Very exciting from the get go. I loved all the characters (including the bad guys!) and can’t wait to find out what happens to them all next!

The author has a very creative mind and I am in awe of the ability to come up with stories such as this one! The writing style was really good, it just was not a story for me. I think that kids would find it to be a lot of fun and would have a great time getting lost on an adventure such as this one!!!

2.5-3 stars.
It's been a very long time since I read any middle grade books but I've recently added a few to my shelves that have been well praised by many book lovers, and when I saw the cover for this book I immediately wanted to read it because it's simply a really attractive cover (yes, I'm judging a book by it's cover so hard now)! I was a little disappointed to learn it was a MG book and not a graphic novel but I decided to request the book anyway because the story also sounded good, and I enjoyed the excerpt I read of it.

That said, while I was generally entertained by the book, I also found myself unexpectedly bored for certain periods, and thinking that the story was going on for a lot longer than anticipated. I was also unsure about the use of the footnotes. While some of the footnotes were interesting, I found that even if I didn't read them, I wasn't missing out on anything other than a humorous story or anecdote. I'm also wondering if footnotes are something young readers (especially middle graders) would appreciate? I don't recall ever reading a book with footnotes in it when I was younger unless it was non-fiction or a textbook, and as an adult reader, I'm still not always a fan of footnotes; unless they really added key/important elements to the world building and the story itself.

I think one of the things I struggled with was not being able to form a connection with the story overall and in particular with the characters. I liked the Igiby family well enough--Janner, Tink and Leeli were interesting characters--but I just didn't feel as invested in their journey as I hoped to be. Perhaps my favorite characters in the story were Peet and Nugget (the doggo, reasons for which go without saying. He's a loyal companion to the Igiby children, particularly for Leeli)! Peet was a courageous side-character who suffered from (what I can tell) possible mental health issues and a disability. He was pitied in town and was treated pretty awfully by the Igiby heads of house (Podo and Nia) for a reason that only becomes apparent at the end, but to me never justified the unfair treatment of his character. While I started off liking Podo’s character, his awful treatment of Peet was so distasteful and made me like him a lot less (it says a lot about a person’s character IRL just as much as in a book)! The Fangs of Dang were obviously awful characters we were meant to hate and the author did a great job of stoking those feelings against these characters. I thought the disability rep with Leeli’s and Podo’s characters was really great. Leeli was such a strong female character that had a fierce independent streak. I loved that her disability didn’t stop her from having adventures and getting up to mischief with her brothers; her disability was normalized (as in, it didn’t hamper her in any way) and it was nice to see that being shown in books to such a young audience.

As this was an ARC, most of the illustrations and maps were not yet included, so that was also a little bit disappointing because the illustrations that were already included in the story were pretty amazing! I can only imagine how much fun these illustrations will be to look at once it’s done (and in color too)! Overall, while I was really pulled in by the premise of this story, I found it a bit difficult to get into and that’s what made me remove stars. I wish that the pacing was more consistent but it was still an enjoyable enough read. I think many young middle grade readers would enjoy it too!

I, along with my almost 12-year-old had a hard time getting into this story. The premise sounded interesting, but when it came to diving into the story, it was just hard to get into. We will be adding this back to our TBR to try to read again at a later date, so the review may be updated in the future.

I thought this book looked really interesting. I don’t know if kids will like this book. I think is seemed pretty young adult in being able to understand what’s going on.

I absolutely loved this book. The characters (good and bad), the setting, the imagery, the world its based in are all fantastic. It's fast paced and exiting. Some of it was predictable but it didn't detract from the story. I will definatley be buying this series to share with my family and can't wait to see the maps and hopefully illustrations.

It's hard to write a review for this book because I personally did not like it, but I could see how reading it aloud with children would be a better experience. So if you have children and do that, check this book out.

But if you're like me, I just read in bed as an adult after work. This book was soooo long winded in the beginning. It just seemed to drag on. So much so that I stopped it and started it several times. The footnotes made me crazier than Peet. Why are they there? Can't you put them at the end? Maybe they'd be more fun read aloud but not? Who knows. As I forced myself to continue reading it did pick up. But I just never enjoyed it and can't say I'd recommend it.

