Thank you to Random House Children's | Labyrinth Road, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this!

Sir Callie continues, an emotional and furious ride. Though I prefer more of a singular point-of-view for first person, I did like that Symes-Smith had us get to know the characters enough before introducing us into the head of Callie's companions.
I think my students would appreciate this-- shorter, cliffhanger chapters, representation of more types of queer characters, lives and love and loss and longing and loathing.

An absolutely fantastic third book, and I cannot wait to read and recommend it again!

Another great entry in the adventures of Sir Callie. I wish, however, that he would stop and think before going off. Very typical of the age and yet this is the third book so a bit more self-control first would be nice and would show some growth.
Looking forward to the next installment

❣️ big huge thank you to netgalley and penguin random house children’s/labyrinth road for allowing me to read an electronic advanced readers copy of this in exchange for an honest review ❣️

╔══ ❀•°𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘°•❀ ══╗
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

╔══ ❀•°𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕕 𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕜°•❀ ══╗
🎩 my way by frank sinatra - “for what is a man, what has he got. if not himself, then he has naught.”

💫 golden slumbers by the beatles - “once, there was a way to get back homeward. once, there was a way to get back home.”

🙌 gilded lily by cults - “haven’t i given enough, given enough?”

╔══ ❀•°𝕗𝕒𝕧𝕠𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕖 𝕢𝕦𝕠𝕥𝕖s°•❀ ══╗
💘 “ when we love someone, we give them permission to hurt us. ”

💧 “ sad doesn’t feel useful in the way that anger does. ”

⚔️ “ there is no valor in suffering. it helps no one. taking care of yourself does. ”

╔══ ❀•°𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨°•❀ ══╗
⭕ o v e r a l l - i liked this book a lot. i have so much love for this entire series and all the characters so it makes sense that this book would be another absolute knockout. i really appreciated getting to see other areas of the kingdom in this book — sometimes i feel like i forget that this takes place in a kingdom and not just helston as a city.

this book, like all books in the sir callie series does not shy away from the more ~mature~ topics of violence, prejudice, and grief. however, it is still clearly written for children in the middle grade genre vein. all these topics are talked about with grace while also being agonizingly real and true. characters in this book go through terrible things not because of plot development or needing to have strong character development. no. characters go through terrible things in this book because children go through terrible things in real life everyday. this is a fantasy story involving dragons and witches but it’s so hard to not remember every 5 pages that this is really just a big metaphor for the things d i f f e r e n t children go through whether that be because they’re neurodivergent, queer, or just seen as wrong in real life. i think it was done amazingly.

💨 p a c i n g - i’m not crazed about how the first 30% felt both agonizingly slow and also unnecessarily jam packed with info loading of current situations where book two left off. i’ll be honest, i read the first 30% and then put it down for about a week and a half before i could go back to it. i came off a high from book two and i knew that if i sped through book three it would be sour in my mouth just in comparison. this book is amazing and i’m glad i gave it that space. these are two different books. both wonderful in their own regard.

🫂 c h a r a c t e r s - i did not really vibe with the multi-pov for this story at the first couple of switches but once we got into the deep sh*t that each character had found themselves in, it was so worthwhile to see every little piece of the puzzle come together all across wyndebrel. every chapter seemed to be a punch in the gut the further and further we got into this book and definitely had me feeling for all the characters (not just the main ones!).

the character’s felt a lot more fleshed out in this one. i love how each character this book focuses on has something that completely radically challenges their beliefs for better or worse. for callie it’s the violence and death in their wake, for elowyn it’s the fact that she has a sensitive heart that people will see as a weakness, and for edwyn it’s the fact that he realizes he can stand up to those that abused him before.

⚖️ m o r a l i t y - i really appreciated how ~gray~ everything was. obviously i think callie stands for a lot of the right things and that the adults are wrong and are terrible but to a certain extent, i feel like this book puts a little more perspective on things. this is by no way translated as a DEFENSE against those who were wrong, just makes you realize that at the end of the day there are no enemies, just humans (and dragons!) making terrible choices (on both sides!).

