Whoever compared this to Pokemon really nailed it. I would be obsessed with this book if I was a middle-grader.

Mia, her younger brother, her best friend, and her tutor are thrown into a race against time to stop an evil group of people from turning all the Umbra evil and plunging the world into darkness. The story is action-packed and the characters are all really well written. I was especially impressed by how well the younger brother was written because usually I find young kids to be completely misrepresented in books but this one was spot on.

I thought that the world building was really good (except for the best friend's obsession with his running shoes...I wasn't even clear on why he had running shoes), and even though you could watch it play out in your mind as a Pokemon-like tv show, it was original enough to stand on its own. I would absolutely read the next book and can't wait to see what else this author releases.

This was one of the wildest fantasy worlds I've had the pleasure of diving into, and I'm thrilled by it.

Monsters made of magic? Check. Cities cloaked by eternal night? Check. Conspiracies and gadgets and fight sequences and loveable, quick-witted protagonists? Check!

Janelle McCurdy seamlessly blends classic tropes with fresh new vibes, and it was fascinating to watch her story unspool.

This was a truly unique and insanely fun read!

If you’re looking an action-packed, adventurous and imaginative story with wonderful characters, you’ll adore this just as much as I did.

The Lightcasters was a unique, fun story about family and home and how far you'll go for those you love. Everything about this book was inviting, including the cover, isn't it gorgeous?! I loved how family was at the core of everything, and not just biological family, but found family as well. It was great to watch the MC grow throughout the book. She went from being terrified of the Umbra to really learning to harness her abilities. She went from so much self-doubt, to full of confidence in herself, in her ability.
This book definitely had some Pokemon type vibes to it, which I didn't mind at all. It was kind of nostalgic in a way.
The pace was quick and there were exciting moments scattered all through out. You were never far away from some type of action.
It's been a while since I've read any middle grade, but this is one of the better ones I have read.

Huge Thank you to Simon and Schuster Canada for the e-arc of this book and the opportunity to read it. All thoughts are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I was really curious when I saw this book described as Keeper of the Lost Cities meets Pokémon. While I haven't read Keeper of the Lost Cities so I can't comment on that part, I can see where the Pokémon comes into play.

I really enjoyed this fun and exciting story. The story had a good quick flow carrying the plot along nicely. It was so fast paced and exciting!

I adored Mia. I loved how protective she was over her little brother and how she was brave despite being really scared. The side characters were quite well done also. They all seemed to fit together perfectly to form a team you can't help but cheer for.

While there are things about this book that are typical of middle grade fantasy books, I still think it's one of the better ones I've read.

Mia McKenna lives in Nubis, where it’s always dark because years ago the Reaper King smothered the light. When cloaked strangers start hunting her, she and her brother, Lucas (with the help of two friends) try to escape to the Nightmare Plains in order to save her city and her parents. Mia must rely on her umbra (mystical animal partner), resilience, and knowledge to survive.

This was a fun debut book! I really enjoy middle grade fantasy, and I loved that this book was diverse and that Mia was a badass. I was interested in the story from the get go, and while some of the dialogue could have been a bit more polished, it didn’t hinder the storyline or the characters. I was rooting for Mia the whole time and am excited that this is the first in a series, so I can catch up with them in the future. If you liked Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor, I think you will like The Lightcasters.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

WTH is this? Beats me, but it's GREAT!

The Lightcasters is, I believe, Janelle McCurdy's debut novel. And what a debut it is! Strikingly original. The Lightcasters is intended to be the first book of a series, Umbra Tales, and I certainly intend to read the rest.

I'm going to start by asking which genre The Lightcasters belongs to. This is usually a stupid question to ask about a book. Genre classifications are arbitrary and, especially in the speculative fiction regime, largely meaningless. But I have a reason.

At first glance, The Lightcasters looks like fantasy. Mia lives with her family in the town of Nubis, in a small country, Lunis, that had six cities (three now destroyed) surrounding the Shadowplains, where dangerous creatures walk. Nubis is a city of perpetual night. Some of the people of Nubis are umbra tamers. An umbra tamer is one who has accepted a lifelong pairing with a shadow animal called an umbra. Umbra are or appear to be magical.

That all sounds like a fantasy world. But there are no elves, no sorcerers, no magic spells. Mia's mother, besides being an umbra tamer, is a scientist who works in her lab trying to understand the umbra. Mia's mother and father carry holophones, which appear to be cell phones that project holograms instead of showing things on video screens. They have computers and Mia has a tablet that can take and show pictures. They have running water and elevators and navigation systems.

All right, I thought -- is there a kind of fantasy in which magical creatures and modern technology are both found? Yes, of course, urban fantasy. But as soon as I had that thought, I knew it was wrong. The Lightcasters is not urban fantasy. I had to think about why. It is because urban fantasy is, from a particular point of view, very conventional. Urban fantasy worlds have magic, they have witches and sorcerers, and magical beings: vampires, werewolves, fae, and ghosts. But, although each urban fantasy author puts her own spin on these beings, they are all drawn from folklore. McCurdy's umbra are totally new, to me at least.

So that's my point. I don't know what The Lightcasters is, because I have never read anything like this before.

The novelty of The Lightcasters creates a difficulty for McCurdy. She can't rely on our familiarity with worlds like this -- she has a lot of explaining to do. There were definitely points in the early chapters when I felt I was on the receiving end of an infodump. These were deftly handled, never overbearing, but there is no denying that the story was slow to really get rolling.

Once it got going, though, it was very good. Mia, her little brother Lucas, and her friends TJ and Jada must save their world. It is one of those stories where a child is thrust suddenly and unfairly into the job of an adult.

Administrative note: As far as I can figure out, The Lightcasters and Mia and the Lightcasters are the North American (Simon and Schuster Aladdin) and UK (Faber Children's) versions of the same book. If wrong, I would be glad to be corrected about this.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for an advance reader's copy.