A review by displacedcactus
Illuminations by T. Kingfisher

adventurous emotional fast-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? No
This is one of those T. Kingfisher books that stars a young protagonist and has kid-appropriate themes, but is written a bit more like an adult book. Honestly, I would have loved these when I was 10-12, because I read well above my "grade level", but had parents who were pretty strict about what I was allowed to read. I think parents, grandparents, and piblings could happily give these books to any advanced young readers in their life.

Illuminations follows Rosa, the youngest member of a family of magical artists. Rosa accidentally frees both a terrible monster and a magical talking crow and has to deal with the consequences, while also navigating some Big Feelings about friendship, jealousy, and artistic talent.

There's some violence and perilous situations that feel about on par with a PG-rated movie. No strong language and not even a whiff of sexuality.

My two small quibbles is that I felt the reasoning for waiting so long to tell Rosa's grown-up family members was weak, and that I didn't entirely agree with how they decided to deal with the monster in the end. But over all this was an enjoyable book and a great cozy read for a long holiday weekend.
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