In Alice in Wonderland, the Cheshire Cat disappears from view, and in The Changelings, Izzy's sister, Hen, disappears in an Earthly hole that leads to Faerie. This book reminded me a bit of Narnia as Izzy races to save Hen. Along the way, Izzy meets a bizarre ghost girl, a personified rock, and a part boy-part stag before encountering the Queen. This book will be the perfect match for a middle-grade reader who likes adventure. The Changelings is the first of a series.

** I received an advance reader copy of this book for free through a Goodreads giveaway. **

I loved this book! It's a fun, fast-paced and well-written fantasy tale perfect for middle readers (and for older readers who are still children at heart!). The pace is perfect, the characters are very well-developed and the world is a wonderful place that I would love to spend more time in (if there are any future books set there). Action, adventure, magic, friendship and family themes combine to make this the perfect book for anyone who enjoys fairy stories or fantastical adventure stories. ( )

This book was provided to me as an uncorrected digital review copy by the publisher, via NetGalley.

Izzy is bored. Her family has moved for the 10th time, and now she is expected to settle into a tiny town with nothing going on, and start another new school, where she won’t fit in and won’t have friends (not that that’s anything new). Then someone tells her that her neighbor, Marian Malloy, is a witch. So Izzy decides spying on Miss Malloy is just the cure for new town boredom. But that was before she heard the flute music. And before she watched her little sister disappear into the woods. Now Miss Malloy may be Izzy’s only chance to rescue her sister from the land of Faerie.

There is a lot of middle grade fantasy out there these days, and much of it, in my humble opinion, has one fatal flaw: over-the-top silliness. Maybe it’s just me; I’ve never been a fan of slapstick, and the three stooges grate on my nerves. My feeling is that if you want to get into a kid’s head, you have to trust them with some serious stuff. This book does that. The characters in this book have experienced rejection, loneliness, loss, and guilt. The kids struggle with being okay with who they are, and have to learn that they can’t take responsibility for every bad thing that happens in their lives. The fairy characters were described well, which made the story come even more to life for me. I can only really come up with one negative, and I don’t know if it was lack of world-building or lack of attention on my part, but the parts of the story in which the Changelings hid their abilities from others was confusing. The occupants of the land of Faerie were primarily fairies, and would seemingly have similar abilities to shape change, so why hide it? It wouldn’t give them away as Changelings, because the only qualifying factor for a Changeling was to be an orphan, not to have a special ability. Overall, this is a fun book with a good amount of action and adventure. The characters are complex and the dialogue flows naturally. I would recommend this book to middle grade readers on an upper 3rd grade reading level and higher, who enjoy fantasy and/or adventure.
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A cute book suitable for tweens and young teens. If your kids like Harry Potter, they'll probably like 'Changelings.' Very well developed characters, a richly described world, and just a hint of the spookiness of faerie. Does have some violence. ( )

I received The Changelings from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Changelings by Christina Soontornvat is a middle grade fantasy full of adventure and wonder. It follows Izzy's search for her younger sister, Hen. Hen has wandered into the woods alone and it is up to Izzy to find her. Along the way, Izzy meets new friends willing to join in the search. It was a fast paced story with vivid characters. Perfect for tweens and teens, or anyone looking for a clean fantasy story. ( )