I DNF around 25%, because it went on and on about the fog and I could not get past it. Also, I think that my copy was skipping pages while reading because the book was very choppy and did not make a lot of sense. This book lacked a lot of main details and went into too much detail on the fog. This is just my personal opinion, but I would not recommend this book.

However, I would like to give my personal thanks for giving me a copy to read and review. Also, I really liked the concept and the cover looks amazing. I am sure a lot of people will enjoy this book, it just was not for me.

Ogma is a teenage girl. She lives in a village hemmed in by a dangerous fog. The fog is dangerous to adults, leaving the children of the village to keep watch on the border walls. They must learn at an early age that they can’t always trust their eyes and ears, The children are responsible for the safety of everyone around them. It is a difficult way to live. They really have no other choice. Yet they still find ways to be children, with games and shadow puppets. An attack on the village changes everything. Ogma faces danger and responsibility she has not imagined before, along with a wider, more dangerous world than she had ever known.

The novel is set in a magical world that combines darkness and old gods and dangers and myths. It is novel for readers who enjoy rich world building with a unique cast of creatures and characters. I love the creatures — ones that I never thought of. It’s

An intriguing coming of age story with a unique theme.. Fog and Fireflies asks what it means to grow older and what it means to grow up.

With a magical fog covering the land and targeting adults this felt lik one of the to epic tales of my childhood like The Never Ending Story. Children are forced to step up, organize, and take on new roles.

When the strange fog dissipates and they're no longer cut off, trade begins. Their world slowly opens back up, and brings new dangers. Their village is attacked and strangers kidnap children.

Our main character Ogma is lost in the fog trying to save her friends, and her journey begins. A mix of folklore, coming of age situations, and fantasy , this story was a fun thought provoking read.

I did find the story drug in places. I wanted a faster pace leading up to Ogma setting out on her own .

Fog & Fireflies is a fresh and exciting story. Lehnen has created a weaved such a great fantasy world through a touching "coming of age" esque story. I loved the writing style, which made the story a joy to read. I loved the creepy tones that gave it a hint of spook and thrill, while maintaining the YA tone at the same time. Definitely in the tune of Hayao Miyazaki. Such an interesting book. I loved it start to finish. Highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Aspen & Thorn Press for the opportunity to read and review this e-ARC.

What a weirdly wonderful book!

Children play the main role in this book, watching the walls for the fog that will take the adults. Children are immune, so they have to be the guards and fight off the fog phantoms, forcing them to grow up far more quickly than they should. However, the counterpoint of seeing them still be children by wanting shadow puppets and playing games is great.

The worldbuilding was really cool. The fog shifts the landscape, with only certain points inmutable. Everything else gets moved around so that you may never find the same place twice. It's a cool concept. There's also cool people called Shepherds or Caravaners that are not quite human.

I would have loved some more detail to this book. There are a lot of unanswered questions. I loved that we learned as the MC learned, but I definitely want more answers.

This is a beautiful and haunting story that brings to mind many of my childhood favorite fantasies. I loved it. The cover art, which is enchanting and stunning, drew me in, but the story kept me locked on from page one. Though the landscape is often dark and filled with veiled threats, Ogma is a protagonist you can feel like a friend holding your hand and guiding you through the shadows. She and the other children hold your fear and the fog at bay as you travel through her world and become enthralled with the fantastic beings there in. I think it helps strengthen children to have other children to become attached to, ones who may not always have supportive adults or a strong family as a support system. Stories like this let them understand how brave and resilient kids can be on their own and how they can survive and become who they want to be.

A captivating and original fairytale where the rules of reality are bent by the rules of magic. It was a very fun and interesting read.

Really interesting world building, kind of fell apart near the end with things that really didn't appear in the rest of the book. The antagonist was a reveal that came out unexpectedly, but not in a good way. There was no lead up, and movtivation was shaky. I'll definitely recommend this to people though, the world building was fantastic.

This felt like an old grim fairy tale. If you like adventure and monsters then this is the book for you. There are some really cool descriptive scenes that I just wish this could be maid into a movie so I can see it! It sounds so cool!

I really enjoyed this book! It reminded me a lot of The Buried Giant and a bit of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. There's found family elements, lost civilizations, time travel, and the beauty of the old woods of the world. This is a great older middle great or younger YA level book, super creative, and the pacing is perfect. Highly recommend.

A Short Synopsis
Fog & Fireflies is a fantasy novel with a diverse cast of characters that explores the contrast between growing older and growing up. It is set in a world scarred by a wizard's war, where a malevolent fog endangers adults and forces children to protect their communities. Ogma, a resident of a windmill town, confronts her fears as her town is attacked, and she must find courage and reunite with her friends. The novel offers rich worldbuilding, unique creatures, and themes of found family. It is the first in a planned trilogy.

My thoughts
I absolutely love the cover of this book! That's what initially caught my eye. The dark fantasy theme pulled me in, but I found it a bit tough to get into initially because of the quick jumps between characters. However, the book's descriptions shine throughout, and everything falls into place by the end. The story is so intriguing that it kept me wanting more. "Fog & Fireflies" is a dark fantasy that charms kids with an exciting adventure full of dark undertones. The vivid descriptions bring the setting to life, and the mix of whimsy and suspense makes for an enchanting read. It's such an imaginative and nuanced story that keeps you hooked!

I want to thank NetGalley and the author for an eARC of this book. My thoughts are my own.

