A cute little sapphic story great for young audiences. It was sweet and whimsical though I don't know if it quite lived up to the promise of being similar to Holly Black but perhaps my expectations were too high.

This book didn't work for me for a few reasons, but I'll get to what I liked.

The characters were very well written and I especially loved Ro and her family and how they encouraged her to be who she is without judgment. The dynamic of Ro and her family was a definite plus for me. The theme of sisterhood is powerful.

I also loved the setting and how cozy it made me feel.

The book is well-paced and the writing is perfect.

The story itself is what caused the lower ranking. It felt repetitive at times and the twists were predictable for me. I felt the story went on too long when it could have been wrapped up sooner and the ending was too abrupt and did not satisfy me.

Overall, this was a good read but it would not be a memorable one for me.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

Beautiful, sapphic retelling. I enjoyed this authors poetic writing. It flowed so well and I was never bored or confused. I highly recommend!

This is a slow paced, drawn out fairy tell retelling of Rose Red. I will admit it took me awhile to get invested, and then when the action finally happened? It happened so quickly and while it didn’t feel rushed, it didn’t feel as exciting as it should. I don’t hate our main character Ro, who is just trying to figure herself out. Her personal journey is engaging, but not enough to make me love her. I think I would’ve like more exploration into her relationship with her sister. Maybe not have had the ending be the way it was. There were a lot of things I didn’t care for in this book, but I can see students of mine enjoying it.

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

Thank you NetGalley and Page Street YA for an ebook of "Call Forth a Fox" by Markelle Grabo in exchange for an honest review. First off, what a beautiful cover! I hope to have a physical copy one day because it's just so gorgeous! This queer young adult fantasy gave a fairytale cozy vibe, and I enjoyed every second of it. I understand why fans of Holly Black love this. I would recommend this to anyone, especially for a fall TBR!

Was unable to finish due to technical issues with the NetGalley reading apps.

From what I was able to read, this was a sweet young adult story, rich in beautiful fairytale vibes. Recommend for middle to high school age readers looking to capture some of that fairytale vibes in a chaotic and harsh "normal world".

Such an interesting reimagining of a folktale you need on your radar! The romance is so sweet, the characters vivid, and the interplay between the 'real' world and the faery realm is soooooo cool. It felt fresh and different while also allowing me to sink into the familiar space of a YA fantasy with heart. Reading this was a very Hygge experience, even in the middle of summer! I very much enjoyed following the main character, Ro, on her journey of self-discovery. Her growth is so real for someone her age who is navigating loss and potential big change on the horizon. I'm looking forward to more from Grabo!

When Rosen saves a red fox from a bear, her life changes. The bear turns on her and her sister but they survive the attack only to find out nothing is what it seems. . Smart engaging storytelling and fairytale creation with likable characters and a good paced plot that pulls you through to the end.

This book feels like a fairytale, kinda like disney princess vibes but make it sapphic, the story follows Ro, a girl who doesn't wanna move out of her village to pursue a better life with her mother in another village, and her sister, a very quieted and calm girl, that doesn't like confronting her feelings since their father passed, everything evolves around there, with a fox a bear and a magic forest, i really liked the complicated relationships between the sisters, and how it evolves, how they learn to live eventually with the loss of their father even tough it was a really long time since he passed, they still carried that burden, the majority of this book is kinda learning about where you come from, and healing the relationship with their past, and accepting the life moving forward, even thought maybe is no how they imagined it would be, i really love Brend, his relationship with Ro was kinda confusing, i'm not gonna lie, really liked the final, overall is an entertaining book, just not for all people, it took me an embarrassing long time to finish, didn't find the rhythm

I went back and forth so many times on whether I loved or was bored with this book. It also lied in the ambiguous realm of reading like Young Adult but I could tell it wasn’t written with that intention. At Times it left me, wondering if this was the beginning of a series, by the end I am glad that it most likely is not. It does deliver on the cottage core/fairy vibes that I love… But many times I found the plot, lacking and full of holes.
This book reminded me a lot of A Far Wilder magic by Allison Saft, which was also a somewhat of a letdown and also got three stars for me. I absolutely adore, foxes and all things, cottage, core and fairy core… But similar to Emily Wilde’s encyclopedia of fairies. This book just landed so two dimensionally to me as I was reading it which made it hard to become deeply enmeshed or invested.

