The sad part of this story is how it mirrors the world we live in today. Leaders.are making horrific choices in their decisions to ultimately benefit themselves. I love seeing all the characters grow into their own. This has become one of my favorite middle grade series so thank.you so much to the author and herbal let for providing me this e-arc!

Sir Callie and their friends end up separated in this installment of the series, facing the political upheaval from different vantages. This book feels darker and sadder than the first two and is definitely setting up for some major events in the next book. Even with the darker tones, there are still strong themes of being true to yourself, standing up for what you believe in, and being loyal to your loved ones who have earned it.

I have waxed poetic about the impact that Tamara Pierce had on my childhood, the values I hold, and the stories I love.
In the last couple of years, I have checked out the Sir Callie series from Esme Symes-Smith. For Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston, I wrote about the positive impact that I felt confident that this series would have on young children.
With Sir Callie and the Dragon’s Roost, I wrote about how the darkness and harshness of the world of this novel was brought even closer to the forefront of the story.
In the next sequel, Sir Callie and the Witch’s War, I felt like the story was both darker yet more hopeful. It’s not the easiest thing to describe, but as an intentionally and lovingly inclusive series, Callie, Elowen, Edwin, and Willow each had roles to play in this third book.
I liked that this book featured more POV characters. It was really nice to see more of this book from Elowen, Edwyn, and Willow’s points of view. 

While I thought that Sir Callie and the Witch’s War was good for a middle book, it was a little less satisfying than the first two books, because the movement of the plot felt slightly less directional, if that makes sense.
The internal growth and development of the characters and the discoveries they made about Dumoor and Helston were valuable, but the larger story wasn’t given quite enough attention for my taste.
When I went to try and find if the Sir Callie was going to be 5 books, I discovered that Symes-Smith shared that the series was going to be four books. That did affect my feelings towards this third book more positively. I felt like the ending of Witch’s War works better as the third book out of four, versus the true middle book in a quintet.
Overall, I continue to enjoy these characters, their story, and the larger messages of acceptance and understanding. I am excited to see how this series comes to an end.

I can't get enough of this series! I'm hooked!

I absolutely adore Sir Callie and their circle of friends. This third installment in this middle grade fantasy adventure series picks up right where the last one ended. The gang has been separated due to the circumstances at the end of the second book, each of them facing new challenges and obstacles. The big one? They're fugitives, on the run, and wanted by Helston.

As always, the kids shoulder a lot of the burden passed down to them by the adults in this world. There are some truly evil characters that have gotten even more evil, as well as some new friends and allies who are rallying to Willow as their rightful king.

In the midst of all the adventure and action is a very serious theme about child abuse. If you have read the first two books, you are familiar with Edwyn's background and the abuse he has suffered from his parents and former instructor. He has been treated with violence and insults his entire life, with only his sister Elowyn in his corner. Edwyn has a major arc in this book, which directly addresses the abuse he endures, and Esme Symes-Smith includes resources at the end of the book for any children who may be in need of similar resources and help.

The book ends on a cliffhanger, which means I'll be anxiously awaiting book 4!

Recommended for ages 9+.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and to the publisher for early access to this book. The third book dives even deeper into the impact of trauma on these kids and how adults and society tend to fail our most vulnerable. The metaphors and real world connections are powerful and I believe make this an accessible book for young readers. This book is a masterpiece and I have enjoyed every second of these characters and their story. The way the author can bring them to life is incredible. These kids will live in my heart forever.


Ps I already NEED the next book so if anyone has a Time Machine that I could use, that would be great.

I truly love everything about Sir Callie and how it approaches gender norms and identity and feelings trapped by what society expects of you. Book 3 sees our main characters separated from each other and adds in friction that complicated relationships but also feels necessary. Each of our four narrators has their own internal conflict and growth. The plot itself has gotten more complicated now that we know our characters and the book builds for the next book without feeling transitional.

"Sir Callie and the Witch's War" is the third in the Sir Callie series by Esme Symes-Smith. Devastated after having to leave Papa and some of their friends at the hands of Helston during the battle in the previous book, headstrong Callie again wants to immediately head out to save them. In this book we learn more about Alis, the Witch Queen and her motivations, and Edwyn gains confidence in himself. Definitely need to read the first two books in the series to understand what is going on. Recommended for readers of middle grade fantasy.

I had the privilege of reading an ARC through Net Galley. The book comes out in October.

