This was a really fun book with some really cool moments. I liked that the story featured meditation as a helpful practice for people with anxiety. Of course, if your meditation app created real creatures based on your fears, it wouldn’t be very helpful. I still liked that meditation is shown in the book, and many kids found it helpful (sans monsters).

Another thing I liked a lot was Lena’s relationship with her mom. There was a moment in the book where I thought I knew what was going on, and I remember thinking I was going to be mad if the book left this thing unaddressed. And Betsy Uhrig proved yet again that my trust in her is well-placed because I loved how she handled the issue between Lena and her mom.

The monsters that emerged from the app made sense but also weren’t meant to be super terrifying. It made sense that the kids in the book would be scared, since the creatures were tailored to the kids’ specific fears, but they didn’t make the book overly scary. I think the story is really accessible to kids with big fears. I love that, too.

The monsters emerging into real life in this book made me think of The Darkdeep by Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs. I think readers who enjoyed that series will like this one. I recommend it for middle grade readers struggling with fears, too.

A group of middle schoolers are put into a meditation group... only these anxious worriers are beginning to realize that there is something much darker chasing them then just their worries! This was a fairy okay middle grade read, I definitely think it would be a fine read for the younger readers but I kind of wish it was more fun and had a bit more movement in the plot. It just felt a bit slow and boring and didn't really pick up for me and I found myself skimming. I love Scooby-Doo and the premise of a bunch of anxious kids who have to overcome their worries and work together to solve a mystery sounded like a lot of fun. Overall its an okay read and something I think would be a fine read for any middle schooler who enjoys really slow mysteries.

Release Date: July 16,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing | Margaret K. McElderry Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Betsy Uhrig’s <i>Mind Over Monsters</i> is the sort of book I really want to root for—middlegrade novels with important messages and a fun premise are exactly what I want to be able to offer my students. And I do see it as inherently important that we have books out there that not only address anxiety, but also involve parents taking accountability both for their own mental health and how that impacts the children they’re raising.

Unfortunately, I was just so bored the entire time I read this.

If I were to pinpoint anything specific that contributed to this, I think it would really come down to the pacing of everything. It just takes forever to get to anything interesting. It doesn’t help that the manner in which the plot moves forward generally doesn’t make a ton of sense. There’s a lot of suspension of belief that readers are expected to do for this book and, while that may be easier for younger readers, it really impacted the book negatively overall.

Another pacing and development issue with this book was the fact that the vast majority of characters were not adequately developed. I think we see a bit of development with Lena and her mother. Then there are small smatterings of development with the characters involved in the meditation group, but for such important characters readers have surprisingly little time to get to know them. Which I think highlights how the platform through which these characters are connected is inherently a very individualistic experience. There’s truly isn’t much opportunity to get to know these characters, let alone to have them grow when their entire connection is a morning meditation.

The action sequences were also just…ridiculous. It kind of felt like the author took the concept of a boggart but melded it so that instead of only showing one person’s fear at a time, it mutated to show a conglomerate of similar fears. And I just couldn’t really get on board in the first place, but everything got so much worse when they figured out how to actually fight these nightmare beings. I swear, I don’t think I’ve ever facepalmed harder while reading a book.

So, ultimately, while I think there is some merit to the messaging and I’m certain that some kids will probably love this story, I’m personally not a fan and will likely be very selective in who I recommend this to.