Today I’m excited to share this Middle Grade part fantasy, and part dystopian, little creepy story with you. Middle Grade does give us the comfort that it all works out but this one makes you nervous first!

Let me preface this review by telling you I got this on Netgalley awhile ago, as a synthesized audiobook. And I couldn’t listen to the narration. Synthesized narration is not for me. I recently picked up the ebook and was able to sink right into the story. If you listen to this audiobook now it has been narrated by Chloe Dolandis and the narration is wonderful. I checked that out before sharing with you. 😉

This story will take to a place that was mystical, fascinating, and a little terrifying. I know I would have loved this tale as a middle grader. This is probably more for the older middle grade students like grades 5-8.

This story is about friendship, trust, and found families. Gussy is a determined, independent girl who is in training as the protector of her village out in the desert. The Great Doom has been fought off by her Grandpa Widow for many years, so when he suddenly gets called away, Gussy is left to defend the town against this dark and magical force. The biggest rule of them all is not to open the gate after dark, so when Gussy does (to save a life), she has to face the repercussions.

While the beginning is a bit slower and may have you questioning Gussy’s attitude, the book switches to a much quicker pace and great ending!.

I had received an advanced copy of this audiobook from NetGalley but I missed downloading this audiobook before the archive date. I was finally able to listen to the audiobook because our public library purchased a copy, hurray for public libraries!

This middle-grade, fantasy novel was really interesting. I love that Gussy believes that everything Grandpa Widow tells her is the truth, you should be able to believe in your family. It is only when she opens the gates to a stranger after dark that things get weird and she starts questioning everything. I liked the underlying environmental theme in regards to the Great Doom. I am looking forward to reading more books from Jimmy Cajoleas in the future.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! This was a sweet and magical Middle Grade - with some intense creepy bits!

A fun idea for a book with an interesting system of magic and social social system. Reminiscent of Sabriel with a lighter tone

This was such a wonderful Middle Grade book. I enjoyed the audio even with it possibly not being the completed version. Would definitely suggest the audio to others.

A solid setting here with a unique mythology. It gets a little weird, though. Huge aspects of the society are never properly explained. While we get a decent picture of the origin of the danger, we don't really understand how long this has been going on or how the towns got so isolated, the danger so widespread. The scope is unclear.

This one came out November 2, 2021 so unfortunately I was deep into my reading slump (I had a baby 7/31) by then and am now just getting to it.

I loved the atmosphere and I loved Gussy as a main character but I didn't connect with the side characters as much as I wanted to. For example, Big Gordo is a cinnamon roll who is strong enough to open and close the gates by himself but likes to write poetry and can't stand to see anyone suffer. Yet, despite wanting to love him I just never felt that strongly about him.

I was also dissatisfied with the ending. There was a lot made throughout the book about the mystery of where Gussy came from and then it felt like an afterthought as everything wrapped up. This doesn't appear to be a series so I expected a little more.

Despite it's flaws, I found myself drawn back to the book and wanting to find out what was going to happen next. I'd probably read another book about Gussy and I also really liked the narration. Overall, I gave this one 3.5/5 ⭐.

Gussy is a middle grade story where music is magic and while it’s fantasy it’s a vaguely post-apocalyptic one.
For the most part the story was enjoyable and I think for the target audience it would be even more so! Gussy as a character was sort of interesting because she wasn’t always likeable, which feels like a somewhat unique choice for a middle grade story. I think her choices made sense, but sometimes being first person in an unlikeable character’s head is just not my preferred reading experience. However, the plot of the story was engaging and Gussy did have enough redeeming character moments that it felt worth it.
This definitely does have a little bit of the suspension of disbelief that happens often in children’s books of “why did you put so much responsibility on this literal child omg?!” For the most part I was able to, but sometimes the adults in the story were just… like I realize she’s trying to keep your whole village from dying but maybe recognise that this kid is like eleven and dealing with stuff alone that her mentor didn't prepare her for? Maybe sTOP BEING A JERK??? I have some words for ALL of the adults in this story basically.
Also, plus side. Dog companion who is a very good boy!
I do wish we saw a slight bit more of Gussy’s friendships in the village before the last third of the story, or built that tension a bit more so that when they feature more heavily it’s a bit more emotionally rewarding. Other than that though, my only main point of confusion with the story was the ending. I liked the resolution, but it made it sound like the main problem was totally solved, but then the character’s world continued on like it did? I think it was more of a worldbuilding confusion for me. So maybe a bit more clarity about the exact situation of the world and how that was different than the problem Gussy deals with would have been helpful.
Overall though, it’s a solid middle grade fantasy with a Western-desert feel and it was a fine story overall. While it’s not a new favorite by any means, I’m not upset i read it either.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* really liked this book! i liked the characters and the story is more original than i thought it would be

Thank you to @netgalley @harperaudio for the ALC in the return for my honest review.
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My thoughts…
Interesting. For a middle grade book I thought the storyline was interesting but it was challenging to listen. The audiobook was a voicegalley, which means it was created using a synthetic voice.

