Hello everyone! Today I am so incredibly excited to be bringing you my stop on the blog & Instagram tour for
The Accidental Apprentice by Amanda Foody. I absolutely loved this book and am so excited that it's out in the world for everyone else to read and love too! Feel free to read through this tour stop and then check out my Instagram stop
here!
A boy who accidentally bonds with a magical Beast must set off on an
adventure in the mysterious Woods in this whimsical and cheeky middle
grade fantasy debut—perfect for fans of Nevermoor and How to Train Your
Dragon.
The last thing Barclay Thorne ever wanted was an adventure.
Thankfully, as an apprentice to the town’s mushroom farmer, Barclay need
only work hard and follow the rules to one day become the head mushroom
farmer himself. No danger required. But then Barclay accidentally breaks
his town’s most sacred rule: never ever EVER stray into the Woods, for
within the Woods lurk vicious magical Beasts.
To Barclay’s horror, he faces a fate far worse than being eaten: he
unwittingly bonds with a Beast and is run out of town by an angry mob.
Determined to break this bond and return home, Barclay journeys to find
the mysterious town of Lore Keepers, people who have also bonded with
Beasts and share their powers.
But after making new friends, entering a dangerous apprenticeship exam,
and even facing the legendary Beast of the Woods, Barclay must make a
difficult choice: return to the home and rules he’s always known, or
embrace the adventure awaiting him.
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Release Date: March 30, 2021
I first would like to say a big thank you to TBR and Beyond Tours for hosting me on this tour and providing me with a free copy of The Accidental Apprentice for review. It has been a wonderful time and I'm grateful to have been given the opportunity to read this book early and show early support for it!
You guys, I absolutely loved this book! I read it in one sitting and ended up staying up until 1:30 AM just to finish it because I couldn't put it down. It was cute, it was fun, it was full of adventure, and it even had some plot twists that I didn't see coming. This was a five star read for me and I am so excited to see where the story goes next.
For me, middle grade is hit or miss at this point in my life. I'm just not the target audience anymore and that's okay. I still enjoy reading middle grade books a lot, especially when it comes to rereading my favorites from childhood. Because I'm an adult now, it's generally a 50/50 split on if a middle grade book blows me away or not. Most of the new ones I read are enjoyable but I haven't read a new middle grade in a long time that actually blew me away like this one did.
I knew from the first line of the book that I was going to enjoy it (in fact, that first line is the first one in my favorite quotes list down below!). I loved Barclay and connected with him almost instantly. He can be insufferable at times but, honestly, that just made me love him more. Reading his journey and getting to watch his character growth was simply wonderful.
The side characters were all enjoyable as well. I'm not going to name names because of spoilers, but I'm eager in the next books to find out more about each of the others as we only touched the surface of their backstories in this one. I think a solid cast of characters makes any book better and I am eager to see how these characters grow up and evolve in future books.
The plot itself was so fun. There's a tournament, mystery, and also character journeys that all tie together in a great way. I was a fan of it all and I thought that the author interwove it all in a way that each bit was complemented by the rest. There was a set up for another adventure at the end of the book, though it wasn't a cliffhanger, and I'm so intrigued to see where the plot could go next.
The magic system and world building was amazing. I'm currently reading another of Amanda's books (one of her young adult ones) and I've noticed that her magic systems are all incredibly interesting and fleshed out but aren't complicated to understand. I love the Beasts system and how magic is dependent on what beast a person bonds with. It's just...I'm so excited to explore more of this in future books.
Overall, I absolutely loved The Accidental Apprentice. I love middle grade but it has been hit or miss for me as I'm no longer the target audience. However, this book greatly exceeded any expectations I had for it and has found its way onto my list of favorite books for the year. I'm so excited to see where the next book and rest of the series go. I highly recommend this book to middle grade fantasy lovers and those who like How to Train Your Dragon and Pokemon.
"Barclay Thorne knew almost all there was to know about mushrooms, and there was a lot to know."
"Dullshire was a town of slights."
"Their loyalty is hard to earn, but once achieved, nearly unbreakable."
"Barclay stalked off down the street wishing that Sycomore could be--if only a little bit--more like home."
"There's a difference between a companion and a monster."
"And when the adventure called, the wilds listened."
Amanda Foody has always considered imagination to be our best attempt at
magic. After a double life as an accountant preparing taxes for
multinational corporations, she now spends her free time brewing and
fermenting foods much more easily obtained at her local grocery store. She
lives in Boston, MA with a hoard of books guarded by the most vicious of
feline companions, Jelly Bean.
Her books include The Shadow Game series and more. Her middle grade
debut, Wilderlore: The Accidental Apprentice, hits shelves March 30,
2021, and her next YA novel, All of Us Villains, co-authored with
Christine Lynn Herman, releases on November 9, 2021.
