gflood129's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
kayladaniella's review against another edition
4.0
"Instead of a leader, I wish to be a water-breather."
Emblem Island: Curse of the Night Witch by Alex Aster is a wonderful, middle grade, debut novel. It was a quick and fun read, although it had some flaws.
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Type: 1st in a duology
POV: 1 POV, third person, past tense
Age Rating: 8-12 years old
~Synopsis~
On Emblem Island, all are born with a symbol on their skin, depicting what their talent is. Twelve-year-old Tor Luna was born with a leadership emblem. He hates his mark and is determined to choose a different path for himself. On the annual New Year's Eve celebration, Tor makes a wish for a different power. The next morning, he wakes up to a new marking—a curse. To break the curse, he must travel to the Night Witch with his two best friends and ancient stories as his guide. With his lifeline cut to just a week left, he must race against the clock to break the curse.
"His emblem... It was gone. And something sat in its place. 'Oh no,' Tor said, rubbing at his wrist. 'No, no, no, no.' This could not be happening."
~Writing and Setting~
While I understand this book is middle grade, the writing felt very elementary to me. It was very simple, almost too simple, and some of the metaphors were a bit weird. But, one thing that I did find very interesting was the book inside the book. It's something that isn't seen much and for this book it really worked. The book inside the book was a collection of ancient myths and legends, The Book of Cuentos, that will appear to Tor later in the book. The legends were my favorite part of this series and they were written poetically and charming. Comparing to the legends, the rest of the writing was a bit of a let down. That being said, Aster was able to create a world like never seen before. Emblem Island was dangerous, colorful, and intriguing. Each town they visited was unique and distinct from each other. I loved how Aster incorporated her latino roots and represented latino culture.
Once upon a midnight hour, the sea felt it was owed a debt.
~Plot~
The book was very fast paced, and rushed at certain paces. It was a very fast, 1 sit, sort of read. The roadblocks they faced on the quest were all very quick and resolved to quickly. They were fun, though. I really liked how the book ended, and yes, there is a cliffhanger at the end. There was a clear beginning, middle, twist, and end, making it a solid story.
"You see, a warrior always assesses their opponent's weakness. Weakness for one is opportunity for another."
~Characters~
The trio of friends was a very classic group of kids. The 'I don't want to be the hero' one. The 'smart, unlikeable' one. And the 'food obsessed, goofy' one. Tor was ok. Neither outstanding or boring. He was a fine main character. He didn't really have a defining trait like his friends, but he was conscious of his actions and accepted his consequences without question. Grimelda (Melda) didn't have any friends, and was unliked for being a smart-mouth. Throughout this book, she has so much growth, and I actually started liking her by the end. Her emblem was also leadership. She made bold choices, and although she was annoying, the knowledge she possessed came extremely handy. Engle was easily my favorite character. His emblem was sightseeing, meaning he could see very far away and sometime in the dark. He always had a hungry stomach and always wanted to go on a adventure. He added so much humour while saving the group multiple times. He's a quick thinker and my favorite.
"Engle licked each of his fingers, having eaten three rolls already."
~Overall~
Curse of the Night Witch was a cute and fun read. It was a bit too simply written, even for middle grade, but the plot was interesting enough to read the whole book. I will be reading the next book. This book is great for young kids who are starting to read long chapter books.
"Here's to more adventure."
3.5/5 stars
Emblem Island: Curse of the Night Witch by Alex Aster is a wonderful, middle grade, debut novel. It was a quick and fun read, although it had some flaws.
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Type: 1st in a duology
POV: 1 POV, third person, past tense
Age Rating: 8-12 years old
~Synopsis~
On Emblem Island, all are born with a symbol on their skin, depicting what their talent is. Twelve-year-old Tor Luna was born with a leadership emblem. He hates his mark and is determined to choose a different path for himself. On the annual New Year's Eve celebration, Tor makes a wish for a different power. The next morning, he wakes up to a new marking—a curse. To break the curse, he must travel to the Night Witch with his two best friends and ancient stories as his guide. With his lifeline cut to just a week left, he must race against the clock to break the curse.
"His emblem... It was gone. And something sat in its place. 'Oh no,' Tor said, rubbing at his wrist. 'No, no, no, no.' This could not be happening."
~Writing and Setting~
While I understand this book is middle grade, the writing felt very elementary to me. It was very simple, almost too simple, and some of the metaphors were a bit weird. But, one thing that I did find very interesting was the book inside the book. It's something that isn't seen much and for this book it really worked. The book inside the book was a collection of ancient myths and legends, The Book of Cuentos, that will appear to Tor later in the book. The legends were my favorite part of this series and they were written poetically and charming. Comparing to the legends, the rest of the writing was a bit of a let down. That being said, Aster was able to create a world like never seen before. Emblem Island was dangerous, colorful, and intriguing. Each town they visited was unique and distinct from each other. I loved how Aster incorporated her latino roots and represented latino culture.
Once upon a midnight hour, the sea felt it was owed a debt.
