lastblossom reviewed Theo Tan and the Iron Fan by Jesse Q. Sutanto
An exciting middle-grade adventure about friendship, being true to yourself, and living with grief.
The previous book in the series really surprised me (in the good way) with its twist on the "middle grade kid gets powers" formula by introducing a world where magic is bottled and sold like a commodity. Theo's journey to accept all facets of himself and his own internal magic continues with another twist on a middle grade favorite - journey into the afterlife to barter with gods. With Theo and his friends now able to tap into their own magic, the modern world building from the first book isn't quite as prominent here, dropped in favor of more Chinese mythology and legend. The core focus also shifts - the first book was about finding your identity in the diaspora, and this book is about living with grief, with a variety of depictions all very genuine and heartbreaking. It's a worthy closer to the story set up in the first …
The previous book in the series really surprised me (in the good way) with its twist on the "middle grade kid gets powers" formula by introducing a world where magic is bottled and sold like a commodity. Theo's journey to accept all facets of himself and his own internal magic continues with another twist on a middle grade favorite - journey into the afterlife to barter with gods. With Theo and his friends now able to tap into their own magic, the modern world building from the first book isn't quite as prominent here, dropped in favor of more Chinese mythology and legend. The core focus also shifts - the first book was about finding your identity in the diaspora, and this book is about living with grief, with a variety of depictions all very genuine and heartbreaking. It's a worthy closer to the story set up in the first book, with plenty of action, great character growth for all of our heroes, and a very thoughtful finale.
Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for an advance copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.