Cover Image: The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy

The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy

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Member Reviews

Great read for fans of dark secrets and magic. I enjoyed the pace of the story. I have been recommending this great story.

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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

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Loved this book. Can't wait to read more by the author. Fast paced and interesting. Will add to my classroom library.

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I really wanted to love this book. It's a really cool concept. However, I found the mystery to be rather predictable. I did really like how the girls find their own voices.

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This middle grade fantasy is a must read for those who love books about magic. When Marya accidentally uses her power, she is sent to a home for troubled girls but the more she learns about the history of witches and magic in the land, the more she realizes that perhaps she's not the troubled one after all.

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This book rests on a solid structure: a world with magic that only boys are allowed to learn. That standard structure suggests some pretty obvious plot points: namely that of girls with a natural affinity for magic and the systemic methods used to repress it. The ideas here are presented in a blunt manner, the characters given a basic level of depth.

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This is a novel who attends a magical school in place of her brother. The story is very fast-paced. The characters are likable. The school is enchanting. Therefore, I recommend this fans of Shannon Hale, Soman Chainani, and Jill Murphy!

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This terrific magical mystery is about Marya who is struggling to find her place. She ends up at a magical academy that feels a bit like punishment. She finds a mystery there and in solving it, finds her own place as well as a place for her new friends. This is wonderfully written coming of age story. Don't miss it!

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A fantastic fantasy novel about a world that shuns magical power in girls. Richly written and full of sharp and interesting characters, this will be a hard book to put down for any reader that loves fantasy.

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This was a really great story about a young girl who gets the chance to defy her family and attend a magical school, in place of her brother. The school setting in this book was fantastic-I'm a sucker for a magical school setting!

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Loved how this was about fighting back against a patriarchal magic system (though I'm disappointed that we didn't get to meet the witches of the north). I also loved the idea of messages in embroidery! I think the girls could have been quirkier since they kind of bled together sometimes.

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We put this book in our Mock Newbery unit. I loved it. It was different enough from other magic boarding school books that I was intrigued. I did not love it as much as I loved Anne's The Real Boy, but that was my first Anne Ursu book and nothing else has been the same.

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If you've read the author's previous middle grade titles, (I've read Breadcrumbs and The Real Boy), you expect strong plotting, characters, and themes, and she successfully delivers these strengths in this girl empowerment fantasy, The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy. Mayra lives in a culture where girls hold little value and are constantly told they don't do anything right, while boys are educated in magic, and as men hold the important role of saviors and defenders against the Dread. Mayra wants to learn, but her dreams are constantly tamped down by her parents, who have staked all their time and energy on her brother, Luka, in order that he will become the next sorcerer. Fortunately, her neighbor, secretly teachers her to readThings go badly during his evaluation, Mayra is blamed, and she subsequently is sent off to Dragomir Academy, where all the troubled girls learn to be an assistant for a sorcerer. Things are not what the seem, and Mayra comes to comprehend what her friend, Mrs. Badu, meant by the question ”Who does the story serve?” Unforgettable plot with a message that seems very relevant to today.

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This is a captivating story about Marya, a young girl living in a village that is under the threat of the magical "Dread", a force that kills entire villages, and is being fought off by sorcerers. The society is very patriarchal, and Marya is sent to a school for troubled girls, where she slowly begins to make friends as she learns the truth about what is going on.

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Marya lives in the country of Illyria with her parents and brother who can do no wrong. Marya does a lot of things wrong though and can't seem to be the little lady that her mother wants her to be. A sorcerer comes to their house to test her brother, Luka, but Marya messes that up, too. Shortly thereafer, Marya receives a letter commanding her to go to Dragomir, a school for troubled girls. Oh, what those troubled girls uncover. This would make a good read aloud. Grades 4-7.

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I asked for this because it sounded interesting, but after having read several other YA fantasy books this year that fell short, I started reading with no high hopes. Thankfully, Ursu came through and delivers a well-crafted story that hit all the right notes.

We have a strong but not perfect young female lead, we have some mystery, we have a interesting system of magic (if not deeply defined, defined enough to support the story), decent world building, characters that have some depth without being corny or annoying. And we have a story that had enough depth to it that it was engaging, wasn't overly didactic, and didn't feel like it was pandering to the current state of the world.

If you like your fantasy to be closer to home, in a world that is just a little bit different than our own but still feels familiar, and if you like stories about young people who go off to boarding school (esp schools with a questionable history), give this book a try!

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Wonderful character development and plot that will be sure to intrigue middle-grade students! Great message about being stuck and the choices we make.

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Thank you to the publisher for an early copy of this book.

Another amazing read by author Anne Ursu. Filled with strong female characters and messages of the power of reading, education, and information, this middle grade/YA fantasy is going to be a hugely popular title with my upper elementary students who have enjoyed Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and Keeper of the Lost Cities.

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This book is somewhat formulaic in its plot but what makes it stand out is the repeated theme of questioning the narrative. I loved that the characters learn to interrogate what they're being told and who that story benefits.

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From the moment I met Marya, I knew she would be a special girl. Despite all the attention being hefted on her brother, despite all the grief her parents give her, despite all the hard times, heartless moments, and a general lack of love displayed, I just knew that her story wasn't meant to end there. She was meant for bigger things, and whether or not her own brand of magic was recognized, one day she'd be seen for who she was.

Lucky for her, she has a select group of people that believe in her, and no matter how small, or distant that support may be, it matters. SHE matters. In fact, all the girls dumped or rounded up at this girl matter SO MUCH MORE than they can even fathom. With those tenuous bonds of friendship made frayed to their ends, the quest to uncover the why behind the school, the curriculum (or lack thereof), and just why that terrible Dread is acting more our of sorts than usual seem like a lost cause, but I beg you, put your trust in those that you're told to not trust. Give a chance to those that have been written off. Use your noodle and gather your courage for all the times you were second guessed or under minded, and take heart because their world hadn't seen anything yet...and the best kept secret of all is the one hidden in plain sight.

I loved the story, and the characters. Trying to figure out the angles along the way kept you going, and just when you thought it would go one way, you were back to square one, but if you follow Marya's trail wherever it may lead, you'll be THAT much closer to the answer....and the discovery that she makes that no one saw coming. I can't wait to see what might be in store for future tales!

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