Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me access to the free advanced digital copy of this book.

This book is a fun middle grade fantasy novel about a girl with Ménière’s disease (Etta) and a boy who’s just moved to Chicago from Colombia (Eleazar). Something weird and magical is going on in Chicago, and the two of them seem to be the only ones who notice. When Eleazar’s pet dog disappears into the mysterious train that seems to be the root of everything, Etta and Eleazar team up to get her back.

This novel was a fun exploration into what it means to grow up and accept all parts of yourself, fear and hope alike. I will say that I would put it on the upper end of the middle grade age category as sometimes it did feel a bit like I was reading a younger YA novel instead of an MG. I am always a huge fan of books that introduce a diverse range of characters and Etta Invincible really delivered. We have a Black main character with a disability, a Latinx main character who is learning English as a second language, and a couple of Japanese American side/secondary characters as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that Etta and Eleazar did not let the language/hearing barrier come between their developing friendship. Etta makes uses of a translation/speech-to-text app on her phone to keep up communication between them and both of them exhibit a lovely amount of patience with each other when the app doesn’t quite get things right. Overall, I found these characters to be welcoming and understanding with each other and I absolutely loved it.

The main plot does focus around a magical secret world that only Eleazar and Etta are aware of initially. I was a bit skeptical about how the author was going to explain these things, but I was surprisingly satisfied with how everything came to a close in the final chapters. I wouldn’t have guessed that this was a debut novel with how well I felt things were thought through. The only aspect I wasn’t 100% sure about was the super-speed scene, so if anyone could explain that to me, please do.

Really, my main complaint about Etta Invincible was that I wish there were more graphic novel insertions throughout. The first and last chapter are illustrated in a comic-style, and the art is one of the most gorgeous things I’ve ever seen. I was saddened to discover that these comics weren’t going to be a regular occurrence throughout the book as I think it could’ve added something a little extra to the reading experience.

Thank you so much Netgalley, TBR and Beyond Tours and the author for letting me read such a magnificent debut novel!

The plot was lit and so were the characters! I was a bit confused at the beginning because I could feel there was something wrong with Etta physically but had a hard time figuring out what was going on since I never heard of Ménière’s disease. However, the book isn't based on her illness though it shows how the chronic illness is a big part of her and affects her in her daily life. She find a friend in Eleazar, another kid in the neighborhood who's Hispanic and they communicate using a translator. I thought that was really heartwarming. I love her vivid imagination - the way she interprets the world in her head in her own unique way. Her friendship with Eleazar and his dog Louisa May Alcott was adorable and marked the start of an unforgettable journey that involves a magic train. The line between realistic world and magical realism blurred a couple of times in the first half of the book but it didn't hamper the mood or setting. Definitely recommended!

Characters

The characters of Etta Invincible were fantastic, and I loved how they interacted with each other. One character had hearing loss, which is not something you see in many books, and as someone who also has hearing loss, I loved seeing the representation in this book. The other character was moving to a new country, and I loved seeing the world through his eyes and Etta’s.

Plot

The plot of this story was fantastic. I’m a fan of contemporary novels, and this had a dash of fantasy for those that prefer some fantasy in their novels. This novel had a magical train where a majority of the story takes place,, but you could still feel that they set this in our world. This story was fun because it was different, and it took the reader on an adventure. I loved the adventure this story took you on, and how the characters grew at the end of the novel.

Writing

The writing of this novel was fantastic. It’s difficult to go between both Fantasy and our world, and the author does it seamlessly. I loved this mixture of the different scenes set on the train because you could tell that this was a fantasy story and one that was also set in our world because of the way the characters interacted. This was a mixture of both light-hearted scenes and scenes that were heavier. The characters were having in the light-hearted scenes, and in the more heartfelt scenes, they were talking about the problem at hand, and what they were going through.

Friendship

This was a Middle-Grade Novel, so there was more of a focus on friendship. I love the friendship between the two main characters, and how they met one day. The story was played out, so the characters met at the time when they both needed each other.