This is a Fantasy Middle Grade. I have to say the beginning was a little hard to follow. The middle was a little slow moving for me. The ending was fast pace and kept me on my toes. Overall, I found this book just ok. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Quill Tree Books) or author (Jimmy Cajoleas) 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.

When Grandpa Willow is drawn away on business Gussy is left alone to protect her village and preform the rights that will protect her village and people from the Great Doom. A curse that runs throughout the dessert creating madness and ciaos in those that it is able to get a hold of. Though having spent a lot of time learning the rights and working und Grandpa Willow Gussy is left to make tough choices for what will be best for her village when things start to go wrong. It all starts when a mysterious young lady comes to the village gates in the middle of the night. Gussy who knows better opens the gates for her to enter into safety even knowing that opening the gates could let the Doom in. Was letting the strange young lady in the start of her villages troubles? What is the girl hiding? Can one young lady and her dog really protect a whole village from such great dark power?

Since I was able to listen to the computer generated reading of this book I want to make a couple comments about it. Overall the computer voice really was not that bad. I did recognize certain areas in the book that were very robotic, but I would not be against listening to this type of book again. I will say that there was one phrase that even if you had the most amazing narrator in the world reading this audio book just go on my nerves and "I can promise you that". This phrase and some of the other phrases that Gussy just repeats over and over and over again really started to ruin the listening experience for me and took me out of the book each time one was said. The story itself was good if you can get past all of her catch phrases. I liked the characterization, the plot was decent, and middle grade readers will love they mystical plot line. I just really personally can't get past her catch phrases. Hopefully that is just a personal thing and middle graders who read this book will love it for the magical tale it weaves.

Thank you to Harper Audio and Netgalley for allowing me to listen to an early version of this book. I will not be posting this review to Goodreads as I don't want to taint anyone's experience of reading this book. The phrases may have only been due to the computer reading the book, and for that I don't want to take away from someone picking up this book to read it. Thank you again for allowing me to listen to this book.

Gussy is Grandpa Widow’s second in command as a protector of their village. When he is called away, Gussy is on her own with her dog Cricket. She must make all the decisions and practice all the rites to keep the village safe from the Great Doom. The world building was good. Gussy was a sympathetic character. Kids reading this will relate to Gussy questioning herself as she carries all the responsibility, as well as when she questions who she can trust. I will definitely purchase this book for my middle school library.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a story that I struggled to follow in the first half because the computer-generated audio was making it hard for me to relate. But when I read the book myself, I discovered it wasn't just the computer-generated audio that was making it difficult. It was also because this book relies on a person telling the story. And everything is told, including everything she is thinking. So there is a lot more telling and showing and it's hard to keep focus when that's all you're reading. And yet, I am glad I persevered, because this was a pretty decent story with good lessons. I especially liked the ending, and I think that if a middle school student were to persevere, the way I did, the ending would make it worth the journey. It's hard to rate the audiobook because this was not the real audiobook--it was the computer-generated voice. I suspect that with the right narrator, this book could actually be better on audio than in print. The ending was very satisfying and in the end, I'm glad I read this book.

A girl who only knows that she mysteriously arrived to protect the village, with her dog and violin. A village that wants to be protected but alienates the protectors. And a dark secret that may destroy them all.

Gussy is a middle grade fantasy and naturally, I adjusted my expectations as such. But the truth is, I almost love middle grade fantasies more than young adult fantasies, so it hurts my heart to give this a two star rating, because I really wanted to love everything about Gussy. But I don’t know that I would’ve even finished this book as a middle grader myself, and I had to make myself finish it as a young adult.

The story carries much promise of excitement, but I think the main reason I had to push myself to finish it, is because it moves at a snail’s pace. Because the entire story takes place inside the walls of the village, the scenery bounces back and forth between, like, three scenes: a pub (I think that’s what it’s supposed to be), where Gussy and Grandpa Widow live, and walking around the wall as Gussy performs the rites to protect the village. So, it gets a little repetitive after a while, especially since this lack of scenery is paired with Gussy’s longwinded, storytelling narrative. It just didn’t move very fast and we spent a lot of time listening to Gussy tell the story with a focus on her own feelings, rather than the story. This is the same issue that I had with The Hunger Games when I read those books, where I couldn’t stand being in Katniss’s head, so perhaps this is just a personal preference for me and others may adore this type of storytelling. But, I just couldn’t click with Gussy no matter how hard I tried.

