The Last Fallen Star by Graci Kim
Riley Oh has grown up learning about magic and an entire magical and fantastical world the average person has no idea about. The only problem is that she’ll never be able to practice that magic herself. You see, she’s a non-magical person adopted by a magical family, so she’s grown up watching while being unable to practice herself. Everything is about to change now that she and her sister, Hattie, have learned that they can share Hattie’s magic with the help of a spell. Riley will no longer be the odd one out with bullies calling her a fake witch. When things go wrong, Hattie is left near death, and it’s up to Riley to embark on a quest to find a lost magical artifact: a fallen star. Armed with her best friend, Riley has no idea what she’s doing, but what she does know is that she’s determined to make sure Hattie survives this.
I knew I was going to love this book, but I didn’t know how much I was going to actually love it and phew. I was in for an amazing ride! We follow Riley, who has always felt like an outcast. She never fit in the magical community, and she never quite fit in the non-magical community. All Riley has ever wanted, above all, was to be accepted. That’s something most people can relate to, especially younger readers. During her adventures, she truly learns who she is, what she’s capable of, and what’s most important to her.
I loved following Riley as she traveled around the magical and non-magical world. One of my favorite parts, other than all the strong family bonds, was when she learned that not everything is always what it seems to be. I grew up hearing that there were always three sides to a story: what both parties involved thought happened, and what actually happened. Riley and company got to see this play out as they learned that there was what the excommunicated clan thought happened, what the other clans thought happened, and then what really happened.
It was also great to see Riley learn that there’s also more than what we see on the surface. She has one person who is particularly mean to her, and somewhere along the way, she learns more about this character. Riley sees that there’s a lot more to this character and that Riley, for whatever reason, is just the person they took their anger out on. Granted, it’s not right, and even Riley questions why she was targeted, but it’s great to see someone who appeared to just be a very minor side character receive such character development.
It’s also wonderful to see Korean culture and mythology be so present from beginning to end. While I’m not Korean, I know that many readers are going to be excited to see their culture and characters who represent them go on such an amazing adventure. I’m looking forward to seeing where this series goes, and I know it’s going to be an amazing one.
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