I requested and received an e-ARC of this book from NetGalley and Dreaming Robot Press in exchange for an honest review.

I have not read the other books in this series but that did not stop me from really enjoying this book. I love the band of unlikely friends working together to save their new friend. I loved the math used throughout the book by Sagara and her frustration that no one else sees all of the math found throughout nature. This book made me want to go back and read the first two books in the series.

#AnElfsEquations #NetGalley

Ahoy there me mateys!  I received this young adult fantasy eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  So here are me honest musings.  While I try to post no spoilers, if ye haven’t read the previous books then ye might want to skip this post. If ye keep reading this log then ye have been forewarned and continue at yer own peril . . .

an elf's equations (Dianna Sanchez)

Title: an elf's equations

Author: Dianna Sanchez

Publisher: Dreaming Robot Press

Publication Date: TODAY!! (e-book)

ISBN: 978-1940924489

Source: NetGalley

Dreaming Robot Press holds a special place in my heart as they were the first publisher to allow me the privilege of reviewing an eArc on NetGalley.  That novel was the demon girl's song, which I loved and reviewed here.

They also kindly gave me a copy of the first book in this series called a witch's kitchen.  That book introduced readers to the Enchanted Forest School where Millie, a witch's daughter, is sent when it appears she has no talent for magic.  All she was good at was baking.  Of course when she gets to school, she learns new things and makes friends and discovers her hidden depths.  I loved it.

This second book takes place during a break from school and follows a pixie named, Petunia.  I adored her (and her silly jokes) in the first book and was delighted for Petunia to take center stage.  Petunia comes from a huge family and her mom is so distracted that she can't even seem to remember Petunia's name!  When an epidemic breaks out, Petunia finds her break to be anything but restful and is given a chance to prove that even pixies can do serious, wonderful things.

I really love this series and was so glad to read the third book which focuses on Sagara the elf who goes on a quest to save a friend (and the world).  The plot was silly and whimsical and light and fun and totally fit my mood.  I read this in one sitting and it was a much needed break from the seriousness of the real world.  I loved how math helped save the day even if I didn't understand all the mathematic principals (not the author's fault!).  Who doesn't like the Fibonacci sequence, the Golden Rule, fractals and fun facts about how they relate to nature.

One of the best things about this book was the family politics.  Grown-ups make mistakes and inadvertently cause hurt even when they think they are doing the right thing.  Sagara learns to express herself, believe in herself, and hold others accountable for their actions.  It isn't magically fixed but I thought the complexities of the relationships were handled well.  I thought the blending of a fun story and larger themes was nicely done.

This book is technically for middle grade but I don’t care.  I believe everyone could enjoy it.  This series deserves more love.  And I can't wait to read Max's story!

So lastly . . .
Thank you Dreaming Robot Press!

Childrens book author Dianna Sanchez lets us meet Sagara, an elf who loves math and hates the elf's society with all the rules that belong there. So when a little tree named Tea is kidnapped, she and her friends use that opurtonity to leave the rules and expectations and go on an adventure, to escape from her grandmom and her crazy rules.

The love of math in combination with the elfish fantasy world could have been a great combination for children, to see that math is a nice thing to learn, and maybe even adventures. But the truth is that in this book the part of the math is not what you would expect, looking at the title. The story itself lacks a bit of action. It has a lot of detailed describtions that are to much, considering the story. They make it hard to get in this story and feel the adventure that this story should be. To much details that are unnecesairy for the story make this book a slow going, not realy adventures fantasy storty!

I was excited to review this book as it checks a lot of boxes for me as a homeschooling mom. It sounded like a great little fantasy novel for kids that worked in all kinds of math, with a main character who's an elf who loves things like the Fibonacci sequence. I thought my kids would like it and I tried several times to read it to see which kid to toss it at. I just could not make myself keep reading it. I tried again several times, but I just found it exceedingly dull. I don't think there's any way any of my kids would plod through it if I can't.

This may work well for some younger kids who love fantasy stories and love math. I would have them preview it in some way first to see if it's a good fit.

I previewed a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

Here's the thing:

This book is labeled as young adult and it is not. This is a children's book which is fine but I was super bored the whole time. I did go into this book not knowing it was a series so I didn't start with the first one. It didn't seem to make a difference but I may need to go try the first two books. Overall while I'm thankful for what this book was trying to do, the amount of nothingness that happens is overwhelming. The characters were a little bland but because this is a children's book maybe I'm a little biased. I say check this out if you are looking for a book series for a child but go ahead and skip over it if you read more young adult.