Enjoyment/ Recommend For

I really enjoyed this book! The story was very fun, and I had a great time reading this. I recommend this for anyone who enjoys a Middle-Grade novel, or a mixture of fantasy and our world in their stories.

What didn’t work for me

Pace

While I enjoyed this novel, I had problems with the pace. I felt like there were some scenes that could have been longer, and some scenes that could have seen shorter. Overall, the pace of the book is fine.

All in all, I quite liked the idea of the book. I liked the main character, Etta, and I think I also learned a lot while reading. There were some convoluted parts though, that made the whole experience a bit confusing though. However, I did like the artwork and I think I would love to read a Etta Invincible graphic novel.
I would recommend, though. I think it’s important for children to learn how people with a disability, like Etta who has days where she cannot hear, live their day to day life. I think that was beautifully portraid and I think I would enjoy more books with characters like Etta.

I loved this book for so many different reasons! One, I am hard of hearing and have issues with being able to hear better on some days with others and having this be a big part of who our “superhero” is was awesome. I also loved her love of comic books! I loved the magical elements of this book and the side characters were amazing! I highly recommend this book!

Overall

The cover of Etta Invincible is just *chef’s kiss*. It gives me hardcore The Train to Impossible Places vibes mixed with superheroes, which if I’m honest is a brilliant sort of mixture that I never knew I wanted until I saw it. Plus, who can resist diverse characters AND a cute doggo? Not this bookwyrm, that’s for sure.

Etta Invincible is a magical coming-of-age story about a protagonist with a chronic illness who learns that it doesn’t take being a superhero to be brave. It just takes good friends and a little bit of magic.

Let me tell you something: Eschmann can write. The prose in this book is striking and beautiful, and I just wanted to crawl inside the words and live there. Wait . . . is that weird? Tell me that’s a perfectly normal desire. *cough* Anyway, I definitely want to read more works by the author because her writing style is just gorgeous. That being said, I wish the setting was a little more developed, because I was confused with the way characters ignored magical things around them, like it was commonplace, even though the book appeared to be a contemporary with magical realism. Also, if I ever hear the word THWACK used again to describe something a normal, healthy human heart does, I’ll probably scream.

My Thoughts

- Etta is a very interesting protagonist. She’s a little Black girl who believes in magic and has a chronic illness known as Ménière’s disease. I want to say, right off the bat, that the book is not about Etta’s illness. However, it’s hard to deny that it plays a part in how her adventure goes, as one might expect. For anyone who doesn’t know what Ménière’s disease (like I didn’t), this book is a really eye-opening experience. Basically, it’s a disease of the inner ear that causes pressure to build up, which causes symptoms like vertigo, migraines/headaches, and loss of hearing. Easy to see how that might be important when one’s off chasing magical trains, right?!

Throughout the book, Etta is having her Quiet days, when her Ménière’s disease flares up and she can’t hear, which means she needs to rely on things like lip reading, assistive technology through her phone, and sign language in order to communicate and understand the people around her. It doesn’t mean she can’t still go on adventures, but it sure does change the way her adventure looks because of it!

I feel like it should go without saying (though I’ll say it anyway) that I absolutely love the inclusion of this representation! When I was Etta’s age, I had hearing loss and problems related to my ears, too, and her struggles are so relatable. Especially since my grandmother also was hard of hearing, and basic ASL was a regular thing in my household that I just took for granted. So it was so meaning to read a middle grade book with this representation! Especially with how hard Etta’s parents are trying to adjust their lives to this new (maybe) diagnosis.

- Rep aside (because people are neither their illnesses nor their disabilities), Etta is a little girl with a big imagination, which is entirely endearing. She reminds me a lot of me at that age: seeing the world as this thing filled with magic and living wholeheartedly in her imagination. Etta loves comics and art, to the point of creating her very own superhero: Invincible Girl. Invincible Girl is brave when Etta feels scared and handles the big things that Etta doesn’t feel ready to take on. Oftentimes, she’ll imagine what Invincible Girl would do in a situation. Or if things get tough, Etta personifies the challenge she’s facing as a villain in one of her Invincible Girl comics, easily overtaken by the superpowered superhero.