~Plot~
The book was very fast paced, and rushed at certain paces. It was a very fast, 1 sit, sort of read. The roadblocks they faced on the quest were all very quick and resolved to quickly. They were fun, though. I really liked how the book ended, and yes, there is a cliffhanger at the end. There was a clear beginning, middle, twist, and end, making it a solid story.
"You see, a warrior always assesses their opponent's weakness. Weakness for one is opportunity for another."
~Characters~
The trio of friends was a very classic group of kids. The 'I don't want to be the hero' one. The 'smart, unlikeable' one. And the 'food obsessed, goofy' one. Tor was ok. Neither outstanding or boring. He was a fine main character. He didn't really have a defining trait like his friends, but he was conscious of his actions and accepted his consequences without question. Grimelda (Melda) didn't have any friends, and was unliked for being a smart-mouth. Throughout this book, she has so much growth, and I actually started liking her by the end. Her emblem was also leadership. She made bold choices, and although she was annoying, the knowledge she possessed came extremely handy. Engle was easily my favorite character. His emblem was sightseeing, meaning he could see very far away and sometime in the dark. He always had a hungry stomach and always wanted to go on a adventure. He added so much humour while saving the group multiple times. He's a quick thinker and my favorite.
"Engle licked each of his fingers, having eaten three rolls already."
~Overall~
Curse of the Night Witch was a cute and fun read. It was a bit too simply written, even for middle grade, but the plot was interesting enough to read the whole book. I will be reading the next book. This book is great for young kids who are starting to read long chapter books.
"Here's to more adventure."
3.5/5 stars
alyram4's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this!! I don't read middle grade books that often, and the ones I do are usually ones I grew up with. I loved the sound of this book, and I'm so happy that I can honestly say it was a fantastic read! The pacing is just perfect, giving us a gradual buildup and then full steam ahead. Tor and his friends were extremely relatable, and I have no doubt that readers will fall in love with them. While Tor is our male MC, I can say that anyone will enjoy him as our protagonist. I adored this book, and I'll be picking up a physical hardback for sure!
orion's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
ladymickbeth's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
3.5
I read this after reading Lightlark, Alex Aster’s infamous Young/New Adult novel. Curse of the Night Witch proves that she can either write decently if she tries or that Lightlark didn’t have an editor while Night Witch did.
Positives of this book: good sense of most of the settings, especially Estrelle, the main character’s village; fun adventure; focus on friendships; not a unique premise, necessarily, with the emblems, but the “people get a special talent” aspect was told in a novel way (although I did call emblems “cutie marks” like in My Little Pony” when explaining the book to a friend); I didn’t expect the Night Witch’s motivations, and there is a sacrifice for Tor rather than a convenient ending.
Negatives: there were places that felt very rushed to me.Tor, Engle, and Melda are in Frostflake (silly name) for about fifteen minutes before they leave again, and in the jungle place, we’re basically told by one character “lol yeah I’m basically a werewolf” and that’s the end of that? <\spoiler> Some of the emblems seem super overpowered. I get the super good ones are much more rare than the ones for, say, cooking or strength, but still, it feels like new emblems are introduced whenever the author feels like being dramatic and making someone edgy. Some categories were briefly mentioned, but I would have liked a bit more on establishing what kinds of emblems there are so some of them didn’t feel so randomly thrown in. I also wanted to hear more about what emblems might entail - it’s said several times that a feature of a leadership emblem is a loud voice and people with farsighted have sensitive eyes: I would have liked to know what other features some people have. Can people with singing emblems also mimic sounds well? Can cooking emblems enhance taste or smell to make them better at cooking? I love knowing magic and world mechanics, so everyone might not feel this way, but it’s something I think would have improved the story. There are some other little things that bothered me, but I’m tired of writing this, and those are my main pros and cons.
Positives of this book: good sense of most of the settings, especially Estrelle, the main character’s village; fun adventure; focus on friendships; not a unique premise, necessarily, with the emblems, but the “people get a special talent” aspect was told in a novel way (although I did call emblems “cutie marks” like in My Little Pony” when explaining the book to a friend); I didn’t expect the Night Witch’s motivations, and there is a sacrifice for Tor rather than a convenient ending.
Negatives: there were places that felt very rushed to me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, and Kidnapping
Minor: Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Death
mboicekeith's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
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
laffi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Das ist der mit Abstand fieseste Cliffhanger, den ich kenne.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, and Cursing
Moderate: Violence, Death, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: War
beloved_bridget's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
ok I've got a lot to say. first off, this book is far too similar to percy jackson and aru shah, and the trio is way too similar to harry potter's. I really think I would've liked it more if I hadn't been able to make such close comparisons.
second, the integration of mythology into the story felt somewhat weak. it was a cool idea to include entire excerpts of the myths, but the characters barely discussed them . Melda was the only one with any sort of mythology knowledge, and it was barely acknowledged? idk
second, the integration of mythology into the story felt somewhat weak. it was a cool idea to include entire excerpts of the myths, but the characters barely discussed them . Melda was the only one with any sort of mythology knowledge, and it was barely acknowledged? idk