It has been a long time since I read a middle grade book, and after finishing The Mossheart's Promise, I can see it's been too long. I was absolutely enchanted from start to finish, and I am going to be on the edge of my seat until I can my hands on the sequel!

The Mossheart's Promise has echoes of my favorite series growing up, City of Ember chief among them, and follows a young fairy living in a rotting terrarium. Canary "Ary" Mossheart is nothing like her grandmother, the chosen hero who went down into the underground decades ago and brought back the cure for the plague terrorizing the fairy village of Terra - but even that had no effect on the mold slowly taking over everything. When the decay reaches her home and starts taking over her mother, Ary decides to descend into the underground herself and find a cure... only to find out her former "hero" grandmother knew the secret about their world and lied about it. Now, Ary only has a week to reach the bottom of the terrarium and set everyone free, or they'll be trapped forever.

This was a bittersweet story, with so many relevant parallels to the world our children have been left with, but it has a core of hope and love that I found quite touching. I especially loved the prevailing thread that Ary is no hero, and never should have been in a position to be a hero, but is brave and true regardless in the name of those she cares for. The Mossheart's Promise is a book of flawed characters, but I loved each and every one of them, especially Sootflank. I found this book charming and clever and tense in equal measure, and as already stated, I am beyond excited to see where the story goes next. I will absolutely be recommending this one far and wide.

This was a complete delight and I’m so excited to purchase copies for my nieces!

The Mossheart Promise follows the story of Ary, and takes her on an adventure that leads to her finding out the mystery of her world! The world building was fascinating and the prose imaginative!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced readers copy in exchange for a honest review!

I was excited to start this for the simple fact of looking for a title my children may be interested in. But once I started, my children tastes had changed. I did quite enjoy what I did read though! And Rebecca is an excellent writer. It just didn't work out, maybe I will try it again in the future!

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

Oh I love middle grade novels. I've gotten the opportunity to read Rebecca's work before and I absolutely adored it. Mossheart is no different. While the writing style is different for me than what I typical read because of it's middle grade nature, I still love the story endlessly. I will highly recommend this book to anyone who is in that 10-14 age range. It's definitely a good fantasy book, and I even think it's fun for folks who love something like Percy Jackson.

I thought that this was a fun fantasy novel perfect for kids. It's not too long nor is it a long series for something to fear. It'll attract children, but I just thought there wasn't much representation

I love the atmosphere and the idea behind this book. It is really fun and unique. I also liked the characters. I just felt as if it was missing something. I found myself putting it down and struggling to pick it back up. I think part of what I wished it had was more character development and emotion. I didn't feel connected to any of the characters emotionally which made it hard to want to follow along with their adventures.

This was a weird, sweet, and fast read. It’s all about a young little faerie named Ary, who is only 12 years old. She lives in a dying world that no one seems to be doing anything to fix. While Ary is very adamant that she is not a hero, she has someone to save: so begins her journey.

This book had:
- beautiful found family relationships (Shrimp is my absolute favorite, but everyone is really great in her ragtag crew)
- an adventure filled journey
- creepy mold destroying the world
- a heartwarming story

I do think the “twist” wasn’t surprising and it could be a bit repetitive at times (with reiterating some of the themes throughout, most likely so a younger age group really gets the message), but keeping in mind that this is a book written for middle-grade, I think it is written well for its desired age group and is also still enjoyable for an older audience. I would say for my own self I would probably rate this a 3.5, but keeping in mind the desired age group, I would give it a 4.5. So with that in mind I’ve rated it 4 stars.

Thank you to netgalley, the publishers, and the author for my ARC of this adorable story.

I recently finished reading The Mossheart's Promise by Rebecca Mix and for a middle grade novel, this book packed a punch that I was not prepared for.

This is not a light novel about fairies and magical beings; Terra is being consumed by mold, the world 12 year old Ary has known is a lie, and she has one week to figure out how to save her world or else everyone will die.

Dealing with some heavy moments at times, I would say this is perfect for 12 and up, taking into consideration how a child handles fiction. I really loved this book and one I would recommend without hesitation.