I believe I've read an earlier book in this series, though with how much I read, it's hard to keep track, especially when it comes to complex fantasy worlds. This was an engaging, well-written story, with an interesting lead character in Sagara, that I believe will appeal to some of our teen readers especially. I will be looking into adding the entire series to our collection during our next catalog review.

I enjoyed this story, but think I'd have enjoyed it even more if I'd started with the first book in the series. So, if getting this for a child or classroom, look at the first two books before this one. I haven't read those (yet) so I cannot comment on them, but think it would be a good idea (although not required) to read them in order.

This is the third in a series of fantasy novels for children. I hadn't read the preceding books but found it didn't matter. Basically a Lord of the Rings / The Worst Witch lite - I found it really enjoyable with interesting characters and some great moments that I think would resonate with younger readers. I appreciated certain things that went deeper than surface fantasy fluff: the fact that the main character really liked maths and that the parents were presented as flawed as well as a companion being disagreeable and downright mean. Overall a fun story and I'll buy the first one for my nieces. I think they'd love Millie the cooking witch!

Thanks to the folks at Dreaming Robot Press for the ARC of this.

So this is a kid's book - not YA, but one aimed (I would estimate) at the 10-12 age group. I have nothing against reading books like that as a grown-up, and the title and cover of this book intrigued me. As I figured out while reading, this book is part of series, but not having read the previous books was no handicap.

This book is mainly from the perspective of an elven princess named Sagara, who is super into mathematics. She ends up going on a quest with a group of her friends/frenemies a to save a young treant that's been kidnapped to an adjoining realm. While reasonably simple, the plot is nonetheless gripping and fast-paces, with a few twists that genuinely caught me off guard.
The characters are a fun bunch. Sagara (I have to wonder if that name is a reference to Michelle West - I spotted a bunch of fantasy references scattered about) is much more interested in Fibonacci numbers than her traditionalist grandmother would like. Her friends include Millie, a witch from the "Logical Realm" (aka the Real World) who is super into gourmet cooking; Millie's younger brother Max; their cousin, who is the "frenemie" I mentioned earlier; and a rather crude little pixie. Much of the action depends on, or refers to, events from prior books, but I never had the least bit of trouble picking up what I needed to pick up.

I particularly appreciated the way that Sanchez treats family in this book. Families, as we all know, are complicated, and just because someone's family doesn't mean they can't hurt you or screw up. Or that they don't love you even so, or you don't love them. And just because they're family doesn't mean there's an easy fix - often that makes it harder. All of these dynamics are at play here, and they're handled well.

As for giving this book to your young sibling, niece, nephew, or cousin to <s>indoctrinate</s> encourage their interest in fantasy literature, I think this would be a frankly ridiculously easy sell for a girl who's at all interested in science or math. Not even interested in an academic kind of way - more along the lines of "here's a cool thing about pine cones and nautilus shells and broccoli!" kind of way. Probably a little tougher for a boy, speaking as a former 10 year old boy myself. The first book in the series is <i>The Witch's Kitchen</i>, so that might be a better jumping-off point on general principles, but I can't speak to that directly.

OMG I was so bored. I couldn't continue. I didn't get very far so maybe the book suddenly picks up, but I was not going to waste my time on it.

Writing style: This was not my style. I don't know what annoyed me, but I did not like it at all.

Characters: I disliked the main character from page 1. She's the perfect little specimen, but of course she's also a little weird and will act out as she gets older... Yeah, we've heard that story a thousand times.

Story: This was really a story that I've read again and again, but now with elves and strange talking trees. I also disliked that we were thrown into a world and nothing is explained. You're just expected to know everything... I know that it's book 3, but I did a little research and it seemed that the books were all standalones, maybe I read that wrong 🤷🏻‍♀️

So yeah, I wasn't going to continue with a story I wasn't enjoying. I'm sure someone will like this. Maybe someone a little younger than my 22 year old self, I don't know. This book gets one star from me.

This is an incomplete review because I only realised when I was well into this book that it was book three of a series. I think I want to read the previous books first despite them being approachable as standalones, so I am temporarily stopping and will update when I finish. However I love what I’ve read so far. This is fresh and witty, and very cute. I can’t wait to track down the others!