reviewed from uncorrected egalley.
children's middlegrade fantasy (magic; 12/13-year-olds on an adventure to escape an arranged marriage and a lifetime of cleaning chores). The writing is decently sparkly and voracious middlegrade readers should enjoy.
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A delightful book from a first-time author (with more to come, one hopes). Clear, distinctive characters, a big fun romp of a plot, a new, not-too-painfully-contrived magic system, and it wasn't nearly as nautical as I feared (I don't want page after page of "Man the mizzens" or "hoist the mainsail" or whatever it is sailors/pirates do).

Some great set pieces--easy to imagine as a Spielberg film--but not formulaic or stupid (nothing I hate more than stupid: yesterday I was watching the first episode of Voltron Legendary Defender, where they found a wave pattern that matched their photo of distant hills--and all I can think is "if you were standing in any other position, the distant hills would have a completely different shape").

I'm 53, so I can imagine this would be fun for anyone who enjoys the genre (middle school fantasy?), and with short chapters and ample cliffhangers, also an especially good read-aloud.

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). ( )

This book was fantastic! Seriously, I don't know how you could look at the cover of The Voyage to Magical North and not immediately want to add it to your reading list. Look at that cover! It screams danger, adventure, and pirates. What more could you want? Better still, it absolutely delivers on every single one of those promises. Are you looking for a wild and magical adventure, fraught with danger? Claire Fayers has you covered.

Brine and Peter quickly became two of my new favorite characters. Fayers wrote them so richly, that it was hard not to feel like I was right alongside them. These two couldn't be more different, but watching them learn how to navigate together and how to understand one another, was a wonderful experience. There was so much depth to everything that Brine and Peter did. They were flawed, they were young, they were human. Couple that with adventures that threw them straight into the tentacles of sea monsters? Well now, you have my attention.

Truly, this story is chock full of everything a Middle Grade reader could ever want. High seas shenanigans, wonderfully thought out magic, harrowing encounters, and so much hilarious snark that it's hard not to giggle while reading this. I loved that Claire Fayers walked that line between light and dark in The Voyage to Magical North. As good Fantasy books should, this story explores some of the scarier and darker places that one must go to in order to persevere. Those were always my favorite kinds of stories as a kid, and that's still true to this day.

Trust me, this book is a keeper! It's a must read for adventure lovers of all ages. Strap in, sit back, and prepare to go on a journey. Claire Fayers has you covered. ( )

Quite a fun middle-grade fantasy adventure. Funny. Has fun pirates. ( )