Hoo boy, this one was even darker than volume two, as our team of heroes splits up and winds up facing down personal demons along with escalating political conflict. As one of the great joys of this series has been the bonds between the kiddos, it was really hard to see them spend so much time apart, but it did feel like a natural and necessary progression for the series. They have all needed to learn lessons that need to be learned on their own. In some ways, this volume reminded me of Taran Wanderer, from The Prydain Chronicles-- the volume where the rest of the ensemble is least present but Taran grows up the most, and which has a lot of rich emotional depth even though it is not as lighthearted as many other volumes. The benefit of splitting the party is that we get POV chapters from all four kiddos for the first time, which is excellent. The last part of the book starts getting our heroes in position for the fourth and final volume, and I'm so excited to see what Symes-Smith has in store to finish off this series!

Sir Callie and the Witch's War continues Callie and their friends journey throughout Helston and Dumoor. This book picks up right where Dragon's Roost ended, and I was SO excited to be able to continue reading about their journey!

This book is definitely a lot darker than the first 2 books in the series, but its focus is still on the heartwarming characters that we have grown to love. This book switches perspective with each chapter so we are able to see how each character feels about all of the adventure. I don't usually enjoy multiple povs in my stories, but Esme Symes-Smith handled this so well!

The non-binary & queer representation continues to be stellar, but the hate that they are facing only grows. Please read Esme's content warnings before the book, as they are extra important with this one.

I devoured this book and eagerly await the 4th! I always want to know what happens after the happy ending in my adventure stories, and Esme Symes-Smith is definitely answering that for me. Every character is flawed, and their growth throughout the series has been amazing to see. I love Esme's books and will be reading them as long as they write them!

Thanks to NetGalley, Esme Symes-Smith, and Random House Children's for the chance to read and review!

Thank you to Random House Children's | Labyrinth Road, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this!

Sir Callie continues, an emotional and furious ride. Though I prefer more of a singular point-of-view for first person, I did like that Symes-Smith had us get to know the characters enough before introducing us into the head of Callie's companions.
I think my students would appreciate this-- shorter, cliffhanger chapters, representation of more types of queer characters, lives and love and loss and longing and loathing.

An absolutely fantastic third book, and I cannot wait to read and recommend it again!

Another great entry in the adventures of Sir Callie. I wish, however, that he would stop and think before going off. Very typical of the age and yet this is the third book so a bit more self-control first would be nice and would show some growth.
Looking forward to the next installment

❣️ big huge thank you to netgalley and penguin random house children’s/labyrinth road for allowing me to read an electronic advanced readers copy of this in exchange for an honest review ❣️

╔══ ❀•°𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘°•❀ ══╗
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

╔══ ❀•°𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕕 𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕜°•❀ ══╗
🎩 my way by frank sinatra - “for what is a man, what has he got. if not himself, then he has naught.”

💫 golden slumbers by the beatles - “once, there was a way to get back homeward. once, there was a way to get back home.”

🙌 gilded lily by cults - “haven’t i given enough, given enough?”

╔══ ❀•°𝕗𝕒𝕧𝕠𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕖 𝕢𝕦𝕠𝕥𝕖s°•❀ ══╗
💘 “ when we love someone, we give them permission to hurt us. ”

💧 “ sad doesn’t feel useful in the way that anger does. ”

⚔️ “ there is no valor in suffering. it helps no one. taking care of yourself does. ”

╔══ ❀•°𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨°•❀ ══╗
⭕ o v e r a l l - i liked this book a lot. i have so much love for this entire series and all the characters so it makes sense that this book would be another absolute knockout. i really appreciated getting to see other areas of the kingdom in this book — sometimes i feel like i forget that this takes place in a kingdom and not just helston as a city.

this book, like all books in the sir callie series does not shy away from the more ~mature~ topics of violence, prejudice, and grief. however, it is still clearly written for children in the middle grade genre vein. all these topics are talked about with grace while also being agonizingly real and true. characters in this book go through terrible things not because of plot development or needing to have strong character development. no. characters go through terrible things in this book because children go through terrible things in real life everyday. this is a fantasy story involving dragons and witches but it’s so hard to not remember every 5 pages that this is really just a big metaphor for the things d i f f e r e n t children go through whether that be because they’re neurodivergent, queer, or just seen as wrong in real life. i think it was done amazingly.

💨 p a c i n g - i’m not crazed about how the first 30% felt both agonizingly slow and also unnecessarily jam packed with info loading of current situations where book two left off. i’ll be honest, i read the first 30% and then put it down for about a week and a half before i could go back to it. i came off a high from book two and i knew that if i sped through book three it would be sour in my mouth just in comparison. this book is amazing and i’m glad i gave it that space. these are two different books. both wonderful in their own regard.

