"Max and the Spice Thieves" by John Peragine is an adventurous middle-grade fantasy that sweeps readers into a world teeming with magic, danger, and a quest for identity. The story follows young Max Daybreaker, whose life is upended when his mother goes missing. Max's search for her leads him to join a crew of Spice Pirates, led by the enigmatic Captain Cinn, embarking on a perilous journey across treacherous seas.

Peragine's world-building is rich and imaginative, painting a vivid picture of a fantastical realm filled with diverse and intriguing characters. The eclectic crew of allies that Max gathers—a teenage warrior queen, a three-eyed seer, and an assassin spy—adds depth and variety to the narrative, each bringing their unique skills and perspectives to the adventure. Their interactions provide a mix of camaraderie and tension, enhancing the story's dynamic.

As Max and his companions face numerous threats, from shapeshifting bears and ancient witches to harpies and the formidable Djinn, the plot unfolds with a blend of suspense and excitement. Each encounter is crafted to challenge Max and reveal more about his mysterious past and burgeoning powers. These elements of discovery and self-realization are woven seamlessly into the high-stakes action, keeping readers engaged.

While the story is filled with thrilling moments and imaginative creatures, it occasionally suffers from pacing issues. Some scenes may feel rushed, leaving readers wishing for more detailed exploration of certain characters and settings. However, the fast-paced nature of the narrative also keeps it accessible and exciting for younger readers, who may appreciate the quick succession of events.

Peragine's writing shines in its ability to balance light-hearted adventure with deeper themes of identity and destiny. Max's journey is not just a physical quest to find his mother but also an internal one, as he grapples with the revelation of his powers and the secrets of his past. This dual quest adds a layer of emotional resonance to the story, making Max a relatable and sympathetic protagonist.

Overall, "Max and the Spice Thieves" is a captivating and imaginative adventure that will appeal to fans of middle-grade fantasy. With its colorful cast of characters, inventive world-building, and blend of action and self-discovery, it earns a rating of 3.5 out of 5. Young readers looking for a thrilling and heartwarming tale of bravery and friendship will find much to enjoy in Max's journey.

Exciting. So exciting. This is exactly the kind of young protagonist I like in my middle grade fantasy.

The world is exciting to navigate with Max. As he grapples with learning the ropes of a society he has been thrown into, the world around him keeps evolving faster than he can catch up. The worldbuilding was done well and the emotional aspects of the character delivered appropriately.

What's not to love?

"Max and the Spice Thieves" by John Peragine is an exciting and imaginative adventure story for young readers that combines elements of fantasy, mystery, and friendship. With an engaging narrative and a memorable cast of characters, Peragine creates a world filled with wonder and intrigue.

The story follows Max, a young boy who stumbles upon a hidden magical portal leading to a world where spices have the power to grant special abilities. Max finds himself in the company of the Spice Thieves, a group of misfits with their unique spice-given powers. Together, they embark on a quest to uncover the mysteries of the spices and protect them from falling into the wrong hands.

One of the novel's standout features is its colorful and endearing characters. Max is a relatable and resourceful protagonist who young readers will easily connect with. The Spice Thieves each bring their own distinct personalities and abilities to the story, creating a diverse and memorable group of friends.

Peragine's writing style is accessible and engaging, making it well-suited for its target audience of middle-grade readers. The pacing is well-balanced, with a mix of action, humor, and mystery, ensuring that the story maintains its momentum throughout.

"Max and the Spice Thieves" effectively explores themes of friendship, teamwork, and self-discovery, making it not only an adventure tale but also a coming-of-age story that encourages young readers to embrace their unique qualities and work together to overcome challenges.

While the book is a delightful and entertaining read, some readers may find that the world-building, particularly the mechanics of the magical spices, could have been further developed to enhance the depth of the story. Additionally, there are moments where the plot feels somewhat predictable, which might be expected for the intended age group.

In conclusion, "Max and the Spice Thieves" is a captivating and magical adventure that will enchant young readers. John Peragine offers a well-constructed narrative filled with action, friendship, and imaginative elements that will keep middle-grade readers engaged and entertained. This book is a promising start to a series that has the potential to become a favorite among young readers and parents alike.

My 8yo and I LOVED this adventure book. It has everything we look for in a book: a good and relatable protagonist (the young Max), a great setting (a pirate ship and world with pirates), a good story (not going to spoil it here!), and an educational component (learning about foods, flavors, textures, and spices).
I appreciated the beautiful world-building and was surprised by how well the pirate-language was written. Expressions like: "Listen here, ye whelp, ye don’t understand what I’m sayin’" just add to the believability of the story, besides being fun to read with your L.O.
As a parent who loves cooking, the talk of meals being prepared on the ship, and the descriptions of plates, vegetables, and desserts, was a joy to read. Now I want to belong to a "spice guild."
I highly recommend it and will be suggesting it as reading material for my son's class. Wish we had more wholesome and fun books like this one. I hope there is a sequel!

A fun middle grade rollicking adventure on the high seas. The plot was well developed and the characters were fun and varied; however there was something about the writing style that made it hard to read for me.