As for the other characters, once again, because of how the story is narrated, the characters are very much just “told” about, rather than allowing the readers to actually meet them. Gussy pretty much just talks about the other characters and gives you her opinion of them based on xyz, exchanges a few words with them as needed to progress the story, and then they really aren’t encountered again until they are needed again. So, even though I listened to the whole book, I don’t remember half of the character’s names and don’t feel as if I was ever properly introduced to them. I just know them through Gussy’s opinions of them, which weren’t always complimentary. I wish I had been given the opportunity to conclude my own opinions about them.

So, in conclusion, I almost DNF’d Gussy, but I stuck it out. And while I love Cricket, Gussy’s dog (I never forget the dog haha) and the idea of this story, upon finishing it, I just don’t think that I would recommend it to the middle graders in my life, unless for a very specific reading request that included a dog and a violin 🙂

Trigger Warnings: Death of parents, nightmares, mild magic spooks, and some use of animal parts for magic.

I received this audiobook from the author/publisher via Netgalley. All comments and opinions are entirely my own and this review is voluntary.

This was a fun middle grade fantasy book. I think the beginning started off a bit harder to follow, but towards the middle it picked up, and then at the end it really gained momentum. I do however think that the injury of the animal might be a little hard for younger readers (I know this would have really bothered me as a kid) I also am not too sure what the doom is. But I will say that I thought all in all it was a good book, with interesting characters, and an interesting storyline.

I received an advanced copy of this audiobook from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book is well written and the characters are described well. The narrator did a good job reading this book. The pacing of this book is great. The characters are enjoyable. I would recommend listening to this audiobook it is a good middle grade sci fi fantasy. It will be in stores on November 2, 2021 for $23.95 (USD).

A small village in the middle of the desert. A village filled with quirky characters who all reside in this lone outpost keeping safe within its wall from the "doom" the resides outside the village walls. Grandpa Widow is the village protector, who performs a vast series of rites daily that keep the town safe. Performing the rights and learning to be a protector alongside him, is our heroine, young Gussy. As we start the story Grandpa Widow is called away and it falls to Gussy to keep the village safe in his absence. Of course during his absence events slowly unfold that bring the doom ever closer and test what Gussy thinks she knows.

Overall I enjoyed this story. I thought Gussy was a great character, very serious about her role and responsibilities, old beyond her years in many ways, but she was also still a young girl who made mistakes and bad decisions. But she is tough and loyal. With the help of some new and old friends, they are able to unravel the mystery behind the doom and defeat it. If you enjoy books with found family, a quirky cast of characters, animal companions. you will enjoy this tale.

What brought this book down the 3 stars instead of 4 was a few issues with the plot, At the beginning, it wasn't quite clear what the "Doom" was, I figured eventually this would be revealed to us, and it was sorta but I am still not quite clear what it was. Initially, the book was a little slow but Cajoleas did a good job creating a bit of mystery around who was messing with the rights and questions around who we can trust and we cannot. Then when events start unfolding and the drama picks up it got a little crazy. I felt the whole witch who did a spell? a rite of her own? and began the greater drama of the book came out of left field, sort of unexplained similar to the doom itself. Then later when the doom is descending on the village and things are falling apart,. it seemed too calm, yes Gussy and her friends were working hard to figure how to defeat it but the rest of the village is just locked away? I just found parts of the plot didn't always make sense.

The character development and growth in the book are good but the plot is lacking a bit in this story. I would definitely recommend this book to some readers but to those who need everything to make sense and be clear, it may be a more frustrating read.

I am not an expert on middle grade by any means, but I thought that this book was very well constructed. I thought Gussy was super mature for her age and I attributed that to her upbringing and being the apprentice protector. I didn't see the twist coming. I thought for sure the girl she let in was the doom. I am still unclear as to what the doom actually was so I would have appreciated a little more context when it came to that. Overall, I think my younger self would have enjoyed this immensely; it is action packed with a bit of a mystery and the character work was really good.

I enjoyed this middle-grade read. It was cute, suspenseful, and overall I enjoyed Gussy and her struggle. The story itself also had an interesting take on protective magic and while I found some of the magic to be familiar; I loved the far-off taste they had.
This novel dove into the idea of expectations, friendships, unlikely friends, the consequences of actions (even those that are pure in intent), and identity as it pertains both to the individual self, as well as what it means to know where you come from and how you got to the place you stand in today. It also dealt in the idea of family, different types of families; and that occasionally the family we are born into are not the family we choose later on.
A lot of messages wrapped up in this small town, big-world, novel -- with a snarky, responsible, and struggling Gussy at its heart.