Thank you NetGalley and Harper for audio galley to review!

This was an immediate favorite. When I think of everything I love about adventure and fantasy stories, this is the type of story I think of. It sincerely brought me back to my own childhood and I can already tell it will be an unforgettable one for younger generations too, as it tackles inter-generational trauma and reluctant heroes in a way that writers have only recently begun.

Ary is the definition of reluctant hero. She did not ask for her grandmother's burden, she did not willingly take on something that the adults in her life should be doing, she does not want to be her people's savior. She's twelve years old! And she's right to feel that way! I love that it is mentioned repeatedly that she should not be doing any of this and that the adults in her world have failed her and the other children. I also love that instead of taking on the overwhelming responsibility of saving an entire world, she focuses on saving just one person: her mother, who has been stricken by the mold that has been killing their world. It's an excellent message that I think more kids need to hear; we do not need to be overwhelming them with demands to save an entire world; they'll just shut down otherwise. Saving just one person is enough motivation. This story does a beautiful job of navigating and explaining all of that.

And even though Ary comes to resent her people and is only going into any of this for one person, by the end she has learned just how many different ways love can grow and does not go into or finish her mission alone. There is a wonderful coming-together of several factions that previously hated or felt disdain for each other, once they realize that they're in this together and there was no reason for those feelings. They become a sort of found family. (I, personally, would give my all for Shrimp the pill bug any day.)

The cast is great, the setting is creative, and I was leaning forward in my seat the entire journey. Some things may not have gone the way I had hoped or wanted, but that's okay. It just tells you that you can't always get what you want and not everything will be sunshine and rainbows. This was a straightforward, matter-of-fact approach to a literal child having to do what cowardly adults won't. And I will be buying a personal copy for my collection and recommending it to all who will hear me.

I love the way this book ended; this book could stand alone but I am excited that it is book #1 of a duology.

I love that the fairies and insects were able to survive for so long in the terrarium without the gardener's help.

I am looking forward to reading about the adventures they go on in the second book.

Will they find a new home? Will they find out what is in the other terrarium? So many things could happen in the next book, eek!

I listened to this book through NetGalley's VoiceGalley Advance Audio Addition (not the audiobook itself).

Canary Mossheart is a precocious young fairy, trapped in a fairy village that is being slowly overtaken by a mold that is slowly killing everything and everyone in it.

While she tries to be a good little fairy -- working hard to earn food for her family and making her mama and gran proud -- after her mama grows ill, Ary decides she must leave her village to find a cure.

Though her people forbid her leaving, Ary manages to clamber over the wall and escape out into the dying world where secrets and truths await her.

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There is so much to love about this book. It's a gentle middle grade read that explores independence, friendship, and determination.

I enjoyed how the adventures of her gran echo down through the generations and how Ary has to fight against the mistakes and misconceptions made by her elders and break a cycle that everyone else believes inevitably set. Throughout the book, the story that the adults tell is peeled away, layer by layer, until she sees the truth and becomes even more determined to set it right.

My biggest struggle with this book was the pacing. There were times where I wish I could start skimming through the repetitive conversations and internal monologue. It's possible this would not be a problem for a child reading this, but sometimes it felt like Ary was acting in low capacity or the repetition was out of concern that the reader wouldn't follow what was happening without it.

While this is the first book I've read by Rebecca Mix, The Ones We Burn has been on my TBR, and I am excited to start reading that soon.

This book will probably be my precocious 9yo nibling's Christmas present. I think they will be delighted.

This was a super cute book. The plot and setting is super creative and original. Ary shows the struggles that most tween goes through

Canary just wants to save her mom from the Mold. It seems every year to just get worse. It has already taken her father. Now with her mom sick and her Grandmother reserved to sit and do nothing is going to stop Ary from finding a cure. She finds herself on journey that has her questioning everything she’s ever been told.

I thought I would like it more but I saw what was going on right from the start, which could just be a symptom of it being middle grade and as literal as a fantasy about fairies trapped in their "world" could be.

I didn't connect with the main character Ary or the quest she had to embark on in any meaningful way. I was going through the motions of listening to it and knew what to expect, so there weren't surprises and I kind of wanted some surprises.

There's obviously an audience for it, but it wasn't me.

