This was a good MG novel, that I would definitely recommend to those who think it sounds interesting!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher

Psychic, medium, and flower power equals one magical tween girl!

Totally Psychic by Brigid Martin is a debut standalone middle grade novel and is a magical coming of age story centered around a Cuban American tween. Paloma is a newly gifted psychic and is eager to dive into her work with spirits and famous people like her grandmother. But things happen to go very wrong when she tries to do a seance at her new school. How will she deal with the consequences of her actions?

I really enjoyed this novel because it’s super relatable yet fun! The struggles of dealing with moving to a new state, new school, and making new friends all the while finding yourself is a universal challenge. Additionally, the family dynamics are so beautifully interwoven throughout the story, with the connections to Abuela, Paloma’s aunts and uncles, as well as her sister. Multiple generations of psychics and connectedness. Speaking of her sister, the sibling rivalry is top notch here.

It was also very cool to highlight the many different types of psychics. Some being mediums, while others may connect to plants and animals or numbers. There’s something for everyone and it opens the doors to learn more about the various types of psychic abilities.

One of the biggest things that kept coming up for me was to remind myself that they are children. It could possibly be due to the pov being first person and the actions taken by the middle schoolers being a bit older, but it seemed like they were not 12 and 13 year olds. This caused me to constantly remind myself this is a middle grade novel and not a YA. Aside from that, this was beautiful.

I highly recommend this novel to educators, tweens, libraries, and anyone who has an interest in psychic experiences. With the combination of mediumship, flowers, numerology, animal psychics and more, there’s lots to learn and is a super open story. It’s enjoyable for everyone and will be a fun read. Additionally, the friendships, family dynamics, family conflicts, and wanting to be one’s self is touched on a lot here, it’ll be great for your tween and teen readers.

*This was an honest review for a complimentary copy of Totally Psychic from Brigid Martin via NetGalley

Totally Psychic is a well written middle grade story with a Cuban American protagonist by Brigid Martin. Released 15th Aug 2023 by HarperCollins on their (now defunct) Inkyard Press imprint, it's 320 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links.

It's not often a well written middle grade story comes out with an appealing main character, a fun setup, full of magical realism, real life interactions, and believable interrelationships and character development which is also appropriate and fun to read for the target audience.

Young Paloma wants to show her family (and especially her Grandma) that her gift is strong and that she can go on tour with her psychic readings just like her grandma does. Things don't work out as planned when she does a reading and she's going to need some help to fix the situation.

There are some important lessons here delivered without judgement or preachiness about bullying, accepting help from others, being modest and fighting the urge to show off and boast, etc.

Four stars. This would be a good choice for public or possibly school library acquisition, for gift giving, and for home use.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes

I cannot resist a story about psychic characters. Paloma is such a sweet and lovable character. Her struggles and triumphs are fun to follow as she finds her way at her new school.

This had the fun I love to see in MG along with the dip into deeper topics, such as communicating with the dead in the afterlife but in the cutest of ways, flowers! This feels very much grounded in the modern world too in a way that young reader can really connect, while teach lessons on everyone mind from bullying to disappointed family. I really loved this.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book, as this book has already been published, I will not share my review on Netgalley at this time.

This is a cute middle grade novel. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy.

A fun middle grade book about a middle school medium who is dealing with not only new powers but moving across the country. Fans of ghost stories and realistic middle grade school stories will both enjoy reading this book!

I found Paloma to be quite annoying at the beginning as she was focusing on herself, her needs, and how the changes affected her and her alone. Then I had to remind myself that Paloma is a child facing a giant life change with a new home, new friends, and separation from her extended family.

By the end of this novel, Paloma did a great job of turning her outlook around and embracing the changes. I absolutely loved the last scene, that was perfect and I needed a tissue for all the happy tears.

I think young readers will enjoy this book, but it wasn't as captivating to me - an adult reader. It follows a young medium who has powers that allow her to see and speak with ghosts. She comes from a large family with psychic abilities including a famous grandmother she wishes to impress. The main character, Paloma, is sad because she has to move from Miami to California and this is a story about her adjustment to such a life change, which I think a lot of kids will relate to. Paloma makes a lot of mistakes which again I think will be very relatable to young readers. The elements of ghosts in this book aren't scary and would be a fun Halloween pick for young readers who aren't fans of the scary or spookier reads. It covers friendship, family, and themes of acceptance. Everything happened a little too predictably for my personal tastes and was solved in a HEA way.

This is a lovely middle grade story about Paloma, who is just coming into her medium psychic powers when she moves away from her famous medium grandmother and the rest of her family in Miami to California. With the device of learning about her new powers, Paloma experiences growing up, moving away from home, fitting in with new friends, and fixing mistakes. It is also a gentle, beautiful look at death, and how we carry people with us even after they’re gone. A great option for middle grade readers who are looking for soft paranormal/supernatural stories with a Cuban-American lead character.

