Cover Image: The Slug Queen Chronicles

The Slug Queen Chronicles

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Fun, enjoyable, and a quick read. I enjoyed the author's voice and charming characters, My littles are excited to read the author's other series.

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Hobgobs, giants, and Slugwumps, oh my! Reading “The Slug Queen Chronicles” was a delight!

Kudos to the author for writing such a delightful middle-grade fantasy. While the story starts as a simple one where Cricket reads her mom’s journal, it soon takes a creepy turn of events when her brother Tristan gets replaced by a slugwump. From there, we explore the various worlds the author has created, from the Wandering Woods to Faeryland to Polaris. The illustrations included also complement the story wonderfully, and I loved the details.

Moreover, the author wrote the characters so dynamically that you feel strongly towards them. Cricket is excellent in the lead as she finds herself in a world of pixies and spider creatures. Although she is scared, she shows courage and determination to save her friends and family. Similarly, I was not too fond of Janice for the way she treats Cricket. Even the whimsical characters like Kibben and Nokomis, who Cricket meets, are fascinating. I also liked Alfrigg and Fenlick.

Moreover, the author weaves a touch of everything into the story that a reader of any age would enjoy reading. Some of the scenes made me laugh, like the incident between Miss Rivera and the cat. While some scenes also shocked me, like when Cricket finds herself talking to a door. Some parts also gave me goosebumps, like when terrors try to rip Cricket apart. It is clear that the author has weaved an intricate story with many possibilities, and I didn’t notice the time fly by once I started.

Overall, “The Slug Queen Chronicles” is a beautiful middle-grade fantasy novel worth checking out if you are a fan of the genre.

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This was a really cute middle grade novel that involved all sorts of fantasy. I really enjoyed the journey that Cricket has to go on to save her brother from tooth fairies.

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The author built this cool new world, and created some weird creatures...
Still not for me.
But, why you ask?
I hated Cricket.
She was far too whiny; even for a 12 year old.
Thanks to NetGalley & BooksGoSocial for my DRC.

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S. O Thomas's Slug Queen Chronicles is middle-grade magic, as 12 year old Cricket learns the origin of her odd ability to see brightly-colored trails of dust. The secrets of this strange gift, inherited from Cricket's deceased mother, lie in the journal Cricket also inherits on her 12th birthday.

Setting out to make sense of her new ability, Cricket is then pulled into the fantasy realm of Aeryland when her baby brother is kidnapped and replaced with an dastardly double, the true nature of whom only Cricket can see.

As Cricket strives to master her powers and save her brother, Thomas's storytelling boasts a wide array of unusual landscapes, uniquely named creatures, and colorful characters like Flitwick, a talking cat who becomes Cricket's travel companion. Areyland is brought to life even further with dazzling, intricate pen and ink illustrations from Corina Alvarez Loeblich.

Although this thrilling fantasy adventure is designed for young readers, it will also appeal to adult fans of Alice in Wonderland, or Jim Henson's Labyrinth.

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Definitely a fun and easy read for anyone who loves the fantasy genre. I think it’ll appeal to readers of all ages.

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this was a really fun magical read, the characters were great and I really enjoyed reading it. I would be interested in reading more from this universe.

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DNF- read only up to 20%, this was just not for me. Nothing wrong with the story or writing, just not my taste

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4.5 stars

It was amazing! Colorful and full of imagination, with quite a scary premise and a constantly moving story which was never too slow. Beautiful illustrations too!

Cricket is always waiting for her dad to give her something her mom would have liked for her birthday, but this year she receives so much more - her mother's journal. However, she doesn't know that it will bring more trouble than joy. Cricket learns that she is special - not crazy, as she thought before. Cricket seems to be neurodiverse - she has what we could call synaesthesia (I'm just drawing a conclusion, that's not mentioned - as I have synaesthesia myself), except Cricket's is probably more magical! The colored dust she's been seeing all her life turns out to be something her mom saw too. Pretty soon, she decides to do an experiment of something she read in her mom's journal, and... Regrets it, because it wrecks her entire life. And now she's got to go to Fairyland to fix it all. And steal her little brother back.