What a wonderfully unique YA Fantasy!
My attention was captured by the cover, but the fabulous worldbuilding kept me invested.
Ogma and her fellow children are sweet, endearing characters and are excellent tools for the author's exploration of parentification. The fog is a clever antagonist and is well-used to further develop the theme of parentification of our child heroes. The fog cannot touch children, so children are the ones set to guard against it. We're put into a well-developed world; the fog has always been there, and all characters in the narrative accept the children's role without question. Lehnen skillfully injects an air of expectation into many of the adult characters
The prose is clean and easy to read, and while the pacing was not what I'd usually expect from YA fantasy, I was engaged enough to keep going.
Perhaps most impressive if the sheer amount of worldbuilding Lehnen has done. As a reader, I felt this world was large and with a long history behind it. Lehnen managed to drip-feed lore in a way that kept me from getting lost, without resulting in info dumps.
Overall, good fun and it was refreshing to read YA fantasy that felt a bit outside of what the trad-pub market is currently offering.
Thanks to the author and NetGalley for the arc!

The beginning was a bit slow, then it picked up, but ultimately fell flat. I enjoyed the description of the book and it sounded like it had potential. I feel that the ending was rushed and hoped that most of the book had been flushed out more.

Fog & Fireflies is a chilling grim fairy-tale about the horror and fears that that come with growing up. Lehnen does a great job building atmosphere for the audience by creating a captivating, eerie world. I really enjoyed this story and the unfolding of the story of Ogma and the story of how and why things are they way they are. I would definitely recommend this to people who love a good grim tale. I will say that I can see the main readers for this book being young adults; the themes and characters impact younger readers more. I still enjoyed this as an adult and would suggest this to readers/listeners in the podcast.

This story seemed so interesting from reading the synopsis and judging its cover. I was ready to be dazzled by the magic and the promise of it being like a Ghibli film. At first it was quite enchanting: a story about a bunch of kids living together and protecting their town from the fog monsters, a power only kids have. The children were so adorably written and it felt so found family I was sure this was going to be a five star read. I got to about 30% and the story took a turn but I kept reading hoping it wasn’t a big deal. At 50% I lost all interest at the turn it had taken , I felt like I wasn’t getting any answers and the initial charm was nonexistent. The world kept getting more strange without any explanations so it was getting frustrating. This story really did feel like a Ghibli film in that we get so many weird creatures and characters without any explanation of why they exist and why they are like that. And you just have to accept it. I. I wanted to finish the book but I just couldn’t continue knowing that there are more interesting books I needed to get to. So it’s a DNF for me and I probably would have given it a 3 if I finished it since I heard the ending was satisfying and I still believe the bones of this story were good.. I just wish someone could tell me how it continues without me having to do the work.

This was an amazing read that made me feel like I was watching a movie! I really enjoyed Ogma, the young and intrepid FMC, and her inclination to jump into action at the ring of a (literal) bell. In a world where children were the ones who defended their towns and its adult residents against a magical and invading fog, her character was refreshing and fun to follow. And the world! It felt cozy and vast at the same time; I especially loved the fog break (wish we had gotten a little more and of the first half the story in general) and the different ways that the characters communicated with each other (e.g., bells, semafores). I felt invested in the story, and when Ogma loses her home to the fog, I was right there with her in her ~feelings~. A couple things I noticed myself questioning more: the twist in the end which involved a character whose reactions/characterization I had trouble understanding even at the beginning, and the role of the wizards which maybe the stories shared by the children at the start of the book could have helped familiarize us. Anyways, I am definitely curious to see where the next two books will take us!

This book was genuinely enjoyable to read. I thought the world building was strong and the characters were interesting-- it was hard not to get invested, which was a bit of a challenge with how busy I suddenly was in the middle of trying to read it. For a debut novel, it was incredibly well-done. There were some parts where the pacing felt like it could have been better-- notably, for me, the beginning. As interesting as it was, I also felt like it was moving much slower than I wanted it to. This is, of course, personal preference, though, and I'm sure plenty of people will take to it much better than I did. I look forward to seeing where the rest of the series goes.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc. I honestly struggled with this book. I don’t know if it was because the chapters were ridiculously long, there was too much world building or that story was just all over the place. I just could not get into it and really didn’t have a clue about what was going on most of the book.

Ogma watches the fog. From the walls of her windmill town, she feels more and more afraid. “Why do we grow more scared as we get older?” In the distant past, a wizard’s war scoured the earth and gave rise to the malevolent fog. The fog blankets the land, and carries the settlements within it like ships adrift at sea. The fog phantoms are deadly to adults but leave the children be. Because we know better. The children care for each other, and Ogma must prove to herself that she has the courage to save her friends from the inhuman forms that come from within the fog to kidnap the children.

I absolutely loved the writing style of this book. I had such a hard time putting this book down! The writing flows as smoothly as the fog it tells about. The children are portrayed in a way that very clearly makes them children, but without resorting to tired tropes and caricatures of kids. The world-building gives the best feelings of immersion and a desire for more. My only complaint is that I felt the plot was a bit rushed. There are a number of threads left loose in the storylines of some important characters that I would have liked to see woven in more fully. I sincerely hope that Lehnen writes more in the world of Fog & Fireflies!

Thank you net gallery for the advanced copy of this book. The story revolves around a girl who works to help push back the fog from her town. The fog was created centuries ago during a wizard war. The girl gets lost in the fog and has adventures both exciting and scary. I enjoyed this book.