Kiki Kallira Breaks a Kingdom

Love this book! Very exciting and action packed.

Another title in the popular recent mini-genre of Percy Jackson-inspired #ownvoices fantasy stories involving a middle-grade protagonist coming face-to-face with certain mythological beings drawn from the writer's cultural heritage. In this novel, the Hindu gods and demons are joined by a fun Inkheart sort of element, as it's the heroine's drawings of them (along with some of her own inventions) that have unexpectedly come to life and dragged her into their world. That gives the project a rather unique atmosphere, as does the frank and non-stigmatized approach to mental illness in discussing her anxiety / borderline OCD.It's a fine adventure overall, although I wish there was less criticizing and guilting of Kiki throughout for her artistic choices, such as the house of rebel children with no grown-ups to look after them or a villain's fortress protected by deadly traps. She's thirteen and has quite reasonably never expected the things in her sketchbook to have any independent existence! Give her a break, and don't invite young audiences to worry about the morality of their own doodles, sheesh. But that aspect aside, I have really enjoyed the book. The action is exciting, the characters feel specific and endearing, and the plot contains a few genuine surprises even for an older reader like me. It's a great take on folklore, found family, and disability, and I'm excited to see author Sangu Mandanna is already under contract for a sequel.[Content warning for death of a friend.]

Kiki Kallira Breaks a Kingdom is emotional and precious at once. Let's start with my favorite element: Kiki. Her character instantly charmed me. The ways she's trying to manage her anxiety and her worrying. This just reached into my heart and twisted. Talk about a middle grade character who would have made a difference in my life. I feel like chatting about mental illness - and the conversations Kiki has in this book - are so crucial for kids. This idea that we can be suffering and not knowing how to ask for help or even recognize it.Additionally, I loved how Kiki, dumped into this magical world, has to figure out her own power. We have these adventure stories where the main character ends up training. Where they seem to be able to use a weapon passably well or having magical powers. But what about us? I'm talking specifically about me who could wield absolutely nothing. For Kiki, trying to figure out her own magic, her own power and capability, is huge.

This was a unique and fun MG read. It was about Indian Mythology, which I'm a big Mythology lover so love learning about all Mythology. This was a bit different than other stories in that it addresses anxiety/OCD and what it might look like for a young girl and I can relate to that and think it's great that this is being shown/talked about in the story.It was a pretty quick, fun, and easy read too. It's about a girl, Kiki, who discovers she has the ability to draw things and have them come to life/existence when she finds herself in the magical world she drew with a band of rebel kids and an evil ancient deity that wants to take over her mystical world. Kiki has to overcome her fears and anxiety to stop the bad guy and save both the real world and the magical world.It's very much like other MG reads such as the Aru Shah and Serpent's Secret series and has cool Indian Mythology in it as well. If you're into Mythology/Indian Mythology, like the Aru Shah books or the Rick Riordan Mythology books, you'll like this one.Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for letting me read and review this book. All opinions are my own.

My 4th grade daughter loved this book! We can’t wait for the next one in the series!

This started out so great. I found Kiki to be greatly relatable and funny. Sangu Mandanna also flawed Kiki in a way to make her endearing. I thought it a very good show of anxiety and ways of conquering it.My biggest heartbreak was that this read too young for me which is sad because kids can handle more complexity than we give them credit for. Still it was rich with culture and lore.Though when I got to the end it felt like not much had happened. There was the beginnings of adventure and excitement but most of the time the gang stayed locked away in the house. Which by the way, loved the magic house. It's so magical when inanimate objects develop personalities.A nice twist at the end I didn't see coming. Also Kiki is an artist and to not see any of her art physically portrayed in the book was a little sad.

Funny, thrilling and original! The 9-year-old I bought this for says this is hands down his favourite MG fantasy of the past couple of years (for context, he’s been reading MG since he was seven!)