🫂 c h a r a c t e r s - i did not really vibe with the multi-pov for this story at the first couple of switches but once we got into the deep sh*t that each character had found themselves in, it was so worthwhile to see every little piece of the puzzle come together all across wyndebrel. every chapter seemed to be a punch in the gut the further and further we got into this book and definitely had me feeling for all the characters (not just the main ones!).

the character’s felt a lot more fleshed out in this one. i love how each character this book focuses on has something that completely radically challenges their beliefs for better or worse. for callie it’s the violence and death in their wake, for elowyn it’s the fact that she has a sensitive heart that people will see as a weakness, and for edwyn it’s the fact that he realizes he can stand up to those that abused him before.

⚖️ m o r a l i t y - i really appreciated how ~gray~ everything was. obviously i think callie stands for a lot of the right things and that the adults are wrong and are terrible but to a certain extent, i feel like this book puts a little more perspective on things. this is by no way translated as a DEFENSE against those who were wrong, just makes you realize that at the end of the day there are no enemies, just humans (and dragons!) making terrible choices (on both sides!).

❤️‍🩹 c o n c l u s i o n - if book two ended with devastation and death and grief and desperation… book three ends with hope. and that’s enough.

**Many thanks to Labyrinth Road/Random House Children's Books, and Netgalley for an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) of this book**

Hoo boy, here we go back into the depths of Helston's descent into madness...

Esme. Esme. My dear Esme. Why must you take me on such a roller coaster up and down, round and around, and make me feel such things?!

There is war on the horizon for Helston, Dumoor and Eyrewood, where every adult in a position of power has visions of fame, grandeur and righteous indignation so thick and slimy, it's disgusting. Of course, the kids are not alright. Not for the first time, our bunch of lovely adventurers (Callie, Willow, Elwyn and Edwyn) are caught in the crossfire of adult ambition at the expense of compassion, acceptance and love. Except this time, Callie and their friends find themselves apart from each other. And they must learn how to grow apart with a better understanding of themselves and their places in the world before they can grow back together as a whole.

That's right: our foursome is (for the most part) scattered to the wind, and each one experiences their own trials and struggles. Sometimes, the only shoes you have to walk in are your own, and there's no one walking beside you on the same path.

Callie, our brave champion, wars with themselves with guilt and mistrust. Willow continues to struggle with seeing what he might be, could be, is, and what society expects from a future king. Elowyn learns the hard way about gilded cages of her own making.

And Edwyn? Fighting back against the abuse you face from anyone, let alone the parents who have taken your innocence, is the hardest battle of them all. I say that because Callie, Willow and Elwyn's struggles can be solved much easier with experience, time and maturity. Edwyn's cannot without a harder mountain to climb.

I will be honest, this book was a hard one to get through for me. I physically felt ill at times, for the right reasons- I hate what Peran, what Helston, what the world is doing to these kids. It's targeted abuse, whether it is physically beating these kids down or using them as weapons for some twisted crusade. I know this is a multi book series. I know not everything will be solved by the end of the book. But my heart is craving catharsis. My heart hurts, HURTS, for these kids. And... that is the point. Even though these books are examples in a fantasy world, and the situations are not 1 for 1 to the real world, the sentiments and struggles ARE. It reminds us (society) that at the end of the day, our politics should not matter. Our agendas should not matter. Our selfishness should not matter. THE KIDS SHOULD MATTER.

This book upsets me because these kids should not have to go through this. They should not be living in a world where this type of hatred should exist, where adult ambition should triumph at the cost of the children's welfare.

It's also a testiment to Esme's ability at writing characters to make me feel such pain for Edwyn, such remorse for Elwyn, such sadness for Willow... and such frustration with Callie ( and all their bullheadedness). I love all these kids. The antagonists are such vile, irredeemable wastes of human life that I need to go read something fluffy to get my mind off them now. And that's one of the biggest compliments I can give to Esme's masterful storytelling- they have such a wonderful grasp on each character.

There is one thing I should point out, before I conclude this review; I would be doing this book an injustice if I didn't. Since the first book, the series has gotten progressively darker as we've rolled along. I would place Sir Callie #1 in the 10-12 year old range, Sir Callie #2 would be closer to 12-13. Sir Callie #3 is at least 13, if not borderline YA. I would not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone adult, even a young adult, but if it's a kid, I would want to make sure that kid is emotionally ready for it, and understands what they are heading into.

There's some trigger warnings for abuse, language, misgendering, LGBTQ+ hate (a few others that are spoilery, but if you can handle the previous, you can handle what develops). I have no doubt that someone too young would be frightened of what happens in certain scenes, or would not fully grasp how meaningful some moments in the book are. THIS IS NOT A NEGATIVE on the book. It is still a good book, and worth reading. However, for parents, I would check on your kids, assess their reading level and maturity, and proceed with this third installment when they are ready for it.

Overall, where's the next book, Esme?!?! More please.