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thepagelady's review against another edition
5.0
Between Monsters and Marvels is a fantastic read! It has mystery, adventure, magic, monsters and more! I really enjoyed this book! The characters are complex and you can help but like them! The descriptions of the monsters and the settings are done so well that you can clearly picture every single one and place! The young readers are going to love this and will be asking for more!
bibliovermis's review against another edition
3.0
I don't know why this book did not click with me; it had so many great elements! I spent most of it just not very engaged; it seems like I was waiting half the book for the story to begin. Definitely a good book for the right reader, which clearly I was not.
eceleste's review
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
i think i liked the verdegris pawn a little better but this was still really good:) i looved that there was a gross 1910s esque harbor city. loved the characters and i thought the discussionof how narratives in history are manipulated was really good
leefodi's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed The Verdigris Pawn by Alyssa Wishingrad, but loved this book even more (I’m not going to lie—it’s wholly due to all the amazing creatures). Main character Dare is a flawed and likeable heroine (I enjoyed the parts where she wrestles with her “awful”) and she is surrounded by an intriguing ensemble cast (humans AND creatures). An important theme of this book is perception, and how something can be viewed by someone as a monster and someone else as a marvel. The world building was delightful, with City-on-the-Pike feeling like a real place that you can walk through and explore. Finally, there’s a nice plot twist at the end and, even though I suspected a revelation was coming, it wasn’t what I predicted!
I’m really looking forward to sharing this one with the students in my creative writing classes as part of our book club.
I’m really looking forward to sharing this one with the students in my creative writing classes as part of our book club.
candragonsread's review against another edition
4.0
This was an enjoyable and heartfelt middle grade. The Characters, world building, plot were all imaginative, transportive, and lovable. I think the author did a great job of weaving together a story about mischief and monsters but also including messages with deeper meanings, such as taking for granted things we rely on.
bahopkins's review against another edition
5.0
As a fan of Alysa’s “The Verdigris Pawn”, her new middle grade book BETWEEN MONSTERS AND MARVELS was one I had been eagerly awaiting. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!
When I read MG books, I always think back to my own days as a kid, often reading under the covers past bedtime with a flashlight. BETWEEN MONSTERS AND MARVELS is most definitely a book kid-Barb would have not been able to put down.
Dare Coates is an awful girl. She’s been told that her whole life and she believes it. But Dare is so much more than what she, and everyone else thinks she is. Dare is wise and inquisitive and utterly fearless. One of my favorite quotes about Dare is:
“She was happy to be a thornbush among the lilies for even the sharpest thorns serve a purpose.”
After tragedy strikes and Dare is sent away from her isolated island home to live with a distant relative in a gritty city on the mainland, Dare discovers the stories she’s been told all her life about monsters may not be precisely true.
Beyond Dare’s quest to uncover the truth about the monsters, giving the reader ample pages of action, mystery, magic, and creepy moments, this book also tackles deeper themes including grief, societal inequalities, and corruption. I think it’s important for young readers to delve into stories that show a MG protagonist questioning the actual truth of what has been considered “known” history.
One of my absolute favorite things about Alysa Wishingrad’s writing is her ability to completely command my attention with details that immerse me into the story and make me not want to leave. Her vivid descriptions of the island, Dare’s time on the ship, the city, and especially the theater centered me into Dare’s world. I also love that Dare finds friendship in unexpected places and how she learns that maybe she doesn’t have to always go it alone. That’s an important message for any age of reader.
I highly recommend BETWEEN MONSTERS AND MARVELS for middle grade readers, teens, and adults because there is something there for every age. It’s a beautifully written book and I’d love to read a sequel because I wasn’t ready to leave Dare and her world when I hit the last page.
When I read MG books, I always think back to my own days as a kid, often reading under the covers past bedtime with a flashlight. BETWEEN MONSTERS AND MARVELS is most definitely a book kid-Barb would have not been able to put down.
Dare Coates is an awful girl. She’s been told that her whole life and she believes it. But Dare is so much more than what she, and everyone else thinks she is. Dare is wise and inquisitive and utterly fearless. One of my favorite quotes about Dare is:
“She was happy to be a thornbush among the lilies for even the sharpest thorns serve a purpose.”
After tragedy strikes and Dare is sent away from her isolated island home to live with a distant relative in a gritty city on the mainland, Dare discovers the stories she’s been told all her life about monsters may not be precisely true.
Beyond Dare’s quest to uncover the truth about the monsters, giving the reader ample pages of action, mystery, magic, and creepy moments, this book also tackles deeper themes including grief, societal inequalities, and corruption. I think it’s important for young readers to delve into stories that show a MG protagonist questioning the actual truth of what has been considered “known” history.
One of my absolute favorite things about Alysa Wishingrad’s writing is her ability to completely command my attention with details that immerse me into the story and make me not want to leave. Her vivid descriptions of the island, Dare’s time on the ship, the city, and especially the theater centered me into Dare’s world. I also love that Dare finds friendship in unexpected places and how she learns that maybe she doesn’t have to always go it alone. That’s an important message for any age of reader.
