The publisher kindly sent me physical copies of the books in exchange for an honest review.
How does it feel to be different and misunderstood? And who cares? Emily Knight is young and famous, self-aware and intelligent. But what if the one thing that makes Emily different also makes her a target for evil? Can she defend herself … and everything she loves?
Abiola Bello breaks boundaries with this gritty and gripping middle grade fantasy novel.
Emily Knight I Am Review
Since becoming a teacher, I’ve been trying to read more middle grade books. I’m particularly excited to find a fun and interesting fantasy series to recommend to my students!
The Emily Knight I Am series focuses on Emily Knight as she tries to discover and cope with magical powers.
I really enjoyed Emily’s character. Not only is she strong but she’s incredibly fierce. I enjoyed her character in the first book but I particularly enjoyed her development in the sequel. I think this is one of the reasons I enjoyed the sequel more as well as the improved writing.
Another enjoyable thing about this series is its diversity. There is such a gap in diverse representation in publishing and while it’s improving, it has a way to go. Not only is Emily a diverse characer but so are her friends.
I think this is especially important in middle grade books because it can help to influence future generations. For this reason alone, I would recommend this series to my students.
But my only issue with this series is the pacing. While it didn’t affect my overall enjoyment of the series, I wanted it to be more fast paced. At times I wanted a bit more action, especially with a fantasy book. But this may be because I’m new to the middle grade genre and comparing it to high fantasy in the young adult genre.
Overall, the Emily Knight I Am series is one I would recommend to my students. Because of the strong focus on diversity, it’s worth the recommendation alone.
Rating: ★★★★☆
About the Author
A. Bello is an author from Stoke Newington, North London. She wrote her first novel at aged 8, where she fought monsters and dragons daily. At aged 12, she invented Emily Knight as she felt there wasn’t any strong, diverse, ethnic characters in Children’s and Young Adult books. She is the author of two middle grade fantasy books — Emily Knight I Am & Emily Knight I Am … Awakened. Her third YA book is under submission.
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