In real life, though, Etta is afraid. A lot. Her life is unpredictable right now, especially with her new (maybe) diagnosis and how her chronic illness makes it difficult to make new friends. She’s alone and isolated and not feeling nearly as brave as her superhero counterpart. Which is such a relatable situation to be in, right? Goodness knows I was at that age (still am, even, from time to time). I imagine that middle schoolers will have absolutely no trouble whatsoever relating with and connecting to Etta!

- Etta manages to stumble her way into a small squad, with her new (hopefully) friends Eleazar and Mariana joining her in her magical adventure. And boy are these three kids different. Which is most of their charm.

Eleazar has recently moved from Colombia, where his grandmother still lives. He’s an ESL student whose first language is Spanish, and he’s new to the area. The move hasn’t exactly been easy on him, either. He puts on a brave face and says he’s not afraid, no matter what, but deep down, he’s having a hard time adjusting to his new life in Chicago.

Mariana, on the other hand, is a logical, no-nonsense girl with a plan. She’s already thought it through and knows exactly how her plan should go and what she hopes to achieve, and she’ll see it through until the end. Unlike the other two, who tend to have their heads in the clouds, Mariana is much more practical, though that’s not to say that she doesn’t believe in magic. Not at all. She just approaches it with more of a rational brain than her companions.

It’s their unique strengths (and, ultimately, weaknesses) that makes this trio work so well together. They each have different struggles in their life and different things they hope for, but at the end of the day, they’re still in it together.

- All board the magical train, where your deepest wishes can come true . . . just maybe not in ways you might expect. I absolutely loved this train. It’s magical, but also slightly ominous. When you travel from one car to the next, you never quite know what to expect, because there could be just about anything on the other side of the door. Most notably in this book, though: the train is malfunctioning. What seems magical at first takes a slightly more sinister turn as the magic goes wrong.

Moreover, when Eleazar and Etta board the train, they assume they’re alone, but that’s definitely not the case. They run across several characters on their journey, like Akio. Who is definitely a character. Probably my favorite character in this book, actually! He’s quirky and slightly whimsical and not at all happy about now having the share the train with children who are messing things up (his words, not mine).

Readers will likely love the magic of the train, combined with the mystery of what’s causing its magic to go awry. Eschmann creates a setting that will easily entrance readers of all ages.

- At the heart of this book is a rather heartwarming coming-of-age story about friendship and bravery, which I think every reader will be able to relate to and enjoy. It takes quite a bit of time to build to that story, of course. As I said, the beginning is really slow to get started. Once it does, though, the underlying story is absolutely beautiful! The big, overarching messages are written very poignantly, with passages that are sure to tug on a reader’s heartstrings. Especially anyone who can see themselves in Etta, who might be afraid or feel not particularly brave or even just someone who struggles to make friends.

My favorite parts of this book are definitely where the main trio work together and learn what it means to be friends and support each other, even when things get difficult and potentially scary. There’s a lot to be said about the power of friendship and being there for the people you care about that I absolutely loved!

Sticking Points

- Etta’s heart THWACKs an awful lot in this book. To the point where I’m pretty sure this is a medical issue that should be examined by a doctor. When I first ran across a THWACK, I assumed that this would be a red flag for something like afib or some sort of heart issue. It only came up when Etta was stressed or worried, so it makes sense if that’s part of her medical diagnosis. That appears to not be the case at all.

Etta’s heart THWACKs probably every three or four pages, and it’s such an awkward description. A couple times, fine, but it happened every time she was stressed or worried. Considering this whole book is about fear and worry, it popped up a lot. Every time, it made me roll my eyes, because that’s a horrible description of what your heart does every single time you’re stressed, and it felt so overdone.

