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A review by lesserjoke
Kiki Kallira Breaks a Kingdom by Sangu Mandanna
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