Overall

This book had me with Celtic mythology. It’s something I don’t see very often in middle grade, and I happen to love adventure/mythology middle grade, so it seemed to fit well. Plus, even if it’s been done so many times before, it’s hard to resist the magic school setting and the nostalgia it always triggers in me!

Kelcie Murphy and the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts plunges the reader headlong into a world full of magic and danger based on Celtic mythology. You will absolutely fall for this squad of characters and their struggle to find a place they can belong!

There were moments I felt like this book slowed down a bit and dragged a little, and the big fight at the end resolved a little easily, but I had a lot of fun with this book anyway. I was caught by surprise by a couple plot twists, which is always fun. The characters is where this book really shines! I absolutely loved Kelcie’s little squad, their varied personalities, and the way they banter and joke. I can’t wait to have more adventures with this group.

My Thoughts

- Kelcie Murphy is such a relatable character as she stumbles her way through this chaotic world she was so rudely thrust into. What I really enjoyed about Kelcie is that she didn’t always do the logical thing (what kid ever does?!) or she sometimes makes silly decisions, but her character is so true to how normal people would react in the situation, for the most part. I mean, what else would you do if someone just started throwing ice at you, and then you end up in a world filled with magic and strange creatures?! It’d be a bit jarring, to say the least.

Then, after an entire life of thinking otherwise, she learns she has magic! Okay, sure, she maybe destroys some school property in the meantime, but who wouldn’t get a little carried away with their powers in that situation? I mean, nothing exploded, so I feel like she’s already got a leg up on how I’d probably react. Kelcie’s struggle, while not particularly fun for her, was very relatable, and I enjoyed the chance to discover the world with her. Plus, all she really wants to know is the truth about who she is, and is that not the most relatable desire of all time? It’s impossible not to root for her on her quest to find out more about herself and where she comes from.

- The secondary characters are an absolute riot, each with their own personalities. They don’t always mesh smoothly, but they come through when it really matters. Which is all that matters, right? There are a lot of characters in this book, which can sometimes make it difficult to keep track of everyone. That being said, each character had their own distinct personality, and it was a pleasure when they all came together and interacted. The other students in Kelcie’s house were delightful, and while still being supportive of her, they definitely took the chance to tease her when it arose.

Kelcie also has the three other students in her fianna, which is her fighting group. There’s one student from each house in the fianna, and they all bring their unique talents, but also their unique struggles. The leader is learning how to lead . . . and phew, let me say, he’s got his work cut out for him with this squad. Then there’s the warrior princess who has it all together on the surface but is definitely more than she seems. Even though she’s still a total badass, either way.

Don’t get me wrong, the fianna doesn’t always get along. How boring would that be? As Kelcie is learning and growing as herself, she’s also making connections with her peers and learning how to trust others. It isn’t always easy, but this group has to figure out how to come together to be an actual squad, and it’s delightful when they start to click.

- One of the secondary characters, Niall, was born without a hand, and he faces a lot of struggles from people counting him out or assuming he can’t do what everyone else can. Not that he’s going to let that stop him. And not that it matters to his fianna. Disability rep is growing in prevalence, but you still don’t see too many people missing limbs in fantasy, so I think the inclusion of Niall is super important. Especially because, despite missing a hand, he’s a core hero in this story and does some pretty amazing things. Yes, there are challenges he faces that are unique to his situation (like rope climbs!), but the point is he isn’t alone. He’s got a team that’s got his back. His uniqueness is their strength. Positive representation like this is so important, and Niall is a great character for it.

Niall isn’t just the “disability rep character,” either. He’s got so much depth and personality! While he doesn’t talk about his family much, it’s apparent that his family life is a bit complicated and he doesn’t always agree with his parents (and what kid does?!). He’s also caring and thoughtful and supportive of his teammates. Plus, his magic? Pretty awesome, not gonna lie. There’s also a teensy budding romance between him and Kelcie in a sort of baby crush middle grade way that was super adorable.

- This world is absolutely bonkers, and I absolutely love it! It’s full of danger and magic and I never knew what to expect to appear next. I mean, it starts with ice faeries, so I feel like it pretty well prepares the reader to expect something grand. Boy does Lewis deliver on that! This world is freaking awesome. I had no idea what the Otherworld would be like, other than magic and danger of course, but gosh, the different types of creatures there are super fun! I won’t talk too much about them, because the element of surprise is one thing that I loved about it so much. Rest assured, a visit to the Otherworld is definitely worth it, and I can’t wait to go back there in the next book. They even have Wolfbane that actually howls and very likely might attempt to eat you. If the plants are like that, imagine what the creatures are like!

