I went into reading this book mostly unaware of what it was about. I knew it was a middle-grade fantasy and expected a cute story about a girl who finds out she is a witch. I was very wrong about the cute part and found myself quite surprised at how dark it was. While the story is told from the perspective of a girl who has just turned 13, it does not come off as completely childish at all and found it to be a very enjoyable read even though I am in my late twenties. The story has great lessons in both showing kindness to others and the battle of good and evil that we all fight within ourselves.
The only problem I had with this book was the constant references to Anne Frank and Malala Yousafzai. At first, I thought it was sweet that Anna Sophia looked up to them, but as the name dropping continued and after a bizarre reference to The Hunger Games, it began to feel less genuine and more like product placement in a tv show.
With all that being said, I would absolutely love to see a film adaptation and I plan on reading not only the next book in this series but more from this author very, very soon.
*I received a copy of this book from hiddengemsromance.com in exchange for a review. All of my opinions are legitimate and not influenced by this fact.*
Rating: 4/5
Buy it: Amazon
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