Book Review: Kelcie Murphy and the school for Unbreakable Arts
Original review posted 7/28/23
Title: Kelcie Murphy and the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts (#1)
Author: Erika Lewis
What's it about?
Kelcie Murphy, a girl about 12 years old, has had a hard life. She doesn't know her parents and have been shuffled from foster home to foster home to group home for as long as she could remember.
"Friend" is just a word that people use but she never had. But all that is about to change when she finds herself kidnapped from a museum she's attending on a school field trip and lead to a world she never knew existed, the otherworld.
Here she fights to learn about her parents and where she came from, discovers that magic is really a thing and that she herself has some pretty rare and impressive abilities which are vital to protect the queen in the land of Summer from legendary evil. But she finds that the two are not seperate. She may be more important to the otherworld then she ever imagined.
Favorites:
Favorite Character: Choosing a favorite in this book was hard, because I liked three characters for different reasons and, try as I might, I just couldn't settle on one to highlight. So, we're going with all three of my favorites. In no particular order, my favorite characters were Kelcie (and not just because I love the way she spells her name), Niall and Scathhach.
Kelcie Murphy wasn't perfect and there were times when I wasn't sure how much I really liked her, but I loved her ability to adjust, to learn and to forgive. She was dealt a hard life and, in many ways, was never shown how to cultivate a healthy relationships with others or even herself but when she found herself at the academy, she dove in, determined, full of questions and strength which she used to build her own family, fight for what she believed in and save the school and get her answers. In a lot of ways, she was like Harry Potter in the respect, right down to being out past curfew to get the answers she needs and having a connection with someone who is the source of nightmarish evil in a past for a world she knew nothing about until she fell into it.
Niall stole my heart unexpectantly. I liked him fine at first but by the end of it, I kind of loved him. He was the goody-goody underdog who knew so much about the world but everyone bet against and wanted to protect becuase they thought his lack of one hand rendered him unable. But he knew better. He fought and adapted and proved the wrong quit often. Sure, sometimes he was annoying in always wanting to follow the rules but he was also one of the loudest cheerleaders of and or the group and had the most caring heart of them all.
And...then there's Scathhach. She was an intimidating mystery from the start. She was strong and older then anyone could pin point. She carried a hard exterior around like armor but underneath it all, she had a good idea what was going on in the school, was decisive, accepting and caring. She knew that sometimes rules had to be broken in order for triumph to be awarded but she also knew that her students needed to fight their own battles sometimes and she didn't underestimate the children as so many others surly would have done.
Least Favorite Character: Blizzard. Now, I know this might be an odd choice and may contain a few minor spoilers so tread carefully, but Blizzard was the one person Kelcie had trusted in all of the time she remembers. He was supposed to protect her and care about her but, when he becomes part of the ploy to get her into AUA (Academy of Unbreakable Arts) it's a huge betrayal, especially when he is suspected to be part of keeping secrets from her and putting her in danger. So,even though we don't see him much, I can't help but to dislike him more then the rest of the cast.
Favorite Part: The final test. I really enjoyed seeing everyone's abilities.
Least Favorite Part: The end. Well, not the end end but part of the final battle. I can't say more then that without giving away too much but, as a parent, it was hard.
Favorite Quote: T"I have to trust someone, Brona!" Kelcie yelled.
"I know!" She yelled back. "But the person you need to trust is yourself!"(Pg. 221 of my ARC copy). Sidenote: I needed to hear that more then you could ever know. I might need to write it on a sticky note and post it.
Other Thoughts:
I was surprised to how much this book reminded me of Harry Potter in a new way and with a girl at the helm but, what I may have loved even more, is that Kelcie's story is centered in the Celtic culture, referencing monsters, mythical creatures and powers from myths and stories in that culture, and I'm kind of loving getting a taste for other cultures through stories and fantasy!
I also have to talk about the back of the book. Thankfully, I found it while I was still pretty close to the beginning and I appreciated it greatly as I read and came upon a word I was unfamiliar with. At the back of the book, I found a glossary filled with names and terms found in the book including pronunciation (and with names liek Sathhach you can see how that would be useful. FYI, the pronunciation is skah-hawk). I loved that when I came upon a creature or word I didn't know I had a source to go to without having to pause too long or slow my flow down too much.
In the end, I'm excited to read the next additions to the series (currently, there are 2)! I found Kelcie and her new found friends were a great alternatives to Harry Potter and I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys Harry Potter or Percy Jackson.
Ratings:
I give this book a
7
out of
10 Cu Siths
But that's just what I thought. What did you think? Did you love it? Did you wish Kelcie had different abilities? Let us know what you thought in the comments.