SFRevu's June 2022 issue has a review of Kelcie Murphy and the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts. The review is exclusive to SFRevu until July 1, 2022. To read the review use this link: <http://sfrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=19694>.

This is such a fun start to a new middle grade series, and contains all my favorite elements.
Chosen one
Found family
Enemies to friends
Magical academy
Full of Celtic mythology, and memorable characters Kelcie Murphy and the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts is a great read and would recommend to anyone looking for a new middlegrade fantasy.

Don´t get me wrong, I really liked this book, but I always felt like something was missing while I was reading it. Kelcie is a good character and the plot is also full of potential, but I feel like the delivery of the story could´ve been done in a better way. The start and the end were strong, but the middle felt often times confusing. My favorite thing was the magic, that is certain! Nonetheless, I would still like to read this author´s future works!

Oh, if only this novel had come out when I was a child. I would have been smitten with everything about Kelcie Murphy and the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts. Truth be told, I'm still smitten with it now!

All Kelcie Murphy wants to do is find a way to attend The Academy for the Unbreakable Arts. She'd do anything to find her way to this school famous for training the world's best warriors, including doing everything to train herself beforehand.

Thankfully, she was able to pass the tests required to get into the school. In doing so, Kelcie learned something about herself. She's a Saiga, which grants her many different abilities. Now she must learn how to control them.

Kelcie Murphy and the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts is SUCH a fun read. Seriously, where was this book when I was little? I would have gobbled it up and begged for more. Oh wait, I'm still doing exactly that right now, aren't I? I hope that is a solid indication of how amazing this book is.

Everything about this book is designed to draw the audience in, from the pacing to the world and everything in between. There's always something happening on the pages, yet you can still tell that they're establishing a world for future books, which is fantastic because this series must go on! (Please?)

The characters were funny and cute. Together they make for a well-rounded group – which is perfect. I think that most kids reading this will find a character they can connect with, making it easier to relate to the magical world that these kids are tromping around it.

I was pleasantly surprised by all of the action and danger found within these pages. Once again, I am confident that a younger me would have adored this book with all of her little heart. So please read Kelcie Murphy and the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts.

Kelcie Murphy has never known her parents, but when she is attacked by fairies on a school field trip, she discovers a whole world she never knew about exists, and that the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts (AUA). Kelcie finds herself enrolled at AUA and starts to learn about this world's history, and who she is. Honestly this has been one of my all time favourite magic school books. It is filled with Celtic mythology and Gaelic words, but as a reader you aren't left feeling lost since Kelcie is learning all about this mythology and the Gaelic words as well. Not only that, Kelcie is such a likeable character, and she feels so real. This is definitely a book I recommend to anyone looking for something similar to Harry Potter, Amari or the School of Good and Evil!

This was such a great middle grade fantasy adventure books. I think this is one of the newer middle grade academia books that I hope people start pushing towards children hoping to get interested in reading instead of HP. I think it will engage young readers and get them excited to pick up other middle grade fantasies.

Here's a Celtic version of teens at a school of magic, the first in a series.

Kelcie begins as a foster child, living in a group home in the human world, after being rescued from Boston Harbor.

When she turns 12, she ends up journeying to the Otherworld and being enrolled in the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts which trains warriors to protect the Lands of Summer.

Kelcie makes friends. There are escalating attacks that they fend off together. She struggles to control her growing powers, and to be true to herself.

This is the description for the book "Brimming with Celtic mythology, action, and danger, Erika Lewis's Kelcie Murphy and The Academy for the Unbreakable Arts introduces readers to a new kind of magical school and a warrior who must choose with which side of an epic battle her destiny will lie."

This description is not wrong; there was action, danger, and Celtic mythology. Kelcie is a kick a** character, that doesn't know her own history or powers. The adventure we all go on to find the answers was fantastic.

I cannot wait to read book 2 (no pressure Erika Lewis).

A fantastic middle-grade that delves into Celtic mythology! Perfect for kids (or anyone) who loves Percy Jackson, Aru Shah, and Amari Peters!

I really enjoyed this story. It had the Harry Potter air about it, but it was so much more. This story had so many great themes running through it. Along the way, lessons are learned about family, teamwork, the value of yourself and those around you, honesty, and more.

It was great to see the main character evolve from being a street urchin who felt completely worthless in the world to fully coming into her own as a self confident young girl who knew full well her power and where she belonged in the world.

I look forward to reading future books in this series to see where Kelcie’s life heads next.

Orphan Kelcie Murphy is used to being excluded or overlooked, and fending for herself even when she's supposed to be taken care of by the foster care system. It turns out that she's a Saiga, descended from those able to wield elemental magic. She's dying to attend the Academy of Unbreakable Arts to learn to use this power, as well as find out who her parents really are.

