This was an absolute joy to read! I've come to expect great things from the Rick Riordan Imprint, and this story did not disappoint. From the first page, I was immediately sucked into the world of Korean magic and the story of a girl trying to save her family while learning the truth about her heritage. The magic system is extremely compelling: six witch clans that each have specific powers, and that these powers are based on the elements. Seeing magic blended into the modern world is one of my favorite tropes of all time, and I absolutely adored how it was handled in this book.

The characters were well-developed and it was fascinating to see them grow on the page. I loved our main character, Riley, and reading about her love for her family and her desire to feel accepted as a witch was amazing. I connected to her easily, and her bond with her sister was one of my favorite things. What was great about this story is the side characters didn't get overshadowed at all. Hattie, Emmett, and Taeyo had their respective storylines and growth (I love Emmett!), but also smaller characters such as Jennie, which could have easily faded in the background, got a story, and it didn't feel crowded.

I thoroughly enjoyed the action and the twists in the plot. I didn't expect the ending, and I think it was done wonderfully. This was an incredible debut and I cannot wait for the next book!

I received an e-arc of this title from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. It is full of adventure and revolves around fantasy, mythology, and magic. There is a strong theme of friendship and bravery. This book has just the right amount of suspense to keep interest piqued. An excellent addition to the Rick Riordan presents collection.

This book easily draws you in to the inner turmoil Riley is going through. It's real and the lore is beautifully presented. I want to be part of the Horangi Clan!

A fun look into Korean mythology and adventure. It was a interesting story about a girl who desperately wants to become a witch and in her attempt to get magical powers family secrets are revealed and she finds that she’s bargained for more than she can handle. Overall an okay read, I did wish more mythology was explored and the plot was a fine read. The incidents were resolved fairly quickly and overall a okay read.

*Thanks Netgalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

4.5* This is a wonderful book, as can be expected from Rick Riordan Presents. In this world, there are magical or gifted clans that exist with their own specialties and patron goddesses. Riley Oh is a 13 year old who grew up in a Gom family. Her family are healers. But, Riley herself is adopted and she is saram - non-gifted. Because of this, she felt like an outsider, even if her family are very loving. She is particularly close to her sister, who came up with a scheme to perform a forbidden magic spell that will allow the two of them to share powers. So starts an adventure that leads to Riley finding her identity and place in this world. I love the premise, the characters, and the writing. It weaves Korean mythology skillfully with the modern world. Not sure how many books this series is going to be, but after reading this first book, I'm very excited for the next ones.

Will def get likened to Dragon Pearl because of who published it, but it was honestly so good. I enjoyed the rich mythological tradition, I also enjoyed how fun the book was. My only critical thought is that the inciting incident - the sister being trapped or killed or whatever - happened too late and also happened at the end of too many inciting incidents. Like, spread it out. Keep the book simple! Let the fun stuff shine through

The Last Fallen Star is an action packed adventure about Riley Oh, an adopted Korean girl who doesn’t fit into her family because she is a saram ( has no magical ability) while her family is part of the Gom clan. Gin’s have the ability to heal. Riley’s sister Hattie loves her so much and knows that her sister wishes to be magical so they hatch a plan to make this happen. Unfortunately, their plan goes awry and leads them on a journey filled with many twists and turns. In the end Riley has some hard decisions to make in order to not only restore her sister and her life back to normal. Love how the author weaves her Korean culture into the story, using their ancient gods and beliefs and giving them a modern twist.

Another excellent entry in the Rick Riordan Presents series. The Last Fallen Star will appeal to a wide variety of young readers. The presentation of Korean and Korean-American culture will definitely be a draw, particularly given the current hallyu wave in the US. Engaging and exciting, this title will especially appeal to young readers who may be reluctant to take on longer fantasy books. Highly recommended.

This is a delight!

The Last Fallen Star by Graci Kim is a mythological adventure going from one realm to another. Riley Oh wants nothing more than to be like her family and do magic, but as a saram -- someone who is non-gifted -- she is essentially barred from any involvement. When her older sister conspires a way to share their family magic, Riley is thrown into an adventure to not just understand her family's legacy, but of a prophecy that dooms them all. With angry goddesses, a lost star, a dragon-scooter named Boris, sentient houses, and hungry ghosts, Los Angeles is full of mythological adventures for witches everywhere!

