I don't usually pick up YA/Middle grade fiction but I am so glad I took a chance on this one. I think that I heard about this on a Book Riot podcast and decided to order it very impulsively off amazon.

I loved the world that the author built. It was so vivid and colorful and alive! It truly did read like a Miyazaki movie. It had the same vibe, and many of the same themes that Miyazaki uses in his films. I loved the protagonists connection to nature and the beasts that she cared for. Her origin story was such a thrill to submerge myself in, I truly enjoyed getting to know her and watch her grow.

I know that I would have been absolutely obsessed with this book if I had read it as a young reader. I hope to hold onto it and recommend it to any young reader I come across, because stories like these are the ones that compelled me to read at a young age, and they continue to remind me of why I still pick up books.

Can't wait to read the second volume!