Where There Be Monsters (The Outersphere Series 1) by Alby C. Williams

What worked:

Glory dreams of becoming a Spherinaut and searching for and studying magical creatures. Her mom is the greatest Spherinaut today and people across all the lands reference the Brown Books her ancestors have written to navigate an uncertain world. Glory knows something strange is going on with magic as she’s frightened by a small, tree-like creature in the Light Inn’s garden. Most of the monsters she knows are friends to humans but there are level four beasts that are wild and dangerous. There’s clearly a surge of feral monsters happening but this outbreak doesn’t seem to be from natural causes.

All children are born with Moxie which Glory’s parents believe is connected to curiosity. Older people lose their Moxie so readers might infer this means adults are less inquisitive. For some reason, monsters are repelled by Moxie so Glory feels protected from potential dangers she might face in the world. Glory’s mind tends to jump around from thought to thought, her father calls it mazy head, and he often reminds her to slow down. Young readers will admire Glory’s desire to find answers and her determination to explore the Outersphere. Her family’s motto is “Let kindness be your guiding light and knowledge be your shelter”. Glory’s an obedient daughter and is proud that she doesn’t know how to lie but is she willing to disobey her parents and help a person in need? Glory is another young character in a middle-grade book who doesn’t fully appreciate the lethal threats lurking beyond her safe haven.

The story has an underlying plot of mystery and intrigue. The unnatural surge of monsters has everyone worried and trying to understand its cause. Glory’s mother believes it's related to the mining of magical siphonite leaving pockets under the ground. Readers will slowly suspect something suspicious is going on with the siphoning of magic. Gertrude Paxton, former head of the Dominicule of Siphonry, is vying for more power and Glory hears the woman’s name or reads about her everywhere. Then there’s Marcus, the Parliament student Glory is helping. He’s wearing a cursed charm and was told to deliver a secret message but he won’t say who gave it to him. Glory touched the charm once so she’s now cursed too. These events describe a secret conspiracy and Glory finds herself thrown into the middle of it.

What didn’t work as well:

The relationship between Glory and Marcus is puzzling at times. They’re working together to break Marcus’s curse but manage to bicker over comments each other makes. Also, Glory gives him a hard time about the effects of his curse but there’s little talk about the fact that she’s cursed too. Some of their comments are confusing.

The final verdict:

This adventure/mystery will entertain young readers as the characters attempt to discover the cause of the monster surge. Magic is used as an energy source but the characters can’t use it as their own special powers. It’s an interesting twist on magic and a select school for young characters and I recommend you give it a shot.