Much like the other books in the Rick Riordan Presents line, The Last Fallen Star has engaging world-building, both whimsical and practical, and an exceptionally strong third act. Riley's stakes are intense, setting things up perfectly for the sequel. What I love most of all is the dynamic between Riley and Hattie. It's wonderful to see such a strong sister dynamic in a fantasy book, and their love for each other is palpable as they would do anything to make the other happy (and safe!). I cannot wait to see how this develops in the next book.

Perfect for young readers who are going through a strong mythology and witch phase!

A copy was provided to me by NetGalley. All opinions are my own!

Graci Kim's The Last Fallen Star is a Korean (American) story written in the tradition of Rick Riordan. Set in Los Angeles among a Korean cultural mythos, the story follows Riley Oh as she searches for belonging as the only non-magical saram among a community of fully-magical witches. When Riley and her adoptive-sister Hattie perform a forbidden spell that puts Hattie's life in danger, Riley must find not only her own form of magic but also her self-confidence in order to save her sister.

The story is perhaps necessarily derivative of Rick Riordan and his Percy Jackson series, but Kim's voice adds freshness to the well-worn framework. In addition, the inclusion of OwnVoices stories adapting Riordan's structure is a wonderful goal. The Last Fallen Star offers a beautiful window and mirror that many students wouldn't have been able to find in this sub-genre of writing. It's a stunning addition to the Riordan-esque collection.