3.5*

This was a fun, easy read. I love all things spooky and paranormal and this was right up my alley.
Paloma is a young psychic who bites off more than she can handle when she and her family move across country and she decides that she'll impress her new friends with her abilities.
While I had a few issues with her mother, and little sister, I really like how everything worked out in the end- a few surprises were to be had.

This was absolutely adorable. I loved the exploration of the paranormal and its connection to Paloma's heritage. the plot and conflict did not explore new things but they did not need too. I loved the clarify of Paloma's violations of the "rules" of psychic readings that her grandmother/family have set down, the consequences, and the resolution. So cute.

Absolutely charming. I really enjoyed this debut and will look forward to more from this author. Thank you to Inkyard and NetGalley.

This book was a wonderfully whimcal story. I found the main character to be wonderful and believable. She is curious and that often leads to more adventures. This captures all of the best parts of middle grade.

The first in a new series about Paloma, who is from a family of psychics. When she is forced to move to LA with her family from Miami, she decides to take advantage of her gift. When she gets herself in trouble, she must use her new friends to help her out.

I think it took too long to get to the main action here. I liked the premise and character, but I think kids might find it slow at first.

Ghosts.
Fast Paced.
Interesting Characters.
Exciting Plot
Twists and Turns.
Totally Psychic will appeal to MG readers for these reasons and more. Thank you to Netgalley and Inkyard Press for a free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Cute story for middle-graders! Was wondering if it was going to get scary or something super bad would happen but the plot twists were nice and I like the world-building a lot.

Totally Psychic is a fast paced middle grade novel about family, developing friendships, finding yourself, and GHOSTS. I loved that this had Cuban American representation. Paloma and her grandmother's relationship was so sweet and wholesome. I loved how close they were. It was pretty fun experiencing all the different psychic abilities each member in her family has. That aspect of it gave me Encanto vibes.

I felt the plot was rushed and most of the obstacles were almost instantly taken care of. The problems at hand didn't feel like they were high-stakes, even though the author was making it seem like they were. I didn't feel a sense of urgency from the writing or the characters. I also felt it lacked character development. We are introduced to so many characters and don't get enough time with them. They all fell flat for me. I wish the author would've taken her time with developing the characters, instead of adding more problems from old friends.

Overall, this was a fun light easy read that I think middle schoolers would enjoy. I'd still recommend it. I look forward to seeing what else the author comes up with.

Paloma is part of a family of mystics and psychics, and she adores her family, especially her abeula -- a famous medium! After an abrupt move away from her abuela and family in Miami all the way to California, Paloma is determined to perfect her paranormal powers to impress her abuela and win a spot on her annual South American psychic tour, despite her mother's objections to all things "ghost" and her little sisters interference. But will her selfish reasons for readings bring chaos to her new life?

What tropes, vibes, and themes does this book include?
As far as tropes go, we have a magical family and hereditary magic. This story gave light Encanto vibes at the start, but became less about family and more about the MCs personal life. I want to say it gives a "cozy supernatural" vibe. It has themes of a first move, making new friends and staying in touch with old ones, a strained mother/daughter relationship, sibling trouble, grief/healing, and the importance of helping people through that process. Lots of good themes happening in this book. Also, latinx/Cuban representation.

Who should read this?
Kids (and kids at heart) who are interested in the occult or ghosts.

What ages are appropriate?
This is a middle grade novel with very minimal "triggers" and, in my opinion, no inappropriate topics. I would say ages 9+ are perfectly acceptable.

Trigger warnings: Communication with the dead, divorce, ghosts, and death.

Overall: ★★★★☆
Writing: ★★★★☆
Plot:★★★☆☆
Characters: ★★★★☆
World building: ★★★☆☆

Review:
A nice, quick read for the spooky season! I have to admit this story was heartwarming, relatable (even to adults who have been through this before) and lots of fun. A cozy supernatural book, if ever there was one.

The writing is perfect for its audience, not too complicated but not too simple. My only qualm is the overuse of exclamation marks!

The plot is where things could've been a bit more exciting (which is why I'm placing this in the cozy category). It took a while to give us a real goal for our MC, and the rest of the book simply felt like everyday issues. The conflict could have been more relevant to her goal, more dire. I did enjoy it once I accepted it as a slice-of-life/childhood problems type of story.

The MC had clear issues (there were so many, I'm not going to name them all) that she resolved and became a better person in the end for it. It was a simple character arc but no less important/relevant.

I can't say too much about the world building, because this is a contemporary fantasy. But I will say the references to life in Miami and the Cuban culture were accurate (I am Miami born and raised), from the big Cuban households to the moist heat, right down to kids not speaking fluent Spanish (because older generations want to talk but keep it from the kids!)

Honestly, I had trouble putting this book down! It was a lot of fun and I highly recommend it for kids (and, of course, kids at heart) that want a sweet little spooky read this fall.