Canary Mossheart (Ary to her friends and fmaily) is a fairy, living in a terrarium - something that is made clear to readers at the very beginning of the book, but which the inhabitants don't know. What they do know is that something is very, very wrong with their world; crops are smaller and smaller every season, and mold is spreading throughout their world. Sixty years ago, Ary's grandmother, Wren, found a way to stop the mold and save their world, but she refuses to repeat that journey, and no one knows why. Ary's father died long ago in a war with the newts, which also inhabit the terrarium; her mother has been ill for some time, and has now been infected with mold. Desperate to save her mother, Ary leaves for the forbidden lands her grandmother once traveled, looking for the cure that worked before, only find out what her grandmother already knew: there is no cure left. The only thing that can save Ary's mother, and, indeed, their entire world, is the spell her grandmother set out to perform sixty years before, and left undone.

Readers who are familiar with terrariums will see signs throughout the story that the terrarium is breaking down; it's closed system has been closed too long, and the environment has fallen out of balance, but not knowing about terrariums will not limit the reader's enjoyment of this story. Ary is on a quest to save her world, and encounters every major denizen of her world in the process, learning things about her world that have long been forgotten, and learning things about herself that she never knew. This is a coming-of-age story, and Ary is not the only one who comes of age. Recommended for ages 10 to adult.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Fairy books for middle graders always fly off our shelves. I love the cottage core theming and the little bit of science you can throw into this while teaching it.

This is an exciting adventure that's a kind of fairy dystopian future book. It's about Ary, a fairy who lives in a horrible, mold filled world that is dying. The world was set in motion by a gardener 200 years ago in attempt to save the fairies, with the idea that in 100 years, a seed would be planted and the seed would provide a way out and back into the real world. Except that the fairies in charge decided to throw the seed away and now the mold is taking over. Ary's mom is dying from the mold and she decides to go on a quest to find a cure. It's an exciting adventure!

Thank you to netgalley and Harper Collins Children for the advanced copy of this book!

Mossheart's promise was such a fun read. I was a big fan of City of Ember as a kid, and this felt just like that but with fairies and mold. The story follows Ary Mossheart, a young and reluctant hero who has grown up in her cantankerous grandmother's shadow. Her grandmother saved her village as a child, so the expectations for Ary are sky high. But did her grandmother actually save them? Their rations, mold, and sickness say otherwise.

I really enjoyed this book and can't wait for my nephew to read this one.

I have to say, while I don't read a ton of middle-grade, this is one of the most delightful MG titles I have ever picked up. This brings me back to the good old days of fantasy quest books and the insular but expansive setting is just enchanting. The stakes are high while the fear levels are low - which is something I find was really refreshing after reading some heavy sci-fi fantasy titles lately!
This one is for the cottage-core readers, the people who believe that even average person can be a brave hero, and for those that felt like they were forced to grow up earlier than other kids - and those who wonder why the heck children are sometimes left to solve adult problems.
Go into this one with just the synopsis and an open heart -you're sure to have a lovely time. Just avoid the newts, earwigs, and traitorous ants.....sometimes the only one you can trust is a pill-bug named Shrimp...

Let me just say, what an absolutely creative plot!! As a reader I was quickly enthralled with the character of Ary, a young fairy trying to save her world that's rotting away from mold. It was kind of like Bug's Life meets The Secret World of Arrietty. The young fairy discovered that her world was inside a terrarium- such a unique concept! I think my favorite part was the beautiful friendship between Shrimp and Ary. It was a beautiful illustration of how so many friendships can be stereotyped or overlooked by others, but yet so meaningful. It's definitely written for middle schoolers, and I can appreciate that although it's written in a way for a specific group to like, it's still a storyline that people of all ages will enjoy.

I enjoyed this epic fantasy adventure. It took me a bit to warm up to Ary but I liked the twists and turns it took with the relationships between the different creatures living in the Underworld. I recommend it for kids who also like The Endling or Wildlerlore series.

I was so excited to dive into this one. Faeries and dystopian premises are everything I could ever dream of. I went in hoping for a fun adventure that I could swept into.

