This was a unique and fun MG read. It was about Indian Mythology, which I'm a big Mythology lover so love learning about all Mythology. This was a bit different than other stories in that it addresses anxiety/OCD and what it might look like for a young girl and I can relate to that and think it's great that this is being shown/talked about in the story.
It was a pretty quick, fun, and easy read too. It's about a girl, Kiki, who discovers she has the ability to draw things and have them come to life/existence when she finds herself in the magical world she drew with a band of rebel kids and an evil ancient deity that wants to take over her mystical world. Kiki has to overcome her fears and anxiety to stop the bad guy and save both the real world and the magical world.
It's very much like other MG reads such as the Aru Shah and Serpent's Secret series and has cool Indian Mythology in it as well. If you're into Mythology/Indian Mythology, like the Aru Shah books or the Rick Riordan Mythology books, you'll like this one.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for letting me read and review this book. All opinions are my own.

This was a delightful read about a girl with anxiety who draws and sketches to help her cope. But one day she discovers that the world she's been drawing is real. And she has created a terrible monster for them to deal with. She has to learn to face her fears and learn to accept that her anxiety does not make her any less of a person to help them defeat the monster.

The anxiety representation in this book was fantastic! I love how they didn't make it something for her to overcome, but something for her to accept about herself.

I know my kids will love this one. The idea of your own imagined world being a real place that you can visit? That's just amazing.

If I had read a book like this when I was a kid, I would have definitely gotten into making my own world of demons and heroes. It’s a well paced book with great character arc, speaks on anxiety and makes mental illness a non taboo topic for young children growing up. Definitely a good read!

I received this book free through Goodreads First Read.

I liked how the author combined art, dealing with anxiety, and Indian mythology are combined. Hopefully there is second book coming.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Children's Group for my eARC of Kiki Kallira. All views and opinions discussed here are my own.

This is a wonderfully diverse and new fantasy novel; exploring Indian myths and legends, gods and goddesses, and with plenty tasty descriptions of foods thrown in there. Kiki is a wonderful main character; she has her struggles with anxiety although doesn't quite understand that that is what it is. I think it's so positive and refreshing to put such serious issues into MG novels. Mental health isn't something that just affects teenagers and up, there are plenty of children that experience a range of mental health issues and so it's really important that they get to see themselves represented in books and realise they're not alone. The characters and world are also wonderfully diverse with an easy representation that children would find easy to follow and immerse themselves in. Again it's so refreshing to have diverse literature aimed at MG readers; both for children to see themselves in the books and for other children to learn about different cultures.

The book is a real easy reader that you'll just fly through. I do feel that some big topics were almost brushed over

Spoiler

such as the death of Pip, everyone was affected but it didn't seem to be actually dealt with

and so even though this is a MG I think this could have done with a bit more focus. Also, I was so frustrated by Lej throughout this book I wanted to scream; I found him horrible in his actions towards Kiki

Spoiler

and I really disliked that he was one of the heroes but Ashwini who had been such a strong character actually turned out to be evil and was betraying them

it just let the book down for me a little.

Aside from that though, I think this would be a great and diverse read for young readers to explore a little action, adventure, fantasy, and legend!

Out 8th July 2021.