❤️‍🩹 c o n c l u s i o n - if book two ended with devastation and death and grief and desperation… book three ends with hope. and that’s enough.

**Many thanks to Labyrinth Road/Random House Children's Books, and Netgalley for an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) of this book**

Hoo boy, here we go back into the depths of Helston's descent into madness...

Esme. Esme. My dear Esme. Why must you take me on such a roller coaster up and down, round and around, and make me feel such things?!

There is war on the horizon for Helston, Dumoor and Eyrewood, where every adult in a position of power has visions of fame, grandeur and righteous indignation so thick and slimy, it's disgusting. Of course, the kids are not alright. Not for the first time, our bunch of lovely adventurers (Callie, Willow, Elwyn and Edwyn) are caught in the crossfire of adult ambition at the expense of compassion, acceptance and love. Except this time, Callie and their friends find themselves apart from each other. And they must learn how to grow apart with a better understanding of themselves and their places in the world before they can grow back together as a whole.

That's right: our foursome is (for the most part) scattered to the wind, and each one experiences their own trials and struggles. Sometimes, the only shoes you have to walk in are your own, and there's no one walking beside you on the same path.

Callie, our brave champion, wars with themselves with guilt and mistrust. Willow continues to struggle with seeing what he might be, could be, is, and what society expects from a future king. Elowyn learns the hard way about gilded cages of her own making.

And Edwyn? Fighting back against the abuse you face from anyone, let alone the parents who have taken your innocence, is the hardest battle of them all. I say that because Callie, Willow and Elwyn's struggles can be solved much easier with experience, time and maturity. Edwyn's cannot without a harder mountain to climb.

I will be honest, this book was a hard one to get through for me. I physically felt ill at times, for the right reasons- I hate what Peran, what Helston, what the world is doing to these kids. It's targeted abuse, whether it is physically beating these kids down or using them as weapons for some twisted crusade. I know this is a multi book series. I know not everything will be solved by the end of the book. But my heart is craving catharsis. My heart hurts, HURTS, for these kids. And... that is the point. Even though these books are examples in a fantasy world, and the situations are not 1 for 1 to the real world, the sentiments and struggles ARE. It reminds us (society) that at the end of the day, our politics should not matter. Our agendas should not matter. Our selfishness should not matter. THE KIDS SHOULD MATTER.

This book upsets me because these kids should not have to go through this. They should not be living in a world where this type of hatred should exist, where adult ambition should triumph at the cost of the children's welfare.

It's also a testiment to Esme's ability at writing characters to make me feel such pain for Edwyn, such remorse for Elwyn, such sadness for Willow... and such frustration with Callie ( and all their bullheadedness). I love all these kids. The antagonists are such vile, irredeemable wastes of human life that I need to go read something fluffy to get my mind off them now. And that's one of the biggest compliments I can give to Esme's masterful storytelling- they have such a wonderful grasp on each character.

There is one thing I should point out, before I conclude this review; I would be doing this book an injustice if I didn't. Since the first book, the series has gotten progressively darker as we've rolled along. I would place Sir Callie #1 in the 10-12 year old range, Sir Callie #2 would be closer to 12-13. Sir Callie #3 is at least 13, if not borderline YA. I would not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone adult, even a young adult, but if it's a kid, I would want to make sure that kid is emotionally ready for it, and understands what they are heading into.

There's some trigger warnings for abuse, language, misgendering, LGBTQ+ hate (a few others that are spoilery, but if you can handle the previous, you can handle what develops). I have no doubt that someone too young would be frightened of what happens in certain scenes, or would not fully grasp how meaningful some moments in the book are. THIS IS NOT A NEGATIVE on the book. It is still a good book, and worth reading. However, for parents, I would check on your kids, assess their reading level and maturity, and proceed with this third installment when they are ready for it.

Overall, where's the next book, Esme?!?! More please.