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parisgranville's review against another edition
4.0
DNA
Adolescent Protagonist
Perspective of a Tween in London who is of Indian origin and one assumes skin color
Friendships
Anxiety Personified
Allegory
Fantasy
The power of drawing
wholesome
girl perspective
interesting child characters
peril (for me anyway)
Audience
It runs a little young in some ways, but is still readable. I enjoyed the wholesomeness. The stakes seem very high. The character is likeable. As a white woman, I enjoyed getting the perspective of an girl in the U.K. who is of Indian descent.
Adolescent Protagonist
Perspective of a Tween in London who is of Indian origin and one assumes skin color
Friendships
Anxiety Personified
Allegory
Fantasy
The power of drawing
wholesome
girl perspective
interesting child characters
peril (for me anyway)
Audience
It runs a little young in some ways, but is still readable. I enjoyed the wholesomeness. The stakes seem very high. The character is likeable. As a white woman, I enjoyed getting the perspective of an girl in the U.K. who is of Indian descent.
iamannemarshall's review against another edition
3.0
Excellent anxiety and panic disorder representation
carrie_and_non's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
lashakas7's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
lesserjoke's review against another edition
4.0
Another title in the popular recent mini-genre of Percy Jackson-inspired #ownvoices fantasy stories involving a middle-grade protagonist coming face-to-face with certain mythological beings drawn from the writer's cultural heritage. In this novel, the Hindu gods and demons are joined by a fun Inkheart sort of element, as it's the heroine's drawings of them (along with some of her own inventions) that have unexpectedly come to life and dragged her into their world. That gives the project a rather unique atmosphere, as does the frank and non-stigmatized approach to mental illness in discussing her anxiety / borderline OCD.
It's a fine adventure overall, although I wish there was less criticizing and guilting of Kiki throughout for her artistic choices, such as the house of rebel children with no grown-ups to look after them or a villain's fortress protected by deadly traps. She's thirteen and has quite reasonably never expected the things in her sketchbook to have any independent existence! Give her a break, and don't invite young audiences to worry about the morality of their own doodles, sheesh. But that aspect aside, I have really enjoyed the book. The action is exciting, the characters feel specific and endearing, and the plot contains a few genuine surprises even for an older reader like me. It's a great take on folklore, found family, and disability, and I'm excited to see author Sangu Mandanna is already under contract for a sequel.
[Content warning for death of a friend.]
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It's a fine adventure overall, although I wish there was less criticizing and guilting of Kiki throughout for her artistic choices, such as the house of rebel children with no grown-ups to look after them or a villain's fortress protected by deadly traps. She's thirteen and has quite reasonably never expected the things in her sketchbook to have any independent existence! Give her a break, and don't invite young audiences to worry about the morality of their own doodles, sheesh. But that aspect aside, I have really enjoyed the book. The action is exciting, the characters feel specific and endearing, and the plot contains a few genuine surprises even for an older reader like me. It's a great take on folklore, found family, and disability, and I'm excited to see author Sangu Mandanna is already under contract for a sequel.
[Content warning for death of a friend.]
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6288479-joe-kessler
--Or click here to browse through all my previous reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog
kate_stanley's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
bookish_leslie's review against another edition
4.5
Sangu Mandanna wins again! As the author of one of my favorite books (The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches), I wasn’t sure what to expect in Kiki Kallira, especially since it was written for middle grade rather than adults. It was totally different from Irregular Witches, of course, but it was a fun, fast-paced adventure with a cast of lovable young rogues and heart-warming themes of found family, mental health, and discovering your own power.
This book was whimsical and heartbreaking, adventurous and inspiring, creative and relatable, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I love portal fantasy books, I love the found family trope, I love adventure, and I love it when the main character (especially of an adventure) is female, so this had all the ingredients of a win for me. The Indian mythology within this story also added a fun and unique twist that I found to be really interesting and culturally informative.
Not only do I think Mandanna is a great author, but I also find her to be wonderfully creative. Descriptions of sparkling orbs of bottled sunlight floating overhead or sewing threads of starlight or sunbeams into fabric, for example, felt so magical and poetic.
I also think Mandanna handled the mental health aspect of this novel with a lot of grace. She did such a wonderful job of narrating Kiki’s anxiety that I wonder if she, herself, suffers with it. More than getting it right, though - the thoughts, the itchy scratchiness of those thoughts, the self-flagellation at not being able to control those thoughts and thinking less of yourself because of it - Mandanna also conveyed so much compassion for people struggling with mental illness, particularly in the conversation between Kiki and Ashwini on pages 237-240.