I’m a middle school teacher looking for books to stimulate and enthuse my students and I found this book. It is an utter delight, filled with humour and extraordinary escapades which appealed to me as much as it did my audience of 11 year olds to whom I have read the first chapter. They are clamouring for more and I will add their comments to this review when we’re done.The rest of this review is from my adult perspective. Having lived through the last eighteen months and taught all my classes online, I was so moved by Kiki”s struggle with anxiety. Her desire to cope with and escape from her own brain, using her creative talents. It reflected my own anxieties and I was able to see how so many of my students might be experiencing the same and trying so hard to cope with the stresses of this extraordinary time we are all experiencing.The writing is vivid, rich in imagery, and the pace is relentless. This is a book I would recommend to a reader of any age.

Read and reviewed by Bobby (9)Initial thoughts: I thought it was gonna be her drawing a castle and then rubbing it out… what? It says Kiki Kallira breaks a kingdom so I just guessed!Favourite character: Kiki of course! She’s the main character and she can draw really cool things.Favourite part: Ummm, the part where she gets her brand new notebook and starts drawing really fast! I wish I could draw that fast!Least favourite part: The part where a demon is in her house and her desk is on fire! That’s so super scary, and her things would be destroyed!Anything else: There are cool pictures at the top of the chapters and the characters on the cover and inside it.Star rating: 10/10, because it was good, because there was lots of bits of knowledge, and because there was lots of myths involved and I like them.Thanks for reading Bobby’s review. Check out my Amazon profile page for more reviews of children’s books and puzzles and educational toys and games.

I really enjoyed this story. I read it to check it out for my own nine year old and class then found myself unable to put it down. The main character Kiki is especially well written. It is all in first person and the way she speaks to the reader is funny, witty, honest and best of all feels real. She is a worrier by nature, anxiety is really causing her issues. Art, her sketch book, her imagination and inspiration from her Indian family, culture, history, folklore and mythology help her cope with her anxiety. A magical twist leads Kiki and her creations on an adventure where she gets to be the unlikely hero and challenges her worries and anxiety. It is brilliantly descriptive, the characters and creatures are wonderful. It all zips along at a fun pace and the action is really well written. The way action is written matches up to how Kiki and her art would illustrate it. I would love to see an illustrated version of this book too, the way Kiki's art is described is so vivid. This story could work really well as a school VIPERS text (especially the of some challenging vocabulary) or inspiration for RE or Creative Curriculum. The way it uses Indian culture, religion and mythology would be perfect as a way into finding out more about where the inspiration came from. More Kiki please!

Here's a fantasy novel for younger readers. Ideal age would be nine and up.It is a story that is complete and self contained, although it does leave the door open for more at the end. And the amazon listing does say book one of two. Even though the book doesn't.It runs for three hundred and twenty three pages. It has thirty one chapters. There is at the front a cast of characters. Which gives brief descriptions of all of the main ones. Complete with drawings.Kiki is our heroine, who narrates the story in first person past tense. She's of an Indian background and heritage. Lives in London with her mother. Has friends. And loves to draw.She's also a fair bit of a worrier. The kind of person who can't remember for sure if they locked the front door or not. She creates fantasy worlds, based on her Hindu heritage, in her drawings.Then one day, some of the beings from those get into this one. A powerful ancient god is loose, and threatens both the real world and the one of Kiki's creation. Unless she can stop him. She has her warrior heroine Ashwini to help. The latter is basically Kiki with no fear and anxiety. But can she be like that?The prose is good easy and clear, and the print is large enough to make it easy reading. Kiki is relatable from the off. Because if you've ever wondered if your keys are still in your pocket, or if you did lock the front door, then you ill relate to her. Because it really describes those kind of feelings very well indeed.Many character names for the beings in her other world are Hindu words and names but I wouldn't think they will be any difficulty for a reader of the right age. Which I would say is ten and up. That's just down to the general level of the story. And one moment that we shall just call potentially emotional.This zips along nicely in the first third where the worlds first meet. It does go a bit more sedate in the middle, but the dynamic between Kiki and others remains appealing. I did rather like Lej, who doesn't come over as all that nice to begin with and isn't shy of saying his true feelings, because he was nothing if not different.This does always know where it's going, and pulls itself together superbly in the last third for a strong finale. There are some very good plot developments and surprises here. And the central character arc works. You should be able to tell where it's going, but it never lectures you on the way. It lets things develop naturally. Which is nice.A very nice and original read. The second book should be well worth a look.