What follows is a pretty amazing journey through magical lands, ruled by an evil female Santa and inhabited by flying cats and whatnot! I found everything very interesting, and specifically very fresh. It's hard to write a Fairyland that's new - there are just so many Fairyland stories, and yet, I really liked the way this one was written. I have to also say that it was specifically centered around empowering girls. Plus, the twists! Brilliant book, and I definitely would love a part 2 if that's ever in the plans.

Oh, and the illustrations are amazing too!

I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.

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*Thank you NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

This was an adorable midgrade book about magic and family. I really enjoyed it's originality! It really did a good job with focusing on friendship, bravery, personal growth, and family. The magic in it was interesting and entertaining, and I kept thinking about how much my daughter would love to read this.
I would recommend this to anyone who loves midgrade stories about magic, and strong family bonds.

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I received a complimentary copy of this book from BookGoSocial through NetGalley. Thanks for providing me the opportunity to review.

Cricket has always been able to see the dust. Different colors of dust mean different things to her, and her family and best friend have accepted and embraced this. When Cricket turns twelve, her father gifts her a journal that belonged to her mother. Cricket learns that her mother was also able to see this dust, that her mother knew a little bit more about where this dust came from. Cricket attempts to catch what her mother calls a gibbersnatch but ends up creating quite the problem for herself.

Cricket’s half brother Tristan has been replaced with a creature from a fairy world, a creature that creates a lot of negative emotion in the people around Cricket. Cricket must fix this and get her brother back. Cricket enters the fairy world with the help of a cat-like creature named Fenlick. She meets other friends and creatures along the way and learns a lot about herself in the process.

This book reminded me a lot of Alice in Wonderland, which unfortunately was not a good thing. The premise was good, but I ended up loosing interest about halfway through the book. Too many and long description of magical stuff, endless journey and some parts not quite understandable, I just got lost in the strange details that didn't seem to fit. I was also not very attached to Cricket as a character and that could have been why I didn't enjoy it very much

It probably will be a good book for others but not for me.

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I requested and received an e-ARC of this book from NetGalley and BookGoSocial publishing in exchange for my honest review.

This book starts with Cricket being able to see coloured dust trails around everything that no one else can see, from that point the story only gets weirder. This book was a really fun read; the author did a great job of creating strange creatures in the land of Fae.

I thoroughly enjoyed this wild and crazy ride.

#TheSlugQueenChronicles #NetGalley

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I'm not really a big fan of middle grade, and that might be because I've outgrown that genre of fiction novels. However, I am a big sucker for anything fey, and this book is full of magic and wonder. The Slug Queen Chronicles gave me massive Alice and Wonderland vibes in the way the different characters were introduced, how they interacted in the various scenes and the mirror imagery of different worlds.

S.O. Thomas' imagination is incredible, and the chapter illustrations are beautiful. They're like a combination of stained glass and mixed media. Made up of vivid colours just like the way the author describes the various senses. The coloured dust that our little protagonist Cricket sees, reminds me also of Synesthesia, a condition that affects one of the senses; for example being able to see colour.

I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would, and definitely think it would make a great addition to any pre-teen's bookshelf.

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This was a nice read. It gives a nod to Alice in Wonderland, Labrinyth, and a certain character from Terry Pratchett/folklore.

It is fast paced, there’s never a dull moment, and the characters are likeable. I think there’s plenty of scope for future character development and many other side stories here.

My thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy.

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This is one I wish I'd had as a child.

Some highlights for me:

• Little illustrations of our heroine punctuated throughout
• Talking cat??!!
• Depictions of a step-family that were uncomfortable at times but totally worth it overall in terms of representation
• Magic ✨✨✨*

* Not just the fantastical elements; big black girl magic energy 🙌🏽

After Cricket discovers that the tooth fairy is real— along with a host of other mythical beings— and her plan to trap him and demand answers goes sideways, she has to travel to Aeryland to find her baby brother before he's harvested for his teeth and everything changes for her family for good.

From the very first chapter, Slug Queen captivated my attention with the way it described the Dust. It reminded me of the way having Sensory Processing Disorder feels. Not gonna lie, I immediately headcanoned Cricket as autistic. (I'm autistic - we don't get much representation, and black representation at that 🤷🏽‍♀️)

A fun first foray into world-building and fantasy for middle grade. Great for reading together too!

