I went on an emotional journey with this book. Not just with the characters, but with how much I liked it. I took a little bit to find my footing in listening. 

This book in the beginning is quite fantastical. It felt to me like it was setting up another world, but in the end the world you find yourself in isn't that different than the real world. That is to say: I didn't love the first half of this book, but the second half picked up the pace and worked for me. 

This is a dark humor middle grade book and will only work for more literary readers.

Book elements: Slaughterhouse,  Bullying, Outcast, Orphans, What is *magic*, Identity, Self actualization, What a soul needs, Middle school kisses

Thanks to Macmillan Kids, Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) for the book. All opinions are my own.