Theo is a travelling arborist, and Nick her apprentice and daughter – yes, despite the names they're both female. They're forever nowadays finding problems linked with the magic ironwood groves, which have some unearthly blight and are causing issues with other wildlife as a result. When it becomes too obvious they ought to go to the capital, built around the original grove of the first, most ancient ironwoods, they do – and find things really aren't as they ought to be. No, there's bigotry, name-calling, a monopolistic company blocking off parts of the city to its residents – oh, yes, and there's definitely something connected to the magical shenanigans.

The issue is that we're here for those shenanigans, and whether we like it or not we get the worthiness and wokeness as well. The very first conversation has a pronoun-mangler in it, and that's not the only instance of such confusion on these pages. This obviously makes you doubt the focus of the author is always in the right place – and when you really struggle to get a full mental picture of the lake, river, dam, waterfall and city concerned with it all, as I did, you doubt even more.

That said, this could have been so much more worthy when it comes to its environmental message, and apart from an epilogue laying it on a bit thick, this is done much more lightly than expected. The book is clearly about misuse of natural resources, and the sort of colonialist mindset that claims some of them for some people and not for the others. Still, I don't know if this has the right balance for the young reader seeking action and drama and intrigue – there is a lot of world-building, and nothing like a key dramatic conclusion, although this is wrapped up a lot more tidily than I feared, knowing more books in this series were planned. So this gets demerits for pronoun woo-woo, and just not being a universally appealing magically-imbued fantasy, and therefore ends with two and a half stars. But it's not dreadful, and if it does still appeal I wouldn't dissuade anyone from giving it a cautious look.

I had trouble getting into this book. Even now after reading it, I can't really remember what happened. It took me a long time to finish.

The world is great and the magic was fun. magic plants being given the focus is not something I have seen before even though I read a lot of fantasy, so that was nice and refreshing. The characters where also fun I just wish there had been a little more backstory.

This story is definitely one that I think middle grade readers need in this moment. Likable characters mixed with a world building that was diverse, The Secrets of Underhill is one that I'm more than willing to recommend to my readers. I love when a book is able to blend itself with multiple genres, giving readers a taste of not only fantasy, but a mystery, too. I wish the pacing were a bit better, because I feel some middle grade readers might lose interest, but I hope they stick with it because I really enjoyed the end.

With a cover so lovely and it being a middle grade, I had to give this middle grade fantasy a try. I'm glad I did.

We meet Nick and her mother Theo as they are helping out a town with the blight in their grove. Their world uses the magic of ironwood trees but within the last two years the trees have been affected by something. It makes the magic lash out to the nature around them. To try and solve this blight they have to got to Mistwood where Theo's history lays.

There was a lot to be loved in this story. The relationship between Theo and Nick was interesting to see. It has always been just them (with the exception of a not blood related aunt). Meeting her family for the first time in Mistwood was quite the change for her. It creates an interesting dynamic. The friendship that evolves between Nick and Oliver, her cousin, is cute to see and I think something that Nick needed. Someone of her own age. I also liked seeing Oliver's older sister step up nearing the end the way that she did.

I also liked the world. Seeing the magic of the Ironwood trees and how the world is using it for everything. It kind of made me think about our dependance on certain things. And how we sometimes don't want to listen to the people who have been telling for many years how bad it was for the environment. The ending was also realistic in the way that there wasn't an easy fix, but something that the adults are still working on.

Having said that, I felt like I was missing a large piece of Nick's and Theo's background. Theo left Mystwood 15 years ago or so. Nick is 11 so she must have met Nick's dad somewhere. There has only been a mention of dad in the book and that was a mention that she doesnt know him. There is no explanation on this. The reasons for Theo's leaving and not coming back to visit her family are also a little flimsy. I found it hard to take it at face value.

But this is also a middle grade. I don't think for the target group this will be a problem per se. It is a well crafted story with likeable characters.

Absolutely loved the fantasy vibes in this creative yet inspiring story to always dig deep and search for the world's answers.

I finished this book and IMMEDIATELY went to my library for another of the authors book. What a timely fantasy novel. It was such a great story with meaningful discourse that relates to the real world. Done so well. I love the settings, the family dynamics, the environmental and humanity issues that were both dealt with throughout the story. The queerness… I need more of this book. I want to climb in and live here.

The Secret of Underhill was not at all what I expected it to be. At first glance, this is a tale of magic, friendship, and family. However, it’s also much more than that. The Secret of Underhill is a fantasy story that tackles themes that are relevant in today’s political climate such as the environment, discrimination and inequality. This novel blends genres, with it being both fantasy and a mystery.