Pros: The children are funny and interesting, Peet was the best and I'd like to see more of his story, the artwork is gorgeous.

Cons: The beginning is tough to get through, Janner's outburst is weird, the book doesn't ever really take off for me.

Once the backstory of the characters is fleshed out and the world-building is settled, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness contributes much to the middle-grade genre. The heart-touching relationships between the three siblings is an aspect most novels seem to lack, and I was ecstatic to come across it in this novel. Plus, the cover is gorgeous!

Even if it's a bit slow at the beginning once you're hooked you won't be able to put it down.
I found the cast of characters well written and the world building amazing.
Recommended to adults and children.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Read this when it was originallt published a number of years ago. Recommended to students and teachers alike. Hope the other books in the series will get new covers and be republished as well.

This was really hard to read. Normally, I'm all about creative naming in fantasy and science fiction novels, but reading this book hurt my brain. I can't imagine how children are going to approach reading this novel. I did not finish.

The book just didn't appeal to me or hold my interest.. It was boring and the characters were dull. Sorry!

This story started out a little awkward and took me a bit to get into it. There is just a lot of backstory that takes a while to really make sense for me along with a ton of fantasy elements and words that were new to me. However, once I got a decent understanding of the world, I really enjoyed this book. If you are a fan of (or have any knowledge of) Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings or many other epic fantasies, you will see many similarities between those stories and this one. And I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. Andrew Peterson takes those classic fantasy tales and spins them into a new and eccentric middle grade tale. The characters, while being a bit cliché, are incredibly likeable and the reader really cares for them.

Overall, this was a great start to a series and I look forward to reading the rest of them.

I started reading this with my 9 and 12 year old but we just couldn't get into it. We made it about 1/3 of the way in and we enjoyed the writing style, the funny names and the silly footnotes but we found the plot to be slow and didn't care for the violence and the scare-factor, especially around the child abductions.

Started a little slow and confused me a bit, but the world and character building ended up being amazing. Looking forward to the rest of the books in the series!

This was a fantastic novel. It was full of magic, family, adventure, secrets, horrible villains, war, and escape. We follow three siblings in a war torn world that is oppressed by a lizard like race that is super strong and drips venom from their mouths. The three are led by their mother and grandfather. The kids are in and out of trouble, not always of their own making, and they end up setting off a chain of events that lead to them being on the run. Family secrets are uncovered at the end that reveals many answers to questions that everyone has been asking.
I thoroughly enjoyed this and will be reading it to my children as I know they’ll enjoy it. There are dragons, angry mutant cows that attack, lizard people etc and the book teaches that sometimes adults have their reasons and that actions speak louder than words. I’m looking forward to what happens next.

I received a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are mine.

I've been wanting to read Andrew Peterson's Wingfeather Saga for quite a while, and the new covers provided an opportune time to finally read it (that, and I had to finish it before the deadline hit XP)

What I liked:
-The cover art is absolutely gorgeous and drew me in right away. I'll admit the older cover wasn't as good, but this one really got me wanting to pick the book up.
-On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness is written in third person omniscient and there is a very strong narrative voice, something that is needed in order to write well in this point of view.
-The worldbuilding was really interesting. An example of something I liked were the plants--their names were familiar sounding enough to get a feeling of them, but still foreign (e.g. totatoes, greenions)
-I found Leeli to be remarkably relatable. All three siblings and their family are quite endearing, but Leeli strikes me especially.
-The slow build up and constant yet small reveals lead to more and more questions, this effectively keeps the reader (i.e. me) going
-The ending is predictable, but it is definitely satisfying, especially for the first book in a series.

What I didn't like:
-There is a lot of infodumping in the start, even in narrative--I found this a little too much to take in, personally.
-The reason for Janner's outburst in the beginning seems to be told, not shown? There's no foreshadowing of it, either. This is probably just me being nitpicky, though.
-The book takes a while to get into. The first couple of chapters bored me, and I struggled through them. It was only after the first thirty percent or so when I truly got into it.

