A mostly interesting book that I wished I could have liked a little more than I did. It's a story that I found to be a little to unoriginal for my liking but I imagine younger readers would enjoy it.

Magdalena and her friends Gabriel and Hubert decide to spend a beautiful day exploring the woods behind Hubert's farm. Magdalena just celebrated her 13th birthday and her wish to have something exciting happen to her has come true, but not in the way she had hoped! When people say to "be careful what you wish for," this is exactly what they had in mind!

I loved the description of this book and was looking forward to reading it, but there were a few glaring problems that really took away from my ability to fully engage with the characters and the story. The description of the book says that it is for middle grades to young adult, but I really think it is geared more toward the younger set. The characters are 13, so I would say this is the age of the readers that would enjoy it, as young adults would really notice the problems and be bogged down by them, as I was. The way the kids speak was weirdly formal, especially for 13 year olds. For example, they didn't use contractions when speaking to each other, and they explained things that the others should already know, almost like they were adults speaking to children instead of young teenagers speaking to friends they've known their whole lives. And at one point, when Magdalena is talking with 5 of her good friends (the members of MALB, the Mystical Alliance of Lily Brooke), she says: "This morning, he made eye contact with my mother, Leona, and had his assistant take his place at the door to greet the morning attendees. My mother turned to my father, Paulos, and excused herself stating she needed to go to the ladies' restroom." Again, these kids have known each other all of their lives, so you would assume they know who her mother and father are, which was why it was odd that she threw her parents' names in there, like they had no idea who she was talking about! I've just never heard kids do that, especially 13 year olds who seem to abbreviate everything these days. Then there was the wrong usage of who/whoever and whom/whomever, which is a pet peeve of mine. I stumbled every time the words were used wrong: e.g. "Whom wrote such a ridiculous story?" This happened over and over again. Also, the writing seems forced sometimes, which breaks the reader's concentration and the flow of the story itself. Other times, something just doesn't make sense, so you have to stop and figure out what didn't work in the sentence, and that takes you out of the story as well: "The group all tried to bend, move or sway the perfectly spaced boulders, but nothing gave." How the heck do you bend or sway a boulder? It just doesn't make sense.

Another big problem for me was that there would be pages of descriptions of what was happening in a scene, as well as dialogue, and then when someone new came along, instead of just saying that the character repeated what they had heard, done or said, they actually repeated the whole darn thing! There was way too much retelling and re-explaining, and I feel like that bogged the story down a lot. But other times, not enough was explained. When something big happens to Magdalena in the second half of the book, and I mean big as in life changing, rock my world kind of big, she has a moment of indecision, then says she has come to terms with it, and then just seems to know instinctively what to do and how to do it (it's hard to describe it without giving it away lol), even though it's something that adults would have to take time themselves to figure out! There just wasn't enough explanation of how one got from point A to point B sometimes.

Now, the things that I liked about the book: the story itself was a good one. There was a sense of intrigue and mystery that drew you in and made you want to continue to read. The characters were described very well so it was easy to find yourself invested in them. The world building was great, so much so that you felt you were walking around Lily Brooke alongside the characters. The characters were likable so you found yourself honestly pulling for them to solve the mystery and save the town. The title comes from the choice you have in life of choosing the straight path, staying on the straight and narrow, or choosing the crooked trail, which can lead you to trouble. I really loved that symbolism.

In summary, I liked the actual story here, and the characters, but felt the book was bogged down with unnecessary repetition, stilted conversations, and story flow problems, which could all be fixed if the book were to be re-edited.

I'm giving this book 3 stars out of 5 :)

The plot really takes off, and how it is all going to end is totally unpredictable - the urge to keep turning pages increases in line with the pressure on the characters. The book is all beautifully written and masterfully created. I find the novel explores the effect on relationships which is literally 'mind-blowing'. I find this book is an extremely good read which is also very informative.

Within the first few chapters I just knew I couldn't put it down until I had devoured it's every content. It has been a long time since I have been so gripped by a book.

If you are looking for a book for Christmas presents then this is a must. It is one of those special books that deserves to become a bestseller. One book not to be judged by its cover!

I cannot wait to see what the rest of the series has to offer.

Would definitely recommend to all friends and family.

This was an enjoyable fantasy/thriller novel that I would definitely recommend to any middle grade teachers. It held my attention and I really enjoyed the characters!

A spooky enchanted middle grade low fantasy.
Though the beginning of the book suggested a contemprary sweet middlegrade , it qiickly turned into a fastmoving thriller.
Hubert was so relatable for me. I was a chicken in childhood , so the book was not much relatable.
The story telling was good but repeating events got exhausting.
A nice spooky read for a saturday afternoon.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an opportunity to review this e-ARC.

I was initially drawn to this book by the cover, but it turned into an epic fantasy-thriller I couldn’t put down! This middle grade story was full of magical spells, witches and demons, all to be discovered just beyond the Crooked Trail.
The story was about a group of young friends in the town of Lily Brooke that formed a group called The Mystical Alliance of Lily Brooke, MALB. Without giving too much away, somehow demons are unleashed on the town and MALB has to save the day.
This is a cute and fun spooky middle grade book that I definitely recommend! Thank you to NetGalley and IBPA for this e-copy.
This will be featured on my blog Tuesday November 27, 2018
Www.colecampfireblog.com

My name is Magdalena. Gabriel, Hubert, and I only wanted to explore, but we seem to have awakened something demonic. The others couldn't hear the noises and voices, but they stayed with me as we ventured through the dark cave and into the giant, vacant treehouse. I felt like we were being controlled and lured along. We've since learned some adults in our village know about the noises and voices, and they held a secret meeting in the dungeon below the church. Gabriel and I hid behind the dungeon's stone walls, and again, he couldn't hear the adults confirm our worst fears. However, I was stunned to discover how different I am from my friends, and I may be the only one who can save our town.

I think the target audience may have been toward the lower end of middle grade readers. The plot was interesting but slow-moving, especially in the beginning. Characters retold previously described events to their friends, rather than summarizing, which was like a teacher re-explaining something in class that everyone else already knew. The characters were creeped out by their strange encounters, but the evidence was so vague that it didn't create any kind of emotional reaction in me. The threat to the village was identified, but the actual danger wasn't really developed. The vocabulary used by the kids was more formal than expected. It felt strange to hear them not use contractions when speaking to each other, and some words seemed more mature than young kids might use. With all that being said, I enjoyed the concept of the plot and characters. A village was being hidden from an evil force, and young children inadvertently awakened the danger. I don't think the book lived up to what it could have been, but it still had entertaining moments.

A very good book that can be appreciated by people of all ages. It's well written, entertaining and keep you hooked since the first pages.
I liked the characters, they were well written and likeable.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this arc

Written in an accessible way, the book would prove a welcome addition to Amy classroom or school library shelf. A fine young adult genre book.

Grant created a beautiful story that engaged me until the very end. It was excellently written with a clear plot that just sucked the reader in and held on tight. Mags was a terribly relatable character whose curiosity often landed her into some struggles but with the help of those close beside her she was able to perceiver. This book had an almost spooky feel to it at times which will definitely draw others in, no matter the age.