Final thought: where was the mom the whole time?! I feel like her character had decidedly been so far removed, but then there would be times where the main character would get caught up in a deep thought about their love and missing her, but we had zero attachment or background to even know her… Sometimes I honestly forgot she even had any parents because we literally never read any interactions with the mom who was away.

We have another cozy fantasy to add to my "I loved it" collection. This is a fairytale retelling, snow white and rose red and it’s featuring queer characters and it just had all the cozy cottagecore vibes as we follow these 2 sisters who live in a cottage in the woods that there father built. One night one of the sisters saves a fox from being attacked by a bear but come to find out the bear was actually a human boy who has no memory and this spirals the story into a deadly game of secrets. It was cute and fun!

This was a great read! I would recommend this book to lovers of fairytales and stories set in deep, lush forests.

A sweet cosy queer fairytale that was absolutely delightful. Great characters, cosy fantasy and an engaging style. I devoured this is one sitting.

It's a young adult novel, and I definitely felt the youth of the characters. However, it wasn't so obvious as to be off putting. It was slow in some parts, but overall, I did finish it and enjoyed it overall.

I enjoyed this story as a cute queer fairytale, but I've sat down to write my review and there is nothing that really stands out as either good, bad, or note worthy.
The characters were fine, enjoyable, easy to read, but a bit forgettable in the long term for me. The world building was the same in the greater scheme of YA fantasy. The writing style stood out to me the most as extremely pleasant and enjoyable. I don't feel bad or like I've had time taken from me after reading this book mainly because the writing style was just so easy to fly through.
For some reason, I'm getting similar vibes about Call Forth a Fox that I get when I read Ava Reid's novels; mediocre but not upset about my time with the story. I think that this book could be enjoyed by a YA audience that wants more of Ava Reid's YA novels (A Study in Drowning) but does not want the more horror based aspects of her two adult novels.
So, in the end, this feels like not the book's problem, the overall style just wasn't compatible with what I typically enjoy. But I would still recommend this book for people who love Ava Reid, as I have the exact same feelings about her books as I do this one.

DNF at 45%.

What drew me in was the cover. And this being a Snow White sapphic retelling? Sign me up. The one thing that would keep me going is seeing Ro develop her relationship with her sister, but that is just not enough. This is a YA book and I knew this going in, but sometimes it feels more like a middle grade level story. Nothing is wowing me, I don’t find myself wanting to know what happens next, and I’m not very invested in these characters, sadly. I do have to say this is a very cozy story. It would be perfect for somebody looking for a relatively low stakes story, with magical elements and sapphic love. Unfortunately this is not doing it for me at the moment. I think under different circumstances I would’ve really enjoyed this, but I’m putting this book down for now.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I almost DNFed this book several times and really had to force myself through it. Going by the other reviews, I'm pretty alone in this, so take what I say with a pinch of salt.

Positives
- Ro was a well done character. As was Brend. I like how Ro's family allowed her the space to be who she was. And yes, they encouraged her to get out of her comfort zone, but they didn't force her. Brend was also loyal and brave.

That's about it. I found it really predictable, even the big reveals. The pacing was very slow and it just did not capture my interest. I really like fairy tale retellings, but this one just really didn't work for me.

all Forth a Fox was an absolute surprise! I knew it was a sapphic retelling but I was surprised by the nuance in this book! I have always loved Snow White and Rose Red. In fact somewhere in my office I still have a worn down copy of the story illustrated from 1978. It’s worn to pieces because it was my favorite!

This retelling does it justice. I will admit it took a bit to readjust my expectations because I was not anticipating it to be YA. This is entirely my fault because it was clear as day marketed as such! However, I am so glad I came back to it with adjusted expectations because this was really good.

Ro was an excellent character and boy did we get character growth from her! I think this really worked in the context of a YA novel. Ro was a deeply angry person at the beginning. She’s lost her father, being forced to move, and feels misunderstood. One interesting nuance is that in Ro’s town they do not understand being attracted to both boys and girls. Ro is and so it creates an odd sort of shame because the villagers would consider her callous and cruel for not choosing. It actually thought this worked. It gives Ro something to work through while still allowing for LGBTQ side characters to flourish.

I recommend this one for lovers of fantasy YA, retellings, and secret identity!