I highly doubt this will matter to any middle grade readers, but it annoyed me to the point that I actually dreaded running into another THWACK. Actually, come to think of it, it’d make a great drinking game . . . if someone weren’t afraid of potential alcohol poisoning. This is one of those sticking points that is probably just a me thing, but since this is my review . . . ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

- The beginning of Etta Invincible is very slow, and it skirts this strange line between realism and magical realism that doesn’t quite make sense, before settling on an obviously fantasy second half. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it definitely tripped me up and almost felt like the first part of the book was somehow divorced from the second part. To start with, nothing really happens in the book until about 35% of the way in. Girl has chronic illness. Girl meets boy. Then Girl meets boy’s dog. Dog goes missing. Girl (and boy) are understandably upset. That’s basically the first 35% in the nutshell, and none of that is actually spoiler because it’s in the blurb.

There are hints of magic early on in the book, but they feel almost like Etta simply living in her own imagination. She writes this comic strip about Invincible Girl, who’s basically real to her, and okay, yes, this makes sense. She also wants there to be magic and superheroes in the world (and honestly, who the heck doesn’t?!). So it makes perfect sense that when strange things happen around her, she sees it as magic. She describes purple smoke, but in a way that isn’t particularly alarming so I think, okay, that’s weird, but I guess it’s commonplace there since literally no one is commenting on it?! There are strange fireworks that feel magical, but again . . . Etta clearly lives inside her imagination and wants magic to exist. So this definitely seems figurative.

Then there’s the instance of a boy who runs so fast he keeps up with a bus and aside from some students thinking it’s cool, literally no one says anything about how weird it is. Etta has a momentary thought that maybe he’s a superhero like Invincible Girl, but that’s it. At which point, I was seriously confused.

Granted, most of these occurrences themselves are explained, but not the reaction (or lack thereof, specifically) of the characters. The genre lines were so blurry that I ended up super confused about what was supposed to be real and what wasn’t, and then I was confused about why no one reacted to what was obviously magic if magic wasn’t supposed to be commonplace in the world. This is another thing that I don’t think will bother middle grade readers (who I hope live, at least to some extent, in their imaginations, because I sure did, and it’s a great place to be!). It was enough to constantly pull me out of the story, though, to where I struggled to understand the world the author was establishing.

I am always on the lookout for as many diverse books so when I saw Etta Invincible I was intrigued as the MC had Meniere's Disease which I have heard of but I had no idea it was possible for children to suffer from it. But I do know what it is like to suffer with Vertigo - I was diagnosed in 2020 and I was interested to see how Reese would depict someone having a vertigo attack and I can say they were spot on.

I felt Etta's frustrations of never knowing when one would happen how long it would last and at times it can be stressful which is a no no. I can honestly say Etta was not weak she was strong as having something like that really can take it's toll on a person.

My one dislike about the book is it's pacing at the beginning I found it slow and there were so many chapters which were longer than others. It was not until Reese introduced Mariana and Akio things began to really hot up and the main reason why I gave 4 stars. It was so close to a 5 star rating maybe add more of the graphic novel into the book would of been ideal as I loved the artwork.

Review: I loved this book! Etta is trying so hard to figure out how to live with her “Maybe” disorder that causes her to have days where she can’t hear anything. Her struggle is real, sad, and heartwarming. She feels a need to prove to herself and her parents that she is capable of things, and this story is all about that. She makes some wonderful friends, pushes herself to do new things, and is the better for it. I highly recommend this book!

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Etta Invincible

Author: Reese Eschmann

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 5/5

Diversity: Black hard-of-hearing/Meniere’s Disease MC, ASL used a little, Columbian character

Recommended For...: middle grade readers, fantasy, magic trains, comic books hybird, graphic novels hybrid

Publication Date: July12, 2022

Genre: MG Fantasy

Age Relevance: 9+ (racism, anxiety, lost animal, animal kidnapping, violence, scary moments)

Explanation of Above: There is some racism mentioned in the book in regards to medicine and how hard it is for Black people to be treated adequately by the healthcare industry. There are some showings of anxiety. There is a dog who gets lost and then found to be kidnapped in the book. There is some very slight showings of violence in the book. There are a couple of scary moments that could be a bit hard for younger or more sensitive readers, but this would be a great bonding book for younger children and their guardians, especially if you want to show them characters who are hard of hearing.

