Kiki MacAdoo and the Graveyard Ballerinas is definitely and fun and exciting read! Kiki and her sister attend a summer ballet camp which is located in a remote area. On the first day, they are told to stay away from the woods because it is dangerous! However, Kiki does go into the woods and encounters some strange and unusual creatures and ghosts. The plot has some interesting twists and goes back and forth between Kiki's frustrations in ballet class and her discovery and adventures in the woods. Children who love ballet will enjoy reading about Kiki's ballet struggles and everyone will enjoy the suspenseful adventure with the creatures and ghosts in the woods.

Book Review: Kiki MacAdoo and the Graveyard Ballerinas by Colette Sewall
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5 Stars
Thank you to @netgalley and @owlhollowpress for the eARC of this story!

I was super excited to have the opportunity to review this book because it's about a young ballerina, and my daughter desperately wants to become a ballerina.
Kiki MacAdoo, and her sister Alison, are off to a three week summer ballet program. Mount Faylinn Dance Conservatory is nestled amongst a small town and enchanted wood, where it is rumored that ballets come to life.
Kiki befriends a local, named Oliver, who introduces her to the magical world hidden within the woods, while also warning her of the dangers it holds.

Sewall has created a magical world of fairies, Willa the wisps, and ballerinas. This enchanting take is perfect for young readers that love dance and magic. I will definitely be getting this for my daughter.

Things to note: Kiki is 12 and Alison turns 16. They are dealing with the death of their mother. There is some pretty intense danger, magic/ alchemy in the culminating scene.

Did someone say ballerinas & ghosts????

KIKI MACADOO offers a particularly exciting plot for MG readers - two sisters are sent to a ballet conservatory surrounded by dark, magical woods, where the slightest misstep has consequences and sinister machinations are at play. Colette Sewall has a lovely way with words, and I immediately adored Kiki; perhaps she's no prodigy when it comes to ballet, but she has a fierce heart and felt perfectly relatable.

I appreciated how much Sewall tackled in this book, combining magic with realer problems like grief, sisterhood, first crushes, and the struggle of being an ordinary girl surrounded by extraordinary people. The atmosphere was both spooky and lush, the tension was crackling, and the ballet specifics were ... shall we say ... en pointe? No? Too much?

Nevertheless, I couldn't help but feel KIKI MACADOO was missing something I couldn't put my finger on. Perhaps it was because, at times, the plot felt a touch too easy. The blurb tells us that Kiki's sister disappears, but that doesn't happen until the 75% mark - as soon as the sylphs are introduced, though, we KNOW what's going to happen, and I found myself just waiting for Allison to disappear so that part of the plot could unfold. It's all too convenient - Allison fits the exact profile of girls that sylphs kidnap from the onset, so there are very few unknowns left for the reader to unravel. Sure, we have a money-hungry relative appear from nowhere, but I found I could predict what was going to happen far too early. The worldbuilding, too, was lackluster - why is this section of forest populated with ghosts and fairies? If so many girls had gone missing, why was that not a bigger story clinging to the conservatory? And what about all the boys they drowned? What's going on with Kiki's ghost-eyes? How did the fairies fit with the ghosts? There were so many components that could've fed into a great mystery, but I was never surprised by anything, and that made the whole story feel a touch flat.

That being said, it's still an imaginative and exciting tale. I imagine it would settle well with younger MG readers, especially those with interests in dance and the supernatural. 3/5.

Kiki MacAdoo and her older sister Alison head to a summer ballet camp in a mysterious remote forest in this middle grade adventure. While Alison is ahead of her age group in her skills as a ballerina, Kiki places in the lowest and youngest group, bemoaning her lack of progress in her favorite activity. Soon after the sisters arrive, Kiki learns of the existence of fairies in the enchanted woods surrounding the conservatory thanks to Oliver, a local ballet student she befriends. Oliver soon reveals another of the forest's secrets, a graveyard of sylphs and their sordid tales as heartbroken young ballerinas.

I won't give away any more of the plot but the characters of this book really seem to capture the age of the intended audience. Kiki's inner monologue, her triumphs, and her struggles seem very akin to those of a 12-year old middle school student. I really enjoyed the different intersections of folklore in this book and how the author connected everything to the ballet school. There is everything here you want in a middle grade book!

This book is everything a middle grade book should be. Adventure, mystery, and a character that resembles that of a real twelve-year-old. Kiki is a typical twelve year old, seeing all her flaws and not paying attention to the things that make her unique. She wants to be like her older sister Alison and a 3 week stay at Faylinn ballet school brings her real strength and courage to life.

This book was a joy to read, the writing was superb and it flowed effortlessly onto the page. As a reader I was drawn into the story right from the beginning and I thought the emotions that Kiki displayed and faced on her adventure were really well done. I loved her uniqueness and the way she created her own words.

Faylinn is not what it seems and weird things happen before Kiki even leaves her house. The promise of mystery and adventure had me turning the pages and I loved how the ballet school came to life with vivid descriptions that were both eerie and magical. I felt Kiki's emotions as she struggled to fit in and her disappointment at not being as balanced and coordinated as the other children.

Oliver was another excellent character and as he and Kiki explored the mystery of Faylinn and set out to protect the school and the students, I couldn't stop reading. The Willis were dangerous and cunning and Kiki fought all her fears to take them on.

I loved the theme of family that ran throughout the story and even found myself tearing up at the end. This book reminded me of why I fell in love with reading at such an early age and how any story told well can resonate with a reader of any age. I think all 10 to 12 year old girls will love this story and find parts of themselves in it too.

A big thank you to Owl Hollow Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this beautifully written, action packed, spooky tale.