This book borrows heavily on Celtic mythology, with its creatures and different forms of magical powers. The Otherworld contains the magic that our world doesn't and had been embroiled in a magical war not too long before the book opens. It's divided into Summer and Winter Courts, where the fairies aren't supposed to cross from one side to the other. A powerful object would allow Winter to overpower Summer, and Kelcie's tied to it. Plenty of students don't trust her because of the Saiga heritage, even though she didn't know what it meant. Distrusted and doubted, Kelcie has poor control of her magic and is targeted from the very start.

I really felt for Kelcie, as she endured a lot as a foster kid and doesn't expect much from other children. Even when she crosses into the Otherworld, she doesn't receive much better at first. She does make a handful of good friends, and this is what allows her to grow and thrive. Kelcie learns who she is: not just who she's descended from, but what kind of person she truly is in times of trouble. It's a new kind of magical school, with teachers that care about students and don't necessarily put them all through unnecessary harm in the name of teaching lessons. That being said, magic can be very dangerous, especially if there's no control. I liked seeing positive adult role models for Kelcie, and that she learned to trust these adults as well as friends.

As a middle-grade heroine, she's responsible for saving the Academy and potentially the world she had just learned about. This feels believable and will be great for kids to read about.

A fun magic school book that will appeal to fans of Percy Jackson and Harry Potter. Kelcie doesn't know what she's in for when she follows two fairies into a tree which dumps her at the Academy of Unbreakable Arts. Although it follows a formula that many others have done before (kid in the modern day "real world" ends up with magical powers and goes to a school to learn how to use those powers), I enjoyed reading the story of Kelcie and her friends and look forward to their further adventures.

I loved this book! I love books with magical schools. The characters are fantastic. I really enjoyed all the different magical abilities and mythology tidbits. I will definitely pick up the next book in this series when it comes out. This is a new favorite!

I was looking forward to this book because I usually enjoy MG books - especially those set at magic schools - and the synopsis looked like something I would love. However, I failed to connect with the main character at all. The book is very plot-based, which is fine, but the events zip along with no real weight to any of them. It just feels rushed.

I felt like I was reading a list of 'this happened then this happened then this happened' and while it should have all been very exciting it was just boring and implausible and didn't make a lot of sense. It also felt like it had been cobbled together from other MG magic school books and that was irritating. Like the beginning gave me major Percy Jackson vibes.

I can imagine liking this more if I were the target audience and hadn't been exposed to a lot of other books in the genre, but for me it was a disappointment.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Starscape for providing an e-arc for review.

An entertaining, yet formulaic and predictable story of an orphan who finds herself at a school of magic where she must learn to harness her powers and discover her hidden past. I can see 5th-7th graders enjoying this book, but it does little to differentiate itself from other stories set in schools of magic.

Loved this story and it's great reading an MG read that has more Celtic Mythology in it since I don't usually see much with Celtic Mythology in it. This is about Kelcie, a human who was raised a foster child in the human world and who one-day transports and finds herself at The Academy for the Unbreakable Arts where she gets tested and admitted as a Saiga, which is one of the most ancient beings in the Otherworld. She gets to learn to train how to fight with combat training and learn how to use her powers. She discovers that she's related to the Otherworld's most infamous traitor.
Kelcie can't remember when she was a kid or much about her parents or who they are or anything. She learns and makes friends in the academy and has to figure out who she is and remember her past, her parents, and what happened when she was little. She and Niall have a cute little budding romance and she and Brona have a great friendship. This has a great glossary to help with terms relating to Celtic Mythology in the back.
Comparing this to Percy Jackson and Harry Potter doesn't seem very accurate though because this story is all its own. It did feel like it was a little slow in parts but overall it was enjoyable and a great read.
Thanks so much to NetGalley and MacMillan-Tor/Forge/Starscape for letting me read and review this fun MG read. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Starting out I was just as confused as the main character was as what was going on. But then the book sucked me in. I couldn’t put it down. It has great world building and character development. It keeps you guessing as to who is evil and who is good. I hope there will be a sequel.

I am loathe to compare all mythology related middle grade books to Percy Jackson. But the opening sequence of Kelcie Murphy is so reminiscent of the first chapter of The Lightning Thief that it is impossible to ignore. "Troublemaker" child accused of something she didn't do? Check. Missing/unknown parents that the foreboding adult seems to know something about? Check. While I truly wanted to enjoy this book, the first couple chapters as well as some of the clunky writing just didn't do it for me. DNF'd this book.

Thank you for the arc copy. I liked this book. The strongest point was for.me the characters. They Were diverse and strong and complimented each other. I liked the Quest and the story. It was very magical. But i kept comparing it to Harry Potter. Thank you to netgalley for this e arc in exchange for an honest opinion