“You know there’s nothing wrong with you,” Ashwini told Kiki. “It’s just an illness. A chronic condition,” she continued. “It’s something that’s a part of you, but it’s not all of you.” She went on to make the point that just because Kiki's brain didn't work exactly the way she'd like it to, it didn't make her lesser in any way.
It might have been a bit heavy-handed, but it was nice to see mental illness handled with so much compassion and grace.
On the other hand, there were a couple of plot lines in the middle that I felt weren't heavy-handed enough, and here's where we enter major spoiler territory...
Spoiler #1:Pip dying so suddenly and unexpectedly? Are you kidding me? I almost didn't care at first because I was so sure it was a trick - that he wasn't really dead, or if he had actually died, that Kiki would be able to draw him back into life...something. But for him to just be dead, the end, was heartbreaking because, of all the Crows, Pip was Kiki's person. He was who she cared most for, had the most history with, and felt the most attached to. Of all of them, why him?! Of course it would have been sad if any of them had died, but him!? And this brings up a criticism: I think shock and grief really deserved a bit more tenderness and time when Pip died. I think the Crows needed that. Hell, I needed that.
Spoiler #2:Ashwini’s plot line was equally heartbreaking. Her betrayal felt especially tender after Kiki (and us, the readers) had come to rely on and trust her so much. But this was a 13-year old child with the weight of the world on her shoulders. It’s so understandable that she made the choices she did, that she would want to escape the life of responsibility she was living, but it was also so, so sad that she felt she had to betray her loved ones in order to get her needs met. I wish we’d heard more about what happened to her, but perhaps that’s in a sequel?
Overall, Kiki Kallira offered so many beautiful reminders to own your power; to know your value; to lean into being brave and strong, even when it’s hard; to do things your own way, using your own unique interests and gifts; to not let your perceived flaws or struggles make you feel lesser than others; and to not suffer silently - to speak up and ask for the help you need.
This book was whimsical and heartbreaking, adventurous and inspiring, creative and relatable, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I love portal fantasy books, I love the found family trope, I love adventure, and I love it when the main character (especially of an adventure) is female, so this had all the ingredients of a win for me. The Indian mythology within this story also added a fun and unique twist that I found to be really interesting and culturally informative.
Not only do I think Mandanna is a great author, but I also find her to be wonderfully creative. Descriptions of sparkling orbs of bottled sunlight floating overhead or sewing threads of starlight or sunbeams into fabric, for example, felt so magical and poetic.
I also think Mandanna handled the mental health aspect of this novel with a lot of grace. She did such a wonderful job of narrating Kiki’s anxiety that I wonder if she, herself, suffers with it. More than getting it right, though - the thoughts, the itchy scratchiness of those thoughts, the self-flagellation at not being able to control those thoughts and thinking less of yourself because of it - Mandanna also conveyed so much compassion for people struggling with mental illness, particularly in the conversation between Kiki and Ashwini on pages 237-240.
“You know there’s nothing wrong with you,” Ashwini told Kiki. “It’s just an illness. A chronic condition,” she continued. “It’s something that’s a part of you, but it’s not all of you.” She went on to make the point that just because Kiki's brain didn't work exactly the way she'd like it to, it didn't make her lesser in any way.
It might have been a bit heavy-handed, but it was nice to see mental illness handled with so much compassion and grace.
On the other hand, there were a couple of plot lines in the middle that I felt weren't heavy-handed enough, and here's where we enter major spoiler territory...
Spoiler #1:
Spoiler #2:
Overall, Kiki Kallira offered so many beautiful reminders to own your power; to know your value; to lean into being brave and strong, even when it’s hard; to do things your own way, using your own unique interests and gifts; to not let your perceived flaws or struggles make you feel lesser than others; and to not suffer silently - to speak up and ask for the help you need.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Minor: Child death
sarahnh's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Fantastic middle grade novel. I loved it and so did my kid sister.
e_l_smith's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Fun and enjoyable, but not terribly gripping.
bibliobrandie's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this but as I feel with many middle grade fantasy books, about 100 pages too long. I love the world that Kiki creates, I loved learning about Indian mythology, and the characters are great. Kiki's anxiety is another character in the book, which at times felt like too much but also very realistic. Kiki's mom is awesome. She tells Kiki it's okay to live inside her head and is very supportive.