ARC, 482 pages
Release Date: October 15, 2019Published by: Rick Riordan Presents
Read from: October 6-12, 2019Tristan Strong, #1Source: Publisher & Netgalley (I received a copy of this book from the Publisher & Netgalley in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)TW: N/AFor fans of: Mythology, Own Voices, Middle Grade, Fantasy
Seventh-grader Tristan Strong feels anything but strong ever since he failed to save his best friend when they were in a bus accident together. All he has left of Eddie is the journal his friend wrote stories in. Tristan is dreading the month he’s going to spend on his grandparents’ farm in Alabama, where he’s being sent to heal from the tragedy. But on his first night there, a sticky creature shows up in his bedroom and steals Eddie’s journal. Tristan chases after it-–is that a doll?-–and a tug-of-war ensues between them underneath a Bottle Tree. In a last attempt to wrestle the journal out of the creature’s hands, Tristan punches the tree, accidentally ripping open a chasm into the MidPass, a volatile place with a burning sea, haunted bone ships, and iron monsters that are hunting the inhabitants of this world. Tristan finds himself in the middle of a battle that has left black American gods John Henry and Brer Rabbit exhausted. In order to get back home, Tristan and these new allies will need to entice the god Anansi, the Weaver, to come out of hiding and seal the hole in the sky. But bartering with the trickster Anansi always comes at a price. Can Tristan save this world before he loses more of the things he loves?
*MY THOUGHTS*
I have started and restarted this review so many times. I even had to stop one night so I could sleep on it. But I just didn’t think I could get this review right. There’s so much in this book tto hhat I didn’t think I’d ever see in a book, let alone one for kids.
“My friend,” I said suddenly, “used to tell me a story.” “Good friends will do that,” he commented. “But I’d be wary of telling the full tale here. Stories are powerful magic. You’ll find that out soon enough. Best only summarize. “pg. 71
Tristan Strong hasn’t felt like his self since he lost his best friend Eddie. He goes to his grandparent’s house to heal. While there, strange things begin to happen. A sticky doll comes out of nowhere and steals Eddie’s journal and he chases her. She almost gets away until he punches a Bottle Tree… which sends them to MidPass where there’s African American gods. To get back home Tristan has to make sure the sky is fixed and that he won’t lose anything else he won’t love.
“I thought fairy tales were supposed to have happy endings. What was the moral of this story?”pg. 87
I can’t express how much this story meant to me. Seeing so many strong Black characters fighting against the very things that haunted them; chains and “Uncle C”… it was more than amazing. And this story was also filled with so much Blackness that I never thought I’d see in a book. For instance, the Bottle Tree. The fact that I had one of those in my front yard, thanks to my own mother, made me realize just how imoprtant it was to me. Before I even finished it I called my mom and said she needed to read it too.
“Keeping someone’s words alive is like keeping them alive, right?“pg. 99
As for the characters, I loved every one of them. (But no one can top Gum Baby lol) I loved seeing some of the characters I’ve heard from stories back when I was younger from my mom. John Henry and all of them were straight from the tales. But there were still some tales I hadn’t heard and went back and did some research on those that I didn’t. Not only was this entertaining, but it was also educational.
“…you know how stories can grow and change over time. Guesses become rumors can become legends can become legends can become reality. Let a few people think there’s hope, and all of a sudden a bad situation gets worse.“pg.321
As for the plot, I did feel that it was too close to the chosen one troupe. It ticked every box for it, but, with all the fighting and the storytelling, I thought that was more than ok. And for this to be the first in the series, I can’t imagine a better origin story. It’s definitely only rivaled by the other origin stories from the Rick Riordan imprint.
“There is strength in not fighting, Tristan. Remember that.“pg. 355
This book was everything I needed and more. I remember hearing about this story and being extremely excited to see the cover reveal. And now I’m super excited that I’ve read and loved this book. I can’t wait to read more Tristan Strong.
Overall, I give this