This middle grade dystopian story is also part fantasy. A fairy world that exists under the dome of a terrarium is rotting away and dying. Canary Mossheart discovers her grandmother failed to fulfill a prophecy as the one chosen to save their world 50 years prior. Now she must pick up the mantle and fix Wren Mosshearts failure.

I didn't enjoy this story very much at all. The characters were very unlikeable, and it was just too serious the whole way through. No characters existed to bring any levity in the midst of such a dire story. No thanks. Wasn't for me.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review

The Mossheart’s Promise is an absolutely enchanting story that your young reader will go back to again and again. Ary is the perfect protagonist.

If you cross City of Ember with Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and threw in some fairies, you'd get The Mossheart's Promise. I've been intrigued by this story since I read the first official blurb and was thrilled to get an advanced reader copy to review. Unfortunately, the book did not capture my heart as I'd hoped it would. There is an overarching bleakness to the story, with rare occurrences of humor and hope. And there was brutalness, too, with young fairies growing their wings only to have them cut off and ground up, the magic within contributed to the rest of society where most of the population worked themselves to the bone and were left hungry, while other starved creatures in the gloom were left to fight another to the death. There are also frequent mentions of horrible scars crisscrossing the limbs of many of the older fairies and hints that not many survived the battles, suggesting old wars that did not go well. This is a bleak, brutal story that could be horrifying to young readers, rather than one which inspires hope.

As I was reading, I was strongly reminded of books I've read before, to the point where it became distracting. The "the city is dying but those in charge are hiding it from everyone else they're exploiting" themes are eerily similar to those in City of Ember, all the way down to the concept of the entire civilization/city enclosed in a world-within-a-world which is about to run out of time, and someone knew about it but didn't do anything to alert the others but now it falls on the shoulders of two twelve-year-olds to escape the city and do something about it. And the Mayor is corrupt and is forcibly maintaining the status quo, giving more to those in power and keeping the poor under their boot heels. Because of this, Mossheart felt far too similar to stand out as a fresh new take on this type of dystopian/environmentally themed story.

As an educator, there are other books with similar themes of generational trauma, of unlearning the lies you’ve been fed and re-learning the truth, and discovering that kind compassion is often greater heroism than brute strength that I would reach for before suggesting this book. It is unfortunate, as the concepts are intriguing, but unfortunately the execution fell short.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harpercollins Childrens Books for an Advanced Reader's Copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book is such a unique Middle Grade novel! Picture a world where fairies and insects live together, allying or fighting with one another and always grappling for survival in a moss-covered agricultural world and fighting a mold disease that can wipe out entire populations. Now, take that world and put it in a terrarium where these creatures unknowingly live. NOW, have a select few inhabitants of this world discover the truth that they're living inside a terrarium that will meet its demise in just a few days unless they can escape, and you have the overall gist of The Mossheart's Promise.

While this book is an epic adventure, it focuses in on a few scrappy lovable unlikely heros, particularly Ary Mossheart. Ary has grown up in the shadow of her grandmother who once went on an epic journey to save their world from the mold disease - the very same disease that has now returned and is threatening the life of Ary's mother. It is with the intention of saving her mother that Ary leaves her town, but she discovers much bigger secrets and is more or less forced to undertake an even bigger quest - saving all the inhabitants of her world.

I did feel that some of the scenes and language were a bit too repetitive. Ary is a reluctant hero grappling with her new knowledge and her bitter relationship with her grandmother, and these are huge aspects of the book; however, I felt that they could have been explored thoroughly without almost identical passages of inner thoughts in multiple chapters. I also had a really difficult time picturing some of the scenes while reading, especially at the end. There was more than one point in this book that I felt very confused, and I never did get answers to all of my questions, but I can see that this book is being set up for a sequel.

All in all this is an excellent adventure/sci-fi/fantasy epic quest that kids will love! Grades 5+

Trapped inside a rotting terrarium that they were supposed to leave a century ago, 12 year old Ary is setting out to find a cure to save her mother from the mold that is making her deathly ill. On this journey she discovers much about herself & the secrets her once-hero Gran has hidden from her for many years. Now, she has to save her mother, uncover the truth, and find a way to save her little world!

What a perfectly adorable & magical middle grade read!! 🥹 Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me with a copy to read this one before it comes out this October (2023)!

I adored this story! It was a little darker than I anticipated (still not so dark that I wouldn’t recommend to a middle grade reader), but I thought that added well to the overall plot of the book.