Overall, I RECOMMEND adding this one to your wishlists. (Available for pre-order now; releases on April 2, 2020.)

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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Feeling always a little odd seeing colored dust, life of 11 year old Cricket changes when she gets the old journal of her mom for her birthday. Finding out her mom was like her, she tries the experiments mentioned in the book and suddenly everything goes wrong with ending her brother being robbed by a gibber snatch...

The book offers a fun read for middle grade kids with lots of action, betrayal and mystery. But Cricket will find as well new friends and her story will for sure entertain. The book is easy to read, only some names of the creatures can be a bit hard to pronounce for smaller ones. The topic is a bit dark and more mature than you would expect for a children's book, but still ok to read. Readers will sucked into a magical world, where everything is possible. Fun to read together as well.

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. A marvelous story for middle graders, beautifully designed and illustrated. Many smart and unexpected twists on well known characters and Cricket is just a strong, loving main character telling her own and unique story.

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Creative, inventive, and a title that immediately captured my curiosity. Readers of fantasy and science fiction will enjoy this original novel, and now I want to read more from S.O. Thomas.

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I think it has been so long since I have read a middle grade book that I went into this one expecting a book more for my kids (elementary age). After the initial shock of finding this a little darker and more mature than I expected, I actually really enjoyed it. The Slug Queen is a middle grade book that brings all of our fairy tales into question. This book transports the reader into a fantastic world where nothing is as it seems and anything can be possible with female santas, talking cats and giant wild rabbits.

Cricket is an 11 year girl who has always been a little different, she can see colored dust when no one else does. All her life she thought it was all in her head until she receives her mom’s old journal for a birthday present. The journal opened up Cricket’s eyes to the fact that her mom could also see the colored dust (along with her childhood friend) and performed experiments to find out what the color’s meant. Cricket performs one of the experiments to catch the tooth fairy (a gibber snatch), but instead of taking the tooth the gibber snatch took her baby brother, Tristan. When the Gibber Snatch left behind a fake Tristan there was a release of black fairy dust which caused people to behave strangely and cruelly. After her life gets turned upside down with the black dust, she is visited by an invisible talking cat who explains to her what has happened to Tristan and how she can get him back. The cat leads Cricket on a journey into Aeryland where the dust has already started to effect the inhabitants so nothing is as it seems and she doesn’t know who to trust. The rest of the story is filled with action, new friends, mystery and betrayal; definitely enough to keep you entertained.

As I said earlier, this is definitely for middle grade kids since the story gets a little too dark for little ones when the aerydust is involved, not to mention some of those names for the different creatures are tongue twisters for an inexperienced reader. Even though this was only season 1 of the chronicles, it can be read as a stand-alone since everything gets resolved by the end.
*I received an Advanced Copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

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Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free e-arc for review.

This is a tough one for me to review. I think I went into it expecting it to be more elementary aged, and it's definitely a middle grade book. There are some issues that I have with it, most prominently the way that Cricket's stepmom treats her after she is affected by the aerydust; I understand it for the purpose of the story, and they do resolve their relationship at the end, but it was very difficult to read.

Cricket is a young girl who has always been able to see colored dust in the world around her, in every color of the rainbow except black and purple. Her dad always told her it was just her imagination, until one year, for her birthday, he gave Cricket the journal that her mom left for her before she died. It turns out, she and her mom shared the ability to see the dust!

As Cricket and her best friend hatch a plan to trap a tooth fairy (or a gibber snatch), their plan falls apart as Cricket's little brother, Tristan, is kidnapped and the border between Fairy Land/Aeryland is made more permeable and our world is infected with black fairy dust, called aerydust.

The journey that follows sees poor Cricket thrown into a world she doesn't understand, fighting against forces she's never heard of, and utterly alone and unsure of whom to trust. I think Cricket is a strong girl, and I appreciate that the author allowed her to have little breakdowns, but ultimately come through (mostly) unscathed and with a better understanding of herself and her relationships with her family and friends.

The ending wraps up pretty neatly, and there are some touching moments as Cricket learns what true friendship and love means.

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