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Obvious trigger warning for this due to suicide and depression.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much of this book takes place in Taiwan and really appreciated that Emily did not box the characters into a small space and instead sent them out into the world and described the locations. The magical realism in this was very well done and took me by surprise a few times. There is the obligatory romance that I feel like YAs always require, but while it is an important part of Leigh's life, it does not take over the story by any means. Leigh's journey to her mother's home is always the priority along with figuring out what he mother would want for her to know.

The writing was well done and the imagery and descriptions were fantastic. Leigh sees emotions in colors and she uses art to translate those colors into images. I don't necessarily think this is one that I would re-read again, but the story is one that will stick with me.

I also cannot express how appreciated it is that Pan did not give an event that caused the depression that destroys Leigh's mother. The sad reality is that there are many times that there is no cause for depression and media has done a horrible job at showing that. The author stated that this was written after she lost someone to suicide and it shows.

The grief driving this book was written so well and honestly could be a little triggering if one is reeling from a loss, so tread a little lightly. This book ripped me apart and stitched me back together many times and gets you really invested in what is going on. Definitely a high recommendation if you're at a place to be able to deal with an emotionally charged read.

Javier is a migrant that made the journey to "la usa" as a child with strangers. The recollection of emotions and trials that he experienced is a testament to how ingrained the experience is, from the good moments to the traumatizing ones. He tells it from his perspective as a child, and he does not hold back on his fears or worries to try to cover up what some adults would likely be too anxious to ever put down into words. He also does not try to fill in gaps or add extra information to try to get points across. There is a lot of information that you do not know about because the kids wake up to adults arguing or things happening and they just have to run. Unless he got an answer on what was going on, the blanks are left in.

There is a lot of misconception on what crossing the border looks like and I feel like this could help some understand what actually goes on. But I don't know if it would really be the best option for that because while the journey is harrowing and dangerous and bad things happen, I feel like Javier and his group ultimately found quite a bit of luck along the journey, and this is especially noted when they speak to other families that have been sent back into Mexico.

I'm very glad that I read this book and I feel like it would be a worthwhile read for anyone to be able to get a glimpse into what the journey into America can look like.

I decided to read this book because how could I not give a shot to a book that says on the cover that you should read it if you loved Harry Potter, and with all the issues with Rowling, I've been game for anything that gives the same vibes to introduce my kids to. It's not a well-known book by any means (here in the US at least) and I wasn't really sure what to expect going into it. I slogged through it because of my own doing, but the journey was well done! Since this is meant to be a children's book, the tension was not very high because you expect that the children are going to be able to succeed in their journey.

The main characters are children who have been chosen by the Dagda to help with finding a pebble that needs to be destroyed to prevent the destruction of the world. They are then followed and hunted by the witch queen Morrigan and her hounds, who wants the pebble to be able to regain her full power and bring about the destruction. The biggest catch is that Morrigan and the Dagda have a deal of some sort that they cannot raise a hand to the kids, to help or harm, so there is a lot of sneaky dealings on both sides.

Pidge and Brigit were very enjoyable characters. They felt like real kids that you would actually see in the real world. O'Shea did a great job with writing them. Too many authors have difficulties with writing children characters and either make them too grown up or too babyish.

It clocks in at over 450 pages and every page has importance to the story. Everything ties together at some point and there are no wasted words. The magical realism was well done, all of the characters were likable (except the baddies, obviously, but they were great as well), and there was constant movement through the book. If you can manage to get a copy, I would recommend the read, it took me by surprise and I really enjoyed going through the journey with Pidge and Brigit.