The plot is somewhat interesting, but the writing style is that of a children's book. Which is a good thing, because this is for children. I like that this is basically asian Percy Jackson, I learned a lot about Korean mythology!

~~~~ 3.5 Stars ~~~~

This MG read was a quick, entertaining, jaunt through Cali. It had a very relaxed vibe with laid back, modern dialogue. The premise was awesome with unique mythological creatures and an interesting explanation for their Magic. This Korean tale of Magic, Family (both given and chosen), Friends and Power merged nicely with the modern day backdrop.

The writing was good if not a tiny bit succinct. Although it did tend to be predictable at times, it still was fun exploring this fantastical world. Then there was the foooood! There was a whole lot of eating going on and this foodie appreciated all of the enticing shout outs to yummy cuisine.

The pace was steady but not frantic as the plot... needing to save the quickly diminishing life of a sister... called for (but never really delivered). I felt little to no suspense even though there should have been (strike# 1). There also was no struggle with conflict resolution. Things just simply worked. No pain for the gain = a slightly cranky reader here (strike# 2). BUT I let both transgressions slide (for the most part) because the rest was undeniably entertaining.

Overall:

The world building was the star here AND even though I'm more of a character driven novel enthusiast, I still enjoyed this read. I might not be the exact demographic for this book though... it definitely has a younger (than myself) vibe... but I enjoyed it all the same.

If you're on the fence or just plain curious, you should definitely give this book a shot ESPECIALLY if you like a read with a strong female MC coming of age with close relationships, Magic and loads of mythical creatures and fantastical scenarios happening right smack dab in the middle of modern day California. It is a fun, clean, magical adventure suited for all ages.

~ Enjoy

*** I was given a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ***

This book is so much fun!! I adore all witchy books, and this one was fascinating and such a delight. Loved getting to follow Riley on her adventure to claim her own Korean magic--and prove to her community of witches that she does belong and can work a magic that will make them all proud. Loved all the aspects of Korean folklore woven into this story, plus the book has empowering messages of learning to understand others--and ourselves!--with more nuance and compassion. An important new book that MG readers will have a blast reading.

The Last Fallen Star has one of the most innovative worlds and magic systems I’ve read about in a very long time. And the plot was captivating as well! It was action packed and full of unexpected twists and turns.

Hattie and Riley are such interesting main characters, and I absolutely loved their relationship. Many books take two sisters and pit them against one another or have them reluctantly help one another because they’re family. It was a breath of fresh air to see two sisters who deeply care for one another and put the other’s happiness before their own.

My main gripe with this book is the way the kids talk. The – I guess you would call it slang? – they were using was extremely jarring. Every few pages, I’d be pulled out the book by another phrase. Some examples:

“No wayyy,” a few of them exclaim. “You have all the good goss,” someone else says. Jennie smirks. “Yes way.”
“Don’t know any of the deets”
“Jenny is officially the worst”
“Uh-huh, I’m totes obsessed”
“TBH, it’s a bit rich of him to say I shouldn’t need magic when he low-key uses it all the time”

Since no one I’ve ever spoken to talks like that, those types of speech patterns shocked me into thinking about how I’d never hear people talk that way, and therefore drew me away from the story.

I felt like all the right ingredients were present in this book. It has intriguing plot twists, a wonderfully new type of magic system, as well as truly interesting main characters. I really can’t put my finger on why, but despite all these qualities, and despite how well-written I found the characters, I never fully connected with any of them. This meant that much to my dismay, when bad things were happening to the characters, I didn’t much care. Well, to rephrase, I did feel badly, but mostly I just wanted to continue reading to figure out what was going to happen plot-wise. This didn’t ruin the book for me by any means, as there were many other wonderful elements of this book that drew me in instead. I also expect that many others will care deeply about these characters, so take my opinion here with a grain of salt!

Overall, this was a very good first book, and I’ll be looking forward to reading more of Graci Kim’s work in the future.

(https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3809096008)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book was one of my new favorite reads! I adored it. The characters were stunningly done, and the author did a great job making them come to life and making you feel for them and their problems. The worldbuilding was exquisite, and I fell in love with the Gifted Clans and their cool powers! Emmet is my spirit animal. "Emotions give you wrinkles" is my new catchphrase! All in all, I adored this book and the mythology in it, and I recommend it if you enjoy mythology and Percy Jackson-esqe books.

I HAVE TO WRITE THIS REVIEW IN ALL CAPS. WHY, YOU ASK? WELL, IT'S BECAUSE I WANT TO SCREAM HOW MUCH I LOVED THIS STORY. MAGIC. WHO DOESN'T ENJOY A STORY WITH MAGIC? I FOUND THE CHARACTERIZATIONS REALISTIC AND RELATABLE. THE PLOT HELD ME THE ENTIRE TIME. I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED THE BOOK IN ITS ENTIRETY. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND IT TO LOVERS OF YA.

Riordan does it again! I absolutely love this imprint! The Last Fallen Star is a wonderful book I would recommend to anyone. Especially kids of the same background, and teachers to bring into their classroom. I loved this heartfelt story of adventure.

I grew up reading Rick Riordan's works, but this is the first book I've read that was part of Rick Riordan Presents. While I like the platform that it gives to multicultural mythologies, I can't help but compare it to Riordan's Percy Jackson series.

Overall, I found that this series fell a bit flat. The Korean mythology wasn't fleshed out enough, and terms that I'm not familiar with were thrown around without much explanation. Also, I found the characters were underdeveloped. So many side characters were kind of just there. Sure they serve some sort of purpose at one point, but a majority of them weren't interesting. The plot itself was also just okay and a lot of the conflict was resolved rather quickly. Despite the flaws that this had, I'm glad that this series is a good step for introducing people to Korean mythology.

What a ride! I absolutely fell head over heels for this heartfelt, adventurous, and magical debut middle grade from Graci Kim. This is 100% an author to watch and I can't wait for the next book and the continuing adventures of Riley, Emmett, and the rest of the squad!

Think you NetGalley for this eARC!

In this Rick Riordan Present series, we’re introduced to Riley- a Korean-American almost-13-year-old. She was adopted into a family of magically gifted healers, though she is ‘saram’ (without magic). Riley and her sister, Hattie, come up with a plan to share Hattie’s magic... but things to not go as planned.

Honestly, this was a DNF for me. I tried.
This book differs from other RRP books I’ve read in that we start with a protagonist fully versed in the mythological world. That means there is a LOT of exposition needed to get everyone up to speed. In the other books, readers get to learn alongside the characters, which allows it to not be ‘so much.’ I was able to get about a third of the way through, and just struggled with being invested at all. I’m sure that some people will really love this book. It definitely has a great plot line, I just personally couldn’t get through the extra long exposition.