This was a read that I got swept into. The themes and elements that were developed were something I enjoyed. Shrimp and owl were two companions every adventurer needs in their life. I love how Ary develops throughout the book and how she becomes stronger in a lot of senses.

My only problems with this story was that it was harder to connect on a deeper level. I felt like the details and world building were not where they could be. I was grazing the surface and would’ve preferred to go on a deeper level.

Unique, adventurous, fun, cute, sarcastic, raw. I thoroughly enjoyed this book as an adult and know I would have loved it as a kid!

A great portion of why I loved this book was the nostalgia. I had a thing for these types of stories as a kid, the world-within-a-world, hidden-away-people, remnant-of-humanity-that-doesn’t-know-they-were-hidden-away-to-preserve-life kinds of books. Think The City of Ember, or the lesser-known Atherton series. I loved them! So, it was no surprise that The Mossheart’s Promise swept me in and gave me all the same feelings of discovery and hope and perseverance.

Beyond that, Mix did something in this story that I haven’t seen in a Middle Grade before. She emphasized that the main character, Ary, a twelve year old, was NOT the hero. Or rather, that the responsibility to make all the big decisions and lead the fairies and save the world was not on Ary’s shoulders.

And aside from being realistic, I found it beautiful. Did I like to read stories as a kid about other kids being heroic? Sure. But I also know that there are kids who will resonate so much stronger with The Mosshearts Promise. The kids who are holding too much, who are hurting, alone, and feel responsible for things that honestly, they shouldn’t have to be thinking about at their age. I hope this story finds those kids and reminds them that they SHOULD have someone to rely on. That while they’re doing the best they can with this problem so much bigger than them, it's okay if they’re scared and they don’t want that burden – because they shouldn’t have to have it.

There's also a focus on inheriting broken things, which I know a lot of my generation will relate to. There's conversation around Ary's Gran, about how Ary loves her, but she comes to realize that she doesn't know if she likes who her Gran is or the choices her Gran made - that maturing moment where Ary is confident in how to make the right decisions, even if her loved ones have not. The complexity of topics and heart-wrenching feelings and situations Ary finds herself handling was both refreshing and sobering.

Beyond all these deeper themes, Ary and her ragtag crew stole my heart. From dry, sarcastic, slightly oblivious Owl; to lovable and loyal Shrimp; to wounded and grieving and sharp and reluctantly kind Sootflank. I thoroughly enjoyed traveling through the Gloom, the Underground, and meeting all sorts of likeable and mean creatures. I was rooting for Ary to find the way out of the terrarium and allow the folk (and bugs!) to escape the smothering mold.

What a story! The ending is not a cliffhanger, but there is definitely more to be explored. I can't wait for the second half of Ary's story, and I will be recommending The Mossheart's Promise all along the way!

Canary Mossheart has spent her entire life in the shadow of her hero grandmother, Wren Mossheart, who helped save their fairy society before Canary was even born. But their world is dying, and when the moss that is infecting the environment starts fatally growing on her mother, Canary jumps into action, despite being only 12 years old. Through a terrible, harrowing adventure, she learns that the grownups in her life are not who she imagined them to be, that the enemies in her life are not what she’d been told they were, and that her world is not what she knew it to be either.

This book made me cry, and I am 35 grown up years old. I literally sobbed through the last 10%, especially with her grandmother’s actions. This middle grade fantasy really hit home to me about the pressure that we put on young people to fix the problems they didn’t make. (I’m not going to say that I was always thinking of climate change while reading this but…) It addresses the futility of the “my community first,” NIMBY behavior, illuminating the reality of collective action for survival. It is beautiful and touching and heartbreaking and hopeful, and I can’t wait to share it with readers young and old. It is reminiscent of the Redwall books that were big when I was young, the Thumbelina movie, something like the Rats of N.I.M.H. probably. Good good stuff.

A quick read, a middle grade quest/adventure story set in a magical terrarium undergoing ecological collapse, in which older generations are extremely willing to ignore the problem and pass the buck. Probably allegorical?