I very much enjoyed my time reading this book, though it did have its flaws for me. I would give this novel a solid 3.75/5

Some of the strong points of this novel where the world building and characters. The writing of the world had an immersive feeling, and I could easily picture the beauty and magnitude of the trees and surrounding environment. The characters were charming, and I do feel like they were fully fleshed out by the end. I loved both the main character and side characters and felt as though their plot lines were authentic.
Nick as a main character felt very realistic for her age. Her flaws and “bad” choices made sense to me, and I really did appreciate going through this journey through her lens.

My main issue with this book is pacing. I really loved the first 15% of this book, I felt it properly established the characters and world, but then it kind of felt like nothing was happening for a big portion of the story (from like the 15%-50% mark). We mostly wandered around the world, and were introduced to a slight mystery but nothing truly pushed me to keep going plot and pacing wise. However, the latter half of the book did pick up, and it was much more enjoyable from that point on. I will say this book is most impactful for its discussions on the environment and racism, but not necessarily the actual storyline.

I would recommend this for contemporary readers who are looking to get into fantasy, or readers who enjoy stories with the above themes. I definitely would pick up more from this author.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC

Overall, I enjoyed this book, however I don’t know that it has a start that will just grab readers and encourage them to keep reading. I love the diversity and inclusion that this book tries to promote. And teaching kids that just because something is different doesn’t mean it should be something you fear but instead encourages kids to learn about and maybe embrace. I also like how it talks about nature and how what happens in one place can cause a ripple effect to other areas throughout the world. There is a lot of positive about this book, the ending is great. I just am not sure how many kids will get drawn in.
Thank you to Quirk Books and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

My son and I were very excited to read this based on the premise. And I think he loved it, however both of us struggled with a lot didn’t happen for the first chunk of the book. I think it could be due to all of the world building. Normally I love world building in fantasy, I just wish there would have been a balance. We both agreed we look forward to other books by this author.

One of the reasons why I love reading middle grade is the different adversities and trials our characters face and how they are able to conquer them. The Secrets of Underhill shows their reader that even if kids are facing adversities and trials, they are able to come up with valid solutions.

I enjoyed reading about our main character a lot. Nick Sixsmith is an arborist apprentice, and her mother Theo is her teacher. They are on the road a lot and that’s how Nick has been raised. Until one day a mysterious blight start causing the trees to perish and making their magic disappear. So they pack up their van filled with all sorts of critters and animals and her beloved dog to Theo’s home. There she meets family members she never knew she had and the adventure starts taking a very odd but incredible journey. I loved the aspect of kids having an apprenticeship and having vast knowledge of nature.

Especially when the towns people aren’t taking the blight seriously and fill face consequences. The atmosphere and magic system were so unique as well, I feel like after reading this book you’ll appreciate nature and the power of friendship.

This reminded me a lot of GREENWILD by Pari Thomsen, which is one of my favorite middle grade books ever, combined with THE LIARS SOCIETY by Alyson Gerber.

Thank you to Netgalley for the free e-arc!

Reviewing this book proved very difficult for me. On the one hand, it had so many things I absolutely loved: plant magic, cool trees, casual LGBTQ+ rep, and a poignant metaphor for how capitalism and climate change go hand in hand. If I could rate just the core premise of this book, I'd give it a 5/5.

But the execution of the plot was really frustrating. I spent the entire first half of the book waiting for some kind of inciting incident--something that would make the larger world problems personal to Nick, something that would establish her stakes and a deadline. And it never came. Nick just kept whittling away at a mystery that was certainly important to the greater world, but without any real reason why she had to solve it, or what would go wrong if she didn't. She also lacked agency throughout the book. The plot was a lot of her reacting to other people's actions, or gaining new information and then just... going home to think about it. And when she did finally take action and gain agency toward the end of the book, another character came along and took over her whole mission! Arg! It was really frustrating.

So, yeah, I really considered rating this lower. But the plant magic, underhillers, and entire premise was wonderful, and the writing was great too. This is yet unpublished so some things might get changed/fixed before it hits the shelves!

Oh man, I'm so torn on this book. I really like the IDEA of it and the premise. I love reading middle grade but this one confused me a lot. I ended up DNF'ing the book because when it felt like the plot should pick up, it slowed down. I needed some more!

Did not completely finish this book, immediately from the beginning the plot buildup and world building was overbearing and attempted to be established far too soon, without any context or previously established relationship with our characters. The beginning ultimately felt jarring but at the same time not intriguing enough to draw me in? I think there is potential here, but it needs a lot more editing and tweaking.

I really struggled reading this book. I found it slow and difficult to continue to read.
I didnt feel the magic and what magic was there was not very impressive.

Lush, evocative, and bursting with adventure, THE SECRETS OF UNDERHILL is eco-fantasy at its best. I loved exploring Mistwood and Underhill alongside Nick and her friends; Kali Wallace writes setting like nobody else! There's also an excellent heaping of intrigue, humour, and heart, with a gorgeous cover to match.

Very grateful for the opportunity to read an advance copy <3