excellently written and easy to understand, even with the complex magical elements. It includes a diagram at the beginning to help readers better understand the world and different clans. Despite dealing with sad situations, the story brings moments of humour. I wasn't expecting it to be emotional or deep since it's a middle-grade novel, but it was. I was pleasantly surprised as it made it a very captivating read.

The numerous plot twists kept me engaged all the way through, only to end with a cliffhanger! I never would have guessed some of the events that happened in the book. It also included chapter titles, which I found interesting because they aren’t often used in books, but it was a good touch to the novel. I love chapter titles as they add hints at what the chapter is going to be about and create a setting and atmosphere for the next few pages.

In my opinion, worldbuilding is the make or break of a novel. The book was set in Los Angeles, and I found the integration of magic and the non-magical world to be well done, such as using a fried chicken stall as the entrance to a magical temple and a laundromat as the entrance to a secret library. It reminded me of the Percy Jackson series and Rick Riordan’s writing style. The diverse and relatable characters, particularly the teenage characters, were another strong point of the book. I could really connect with all of them, and the dialogue was perfect. I feel like some authors try a little too hard to include generational slang when writing teenage characters, and it feels a bit unrealistic, but Graci Kim absolutely nailed it.

More about the characters; they all had their own distinct personalities and voices, and I loved all of them. Every character got great character development over the course of the book, and I could see the relationships changing, strengthening, or even falling apart. The little details were, without a doubt, what made this book so incredible.

Overall, I loved The Last Fallen Star and can’t wait to read the next book in the series. I would have enjoyed it more if I were a bit younger since it is aimed at a middle-grade audience. I highly recommend it to readers aged nine to thirteen who enjoy adventure and fantasy books.

- Isla is 14 and lives in Nelson.