What can I say? I loved writing this book! It began the journey of Max Daybreaker and continues through books 2 and three.

I did not end up finishing this book; I tried multiple times to get into it and made it through several chapters before DNFing. The plot was interesting but not gripping, and the writing was a little too dry for my taste.

This was a cute middle grade Adventure series. It had all the things going for it that could have made it an epic adventure, however it fell a little short for me.
Some of the characters were very engaging like Max and Cinin, however some fell flat and felt like they could have been developed better. The pushing of the romance with a second love interest was a little much for me. However, all in all who doesn't love a pirate series and the development of a scooby gang to help find the target.

A rollicking Middle Grade read for the entire family! You can't ask for much more than a pirate adventure for kids that adds just enough fun for the parents to want to sail along for the ride.

This book a out magic, challenges , adventure is an amazing Middle Grade book — I have to admit if I read it a bit sooner, younger me would have fallen head over heels for Max and his story!
The twists and the whole questioning identity of Max was well written, and unexpected until the very last moment for the reader!

3.5 stars...there was good and bad.

This is quite an adventure, although there were places that I struggled to carry on with it. The story itself was interesting and there were some funny and dramatic moments in it. Still, there were some places where I felt there were too many characters introduced all at once, particularly in light of the target audience. It was a bit confusing in places.

I liked the descriptive nature of the writing but felt the dialogue didn't always match the characters as they were described. I admit, I am far older than the target audience.

Overall I didn't think this was a bad book and perhaps I would have enjoyed it more if I were younger. I'm still glad I had the chance to read it.

This review is based on a complimentary copy provided by NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

this was a interesting start to a young adult series, it had all the elements that I was looking for and throughly enjoyed reading this book. It left me wanting more from this universe.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me an ARC of this book, and my sincere apologies for the delay in my review.

I'm loathed to give this a two star review as there were some elements I thoroughly enjoyed, even if the weak points really did let the book down, so I am sticking with a three star. 

Firstly, the premise of this book was great. Max's father has gone missing, and when he and his mother leave to find him, a djinn kidnaps her leaving Max to traverse the land with a rag tag group he amasses along the way to help him. 

I liked the writing style. The Pirate lingo spoken by Cinn (who was also the best character by far and I could happily read a book on him and his adventures) as well as the structure of the words was excellent. Descriptions of things weren't drawn out and the world building was just enough to not overwhelm. 

Unfortunately though, the plot was so convoluted and filled with so many subplots it became hard to follow. The book slipped from plot to plot and scene to scene with barely any time to process everything and did not do so in a seamless way to make a smooth transition. It was just bang- next part.

I also struggled with the pace. Some parts were unnecessarily long and drawn out, while other parts such as battles, conflict and heavily emotional parts were so quickly glossed over they had almost no impact. 

Finally, the romance was awful. At first, it was okay, but then out of nowhere we had a secondary love interest and the second character who had been in the book for less than two chapters was being pushed onto us when we'd had two thirds of the book already dedicated to the other character. No thank you.

I understand this is a middle grade book, however I feel that the second half of the book could have easily been it's own story. When they leave the Witch queen and there's a combat scene, I feel that would have been a better end to this book and have the scenes in the Arctic area take place in another book so we had much more time to get to know the bears and spend more that one chapter in the Finale. 

I wanted to love this book. Alas, I only just about liked it and ended up skimming the majority of the last thirty percent just to finish it, which meant I barely even cared about many of the characters and the twists in the end. 

Maybe there are Pirate mad kids out there who will love this book, but I feel that this did just miss the mark for me.

This missed the mark for me, I read quite a lot of middle grade and the standard is just incredibly high with lots of really good authors and stories out there. This was not engaging enough and the voice of our main character didn't sit right with me.

Even for a middle-grade book, this felt a bit too slow for me. The story kept meandering and I started skimming. It might have needed a bit of tidying up.

This was a decent middle grade fantasy book about friendship family and loyalty. I think it was a little bit young for me which is why I didn’t enjoy it as much but I do think younger readers would have a lot of fun reading this. However I do feel that Max’s attitudes towards some of the women wasn’t very age appropriate so it’s something to watch out for

Overall, I really enjoyed this story. I do think that some of the plot and the characters could be tightened up a little bit so that the story doesn't feel aimless, but all in all it was a very enjoyable read for the genre/age group.

275 pages of goodness, I really enjoyed this book, there was beautiful world building, I really look forward to consuming more of this authors content at a later date;

I could not finish this book. There was a lot of meandering prose that distracted from the storyline. MC's age changed within the first chapter. Overall I found it had tons of potential but very hard to follow.

This book is very interesting and is absolutely perfect for middle graders to enjoy. It begins when Max and his mother decide to take a trip, and quickly turns into an adventure when he and his mother lose each other along the way. Max ends up having to accept help from pirates, and sets out not only to find his mother... but hopes to find his missing father as well.

The story is filled to the brim with magical creatures and high adventure. I think it would make an excellent gift, or an addition to a summer reading list.