Publisher: Aladdin

Pages: 368

Synopsis: A girl with hearing loss and a boy adjusting to life in a new country connect through their love of comics and get entangled in their own fantastical adventure.

Twelve-year-old Etta Johnson has Loud Days where she can hear just fine and Quiet Days where sounds come from far away and she gets to retreat into her thoughts. Etta spends most of her time alone, working on her comic book about Invisible Girl, the superhero who takes down super villain Petra Fide and does all the things Etta thinks she can’t.

But when Louisa May Alcott, a friendly Goldendoodle from across the street, disappears, Etta and the dog’s boy, Eleazar, must find their inner heroes to save her. The catch? LMA has run onto a magical train that mysteriously arrived at the station near Etta and Eleazar’s houses. On-board, they discover each train car is its own magical world with individual riddles and challenges that must be solved before they can reach the engine room and rescue LMA.

Only, the stakes are even higher than they thought. The train’s magic is malfunctioning and spreading a purple smoke called The Fear through the streets of Chicago. Etta and Eleazar are the only ones who can save the city, save Louisa May Alcott—and save each other.

Review: I think my favorite this about this book is that the MC is hard of hearing and the way that this aspect of her life is written in the book and pops up frequently in terms of writing, ASL, understanding one another, etc. is beautifully done in my opinion. I am not considered hard of hearing, but I do have what might be an auditory processing disorder or some other sort of hearing issue, so sometimes it is really hard for me to understand what is being said even if I’m looking at someone and paying as much attention to them as I possibly can and even if I can see their lips moving. I have to use captions when watching shows and stuff and I sometimes ask someone to repeat themselves or speak slower for me. So I understood to a degree how Etta felt when that aspect of her life came up. I also thought that the book was genius when it came to showing how Etta and her friend communicated even though he was more comfortable speaking Spanish and she hasn’t learned that yet. They used a translator and it really shows the ingenuity of children who will always find ways to play and interact with each other regardless of any language barriers. I also loved the comic aspect of the book, but wish that there were more panels in the book. I would also consider this a great HP replacement read if you are looking for those like I constantly am. Lastly, I thought the world building and character development was well done and the book was well paced.

The only real issue I had with the book is that I thought it would be better split up into multiple books or that it didn’t incorporate the comic book aspect enough, but otherwise it was really well done.

Verdict: I loved this book! Highly recommend!

This was a fantastic story! I can't wait to share this with the Mini Lits! It's full of magic friendship, superheroes and adventure! The beginning of the book sets everything up for the characters and the setting but once everything starts to happen the book takes off! Taking the reader on a magical adventure! Etta is an easy character to like. She is strong and all heart! The relationship she has with her parents is heartwarming and sweet! Overall it's a beautiful story about finding your own strength! Thank you TBR and Beyond Tours and Reese Eschmann for sharing this fantastic adventure with me!

An adventurous and engaging story with a delightful main character. Etta is a unique protagonist but also very relatable to young readers. Recommended.

Wow, Etta Invincible took me on a wild adventure and I was left winded in the best way possible! Reese Eschmann does a fantastic job of describing the epic journey that Etta goes on and also dives deeper into each character which gives the reader a fuller and more vivid picture.

This book reminded me a bit of the 39 Clues books as Etta and Eleazar and Louisa May have to solve riddles and encounter different types of magic. You witness their wits as they make their way through the train and also realize that maybe there’s more at stake that what you initially thought. This book is a whirlwind and I couldn’t get enough! I’m excited to read more of Eschmann’s books as she does a great job at fleshing out these characters. Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

I love how well-written and dynamic the characters are. They all have their own fears, dreams, and questions that are subtly explored in this magical train journey. I love how the friendships here are built, and how Black families are portrayed as positive and supportive.

The biggest downside for me here is the worldbuilding and the pacing of the plot. Sometimes I'm not sure why we (reader and characters) are brought to the next situation, and though it's not dragging at all, the lack of transitions make me really confused.