Also, the pill bug—shrimp 🦐😆🫶🏻 I loved all their names!

Filled with faeries & all kinds of other creatures, I think anyone who enjoys a good middle grade fantasy will absolutely enjoy this one!

A new favorite middle grade for me!! 💓

Canary Mossheart's world is dying, or at least that's what that annoying kid Owl is saying. That's not really any of Ary's business though; she's just trying to get enough food to survive and help her mom get better. She sets out on a quest to get some healing water from the first spring and finds herself on a quest to save the world. Her efforts are significantly hampered by the fact that her grandma set out to do the very same thing sixty years ago and made more than a few enemies on her way. Ary is tired of living in her grandma's shadow, but without unraveling what really happened, she'll never be able to make progress.

I finished this whole book in a single day and I'm not sorry. I think the prologue was a mistake, taking away a lot of the power of this story's mystery and desperation, but I loved the way it addressed the way generational trauma and ignorance can get shoved off until someone realizes they don't have to keep living like this. It's a little bit of a metaphor for climate disaster, which makes for a fantastic conversation starter. This book is advertised everywhere as LGBT, which is true, although I personally wouldn't consider it a key theme. It certainly is cool to see children's books accepting queer relationships nonchalantly though. Overall, charming characters, enchanting world, and intriguing premise. I'm so glad I had the chance to read this ARC, and I have great hopes for book two!

If City of Ember was fairies instead of people... Ary's world is dying. They were put into a terrarium for their own safety for 100 years, at which time they were supposed to leave. It is now approaching the 200 year mark and things are bad. Food is scarce and a fuzzy white mold is taking over, including growing within the residents. When her mother falls prey to the mold she knows something must be done, and fast!

This was a clever little adventure. A testament to hope and determination, Ary does everything in her power to save her Mom, even if it means going beyond the walls of Terra and everything she has ever known. The cast of characters was a very nice mix of personalities, although I liked Owl and Shrimp the best. The difficulties that Ary and the others faced were not only of the physical variety, but also had a lot of discussion about what it meant to be a hero or a leader, as well as what you would be willing to sacrifice to save a world.

Overall, very well done and a book that I think kids would really enjoy.

I absolutely loved everything about this book. The dying terrarium with mold sucking the life out of the ground and infecting/killing little fairies and creatures alike is such a fantastic premise.
It was such a fun adventure and it never felt too young for an adult to read!
I will absolutely be buying this for future generations!

This was difficult to listen to for a couple of reasons. First, I didn't realize that this was an AI voice until I started actually listening. She had no inflection. Very one note.

I liked the idea that there is a tiny fairy civilization existing in a rotting terrarium. That was a great idea. However, I hated the idea that they would cut off the fairies' wings. That was too creepy and horrific for me. It was like pulling the wings off a butterfly and leaving it to die. This book wasn't for me.

TMP completed surprised me in the best way possible. Despite a slow start to this terrarium adventure, the plot is gripping and heart-felt, the message is timely, and the prose is surprisingly charming (given some rather dark themes and scary moments...eep, mold and bugs!). I'm far from the target audience, but this book has much to offer YA/adult readers too (though I recommend the audiobook due to the bedtime story-like feel to the book. I think if I was reading this, I might have DNF'd due to the very slow start).

The world building in this book was really captivating. I enjoyed the adventure and the courage it took for Ary and her friends to keep going. Also, right when I thought there was a bit too much "woe is me", it stopped, which was going to be my only note. Its not now.

Voice is not my favorite Story grabbed my attention.The book is for adults and kids. Conary just wants to save her mother, but finds out there is a big magic family secret she needs to save gerself and world not just her mother

A civilization of fae in a terrarium that is being overtaken by mold? The concept alone is worth at least 3 stars.
The Mossheart's Promise is a great adventure story with quirky companions. It asks important questions of us-- like what are our responsibilities to our world and each-other and how do we cope when adults are just as fallible as the children they love?

Great concept and well-executed

This book felt very disjointed to me. It had very heavy topic for being a juvenile book. The tone was overly heavy handed and felt too dark for a middle grade book. It may have been better as a young adult book with a teen main character who had more life experience and was not so naive and innocent.

Absolutely adored this middle grade debut. I was already a fan of Mix from The Ones We Burn. Definitely on the lower age of middle grade, but charmingly so. Will definitely be purchasing for many niblings.