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A review by amysreading_nook
Kiki Kallira Breaks a Kingdom by Sangu Mandanna
3.0
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 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 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.
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 withSpoiler
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 themAside 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.