What I have mixed feelings about:
-The footnotes: I do love them, and they certainly add to the worldbuilding, but they're a little inconvenient to find since they're at the end of each chapter. This is especially true for e-copies of the book.
-Narrator's humor: This will probably only hit some people. Although I did appreciate it, I know some won't. I never did laugh at any point, but I found that it set the perfect tone for a middle grade book.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Janner, Tink and Leeli are three brothers and sisters surrounded by a very protective mother and a grandfather with a pirate past. They live in the small village of Glipwood, led by the Fang, evil creatures with reptilian appearance. When Leeli is going to disappear during the annual Dragon Day festival, Janner realizes the heavy responsibility placed by his mother on his shoulders ... but that is only the beginning of the trouble, oscillating between confrontation with the Fang and well-kept family secrets ...

A. Peterson's writing is peculiar: his poetry and his ease of reading aloud. I surprised myself several times, reading aloud some passages, which became much more alive. So, in my opinion, it's a nice saga to read with children, which the format, with its short chapters, favors.

This first volume is a bit long to start because it focuses on the emotions and daily worries of children. Nevertheless, the events and revelations (which I had made spoiler while wanting to know what was a "maggotloaf") arriving in the last chapters promise a great adventure in the next volumes! ^^

Another peculiarity of this book is that we find several characters carrying a handicap, whether physical or mental: Leeli and his failing leg, Podo and his wooden leg (at the same time, for a pirate, it's a classic) or Peet who seems to be crazy, but who is much more than that ...
These are elements that instead of provoking pity, raise the strong bonds between the characters, such as the special relationship between Leeli and his grandfather, because of their common physical limitation.
The character who struck me the most is Peet, and I can not wait to find out more about him and his past.

In short, a good discovery even if my reading was long. I think I will try to read more after the end of the year holidays! ^^

For the more curious, there is a fifteen-minute short film, made in 2017, presenting the world of the saga Wingfeather, available on Youtube and Vimeo! ^^

This was such a fun middle grade that I haven’t read anything similar to. It had some good intrigue that kept me interested until the end to find out the secrets the family had been keeping. Unfortunately I didn’t really connect with the characters, although I found them interesting I also wouldn’t have been that sad when something happened to them. I definitely think this would make a great movie or tv show. Not sure if I will be continuing with the series or not

Janner, Tink and Leeli Igiby live in a cottage outside the idyllic village of Glipwood with their mom, Nia, and their grandfather Podo. As this story opens, Janner is given the responsibility of taking his younger siblings Tink and Leeli to the annual Dragon Day Festival without their mother or grandfather. When his sister Leeli goes missing at the festival, Janner begins to learn what it means to be responsible for his younger siblings, and the weight that will put on his young shoulders. He also finds himself having to grow up quicker than he wanted with these new responsibilities and these new events, but also that he is in that awkward time where adults are still keeping secrets from him even as more and more bad things start to happen to their family.

The story meanders along for much of its length, very much in the flow of the minute-by-minute, day-by-day experience of kids starting to find that their simple world is not so simple, yet still living each moment in earnestness and with the innocence and trust that only children can have. Each day is its own adventure for the kids, and there is always something new on the horizon. It is only when the end of the book is nearing that the importance of these little adventures, benign or no, starts to become apparent and place the first props on the stage that give us a better idea of the direction this story and series will take.

All in all, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness offers a mostly light-hearted read that definitely seems it would be fun to read aloud and make for a good middle-grade read with its short chapters, imaginative world, and how something is pretty much always going on. It does manage to touch on the difficulties of being a child entrusted with more and more responsibility in a world that seems to get more dangerous by the day, and to a lesser extent, the trauma of being in dangerous situations and hunted by violently-inclined lizard creatures. But it also shows just how important the bonds of family and friends are, and how these bonds of love and loyalty can remain strong and true despite going through troubles, doubt, and rough times. Sadly this ebook edition does not include many of the new illustrations, the only one of note being that of the toothy cow, the rest are mostly the various forms Podo needs to fill out for farm implements.