Overly cutesy kid lit book about a wizard owl whose career in magic is short circuited when he makes one too many errors. It was too saccharine for my tastes, but would likely appeal to young fans of the Redwall, Guardians of Ga'Hoole, or Warriors series.

High tension and never-ending adventure make this into a quick read in a world where owls, trees and ravens battle to control the magic.

Screech is an owl apprentice, and not a very good one. He's a bit clumsy, doesn't seem to barely have an ounce of magic in his wings, and makes more mistakes than he has feathers. When he accidentally ruins the owl's ceremony, they decide enough is enough and remove him from his duties. Forever. Having no friends, he wanders into the forest to discover a sympathetic a tree, and more importantly, that he discovers that he seems to be able to talk to trees. While the talent is unheard of to those he knows, it sparks the interest of the wrong magic wielders and sets off a chain of events which will destroy the world as Screech knows it if he doesn't figure out who to trust and how to stop the evil.

This book starts out with a bang and throws the reader right into a first, plot important scene. But then, these pages leave little time for boredom from start to finish and keep the reader hooked the entire way through. There's just enough time to gain sympathy with him as he's questionably removed from his position and left to sulk alone without a single friend. But after that, the plot propels forward and Screech faces increasing danger...as do those around him. There's intrigue, very dangerous battles, tons of magic, a bit of bullying, friendship, and lies. And for a short adventure at only around 150 pages, it weaves quite the tale.

This is a short read and will be great for those with little patience for scene descriptions and thought. While keeping the tale racing forward, it does leaves some things lost on the sidelines. The first pages are a bit too sudden and introduce the catapulting event for the rest of the tale without any background. While Screech is easy to like, the rest of the characters carry quirky personalities but don't really have time to connect with the reader. Some moments go by too fast and small things are skipped over. Still, the tale is well-woven enough to be forgiving, and the writing does pull in.

Young fantasy friends, who want a quick, imaginative read, which is packed with action and magic will enjoy this one quite a bit. I received a complimentary copy.

A perfect book for fans of Guardians of Gahoole!

I love, love this book! Screech is very adorable (and relatable). I love the forest setting, the magic system, and the whole thing! The writing style is neat and the pacing is good. I can totally see this book as animation movie like Guardians. Personal fav characters are Screech, Silvercrest, and Penelope.

This book was a lot of joy to read!

[ Review copy received from Netgalley (thank you!). Review is 100% honest ].

For some reason can't post review directly from Netgalley to Goodreads so here is link to Goodreads review :
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4009356618

This is a Magic Realism Middle Grade. I found this story very cute and fun. In this book we follow a young Owl that can talk to trees, and the other owls kicks him out of the order. He is trying to find his place. I love the message in this book. The characters in this book is very developed, and I love the idea of this book. I think this book would be good for the younger end of Middle Grade. My favorite part of this book is when the young owl enters the library, and I love the idea of owls having magic and a library. This is very well written. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher or author (Erik DeLeo) via NetGalley, so I can give honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.