I highly recommend BETWEEN MONSTERS AND MARVELS for middle grade readers, teens, and adults because there is something there for every age. It’s a beautifully written book and I’d love to read a sequel because I wasn’t ready to leave Dare and her world when I hit the last page.
tmlore's review against another edition
5.0
Between Monsters and Marvels by Alysa Wishingrad
Five Star Read!
Release day is 9/12/23.
I have to tell you about this high-stakes middle grade fantasy novel that I just read. It’s called Between Monsters and Marvels and was written by Alysa Wishingrad.
To say that Dare Coates has a difficult life is somewhat of an understatement. I mean, it started out okay for her, who doesn’t want to live on an island that monsters used to inhabit? It gives mystery to the place you love most… home. Dare’s father, who is captain of the guard starts acting funny, and not really giving her the attention that he normally does, but on day while out on patrol, he ends up dead. Dare is crushed, as he was her favorite person in the whole world. Dares suspicions grow that monsters could still be on the island.
Which just starts this mystery.
It is a wonderful read for anyone, full of mystery and suspense, and yes… monsters!
I didn’t guess the end either which is a wonderful treat for me as a reader! Well done, Alysa!
Be sure to pick up this book when it comes out on September 12th!
Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Collins Children’s Books, and Alysa Wishingrad for this ARC copy.
The books description has been copied below. I really can't wait until you guys can get a hold of your own copies! I know I'll be buying one for myself and my nieces, too. set reminders in your phones to grab one when they come out in September!
Books Description:
A standalone high-stakes middle grade fantasy by Alysa Wishingrad, author of the Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection The Verdigris Pawn. Monsters are still lurking on Barrow's Bay.
Dare Coates is sure of it. No drifter or ruffian could have killed her father, the Captain of the Guard, while he was on patrol. But everyone insists that monsters have been gone for years now. Dare's mother. Her classmates. Even the governor, who swiftly marries her mother just months after her father's death.
Dare's suspicions grow even stronger when the governor suddenly ships her off to the mainland, away from any hope of uncovering the truth about her father's death.
Or so she thinks. Soon Dare finds solid proof that monsters still exist and she starts to question everything she's always known. Was her father who she thought he was? Who can she trust? Where is the line between good and evil?
The truth hides behind danger and deception. But with the help of an unlikely crew of cohorts and a stray beastie, nothing can stop Dare from finding out what happened to her father and exposing who the real monsters are.
Perfect for fans of Ellen Oh's Spirit Hunters
and
Lauren Oliver's The Magnificent Monsters of Cedar Street.
Have a great day guys! And remember... Inspire Readers, Inspire Writers, Inspire Each Other!
Five Star Read!
Release day is 9/12/23.
I have to tell you about this high-stakes middle grade fantasy novel that I just read. It’s called Between Monsters and Marvels and was written by Alysa Wishingrad.
To say that Dare Coates has a difficult life is somewhat of an understatement. I mean, it started out okay for her, who doesn’t want to live on an island that monsters used to inhabit? It gives mystery to the place you love most… home. Dare’s father, who is captain of the guard starts acting funny, and not really giving her the attention that he normally does, but on day while out on patrol, he ends up dead. Dare is crushed, as he was her favorite person in the whole world. Dares suspicions grow that monsters could still be on the island.
Which just starts this mystery.
It is a wonderful read for anyone, full of mystery and suspense, and yes… monsters!
I didn’t guess the end either which is a wonderful treat for me as a reader! Well done, Alysa!
Be sure to pick up this book when it comes out on September 12th!
Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Collins Children’s Books, and Alysa Wishingrad for this ARC copy.
The books description has been copied below. I really can't wait until you guys can get a hold of your own copies! I know I'll be buying one for myself and my nieces, too. set reminders in your phones to grab one when they come out in September!
Books Description:
A standalone high-stakes middle grade fantasy by Alysa Wishingrad, author of the Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection The Verdigris Pawn. Monsters are still lurking on Barrow's Bay.
Dare Coates is sure of it. No drifter or ruffian could have killed her father, the Captain of the Guard, while he was on patrol. But everyone insists that monsters have been gone for years now. Dare's mother. Her classmates. Even the governor, who swiftly marries her mother just months after her father's death.
Dare's suspicions grow even stronger when the governor suddenly ships her off to the mainland, away from any hope of uncovering the truth about her father's death.
Or so she thinks. Soon Dare finds solid proof that monsters still exist and she starts to question everything she's always known. Was her father who she thought he was? Who can she trust? Where is the line between good and evil?
The truth hides behind danger and deception. But with the help of an unlikely crew of cohorts and a stray beastie, nothing can stop Dare from finding out what happened to her father and exposing who the real monsters are.
Perfect for fans of Ellen Oh's Spirit Hunters
and
Lauren Oliver's The Magnificent Monsters of Cedar Street.
Have a great day guys! And remember... Inspire Readers, Inspire Writers, Inspire Each Other!
jnishi's review against another edition
5.0
This was a thrilling and wonderful read. It echoed 19th century industrial period so well! I loved the themes of truth and who the monsters are. Loved it. On a short list for my school book club next year for sure.