Fleur is used to balancing her two different cultures from her English Mum to her West Indian Nan but when she discovers that she can talk to animals she finds herself in a whole new world! Can her new powers help her take down Celeste 'The Best' the hockey-loving, ankle-smashing new girl, once and for all?

This was a fun middle grade story that had a lot of heart. Dealing with themes of identity, belonging, family and bullying, Morrell uses the magical escapades of Fleur and other characters to develop poignant messages about important topics.

I really enjoyed joining Fleur on her daily trials trying to cope with teenage life: unsuccessfully avoiding unwanted hockey games, dealing with friendship issues, fretting over family problems, managing a cantankerous bird all whilst coming to terms with her newfound magical powers.

Filled with humour, suspense and warmth this is a fantastic read that I know many will enjoy.

2.75 stars.
A head full of magic is kind of funny easy read.
Sometimes i was bottered how the chapters were started with like ChApTEr SeVenTeen it was annoying every time.

A Head Full of Magic by Sarah Morrell was a fun, magical tale that I really enjoyed reading. Fleur is a great Main Character with a ton of curiosity and spunk. I fell in love with her Grandmother, Nan, and her no-nonsense approach to their gifts. This mid-grade read is a great mix of humor and heart that highlights friendship, individuality, and love.

In *A Head Full of Magic*, we accompany Fleur as she finds out she has the ability to talk to animals. Her life is a bit complicated at the moment, so discovering this new ability isn’t exactly a piece of cake for her. She is finishing primary school, there is a girl that bullies her and her granddad has just died, on top of that, her father left right after her grandfather’s death. So it’s just her, her mum and her nan.

I’ve given it 3 stars because, overall, I have enjoyed it. I believe it’s a nice story which tries to show certain good values, like the importance of standing up for yourself and asking for help when needed.

However, there are some things that I haven’t liked much. For instance, some dialogues didn’t sound natural at all! It seemed as if you were being lectured, and it sounded especially strange coming from a 10-year-old. Moreover, I felt like her background and the things happening to her are too grim for the lighthearted mood of the book. It’s also a bit confusing at the beginning because all these mysteries keep appearing, but you don’t really know what’s going on until the end of the book — I understand, but this must be done with some measure, in this book it just felt overwealming.

All in all, an entertaining story which is easily read.

I was delighted to be contacted by the wonderful people at Literally PR, who invited me on to the blog tour for this whimsical adventure. I am always curious to read books from smaller publishers and I believe this is the first book from Hashtag Press that I’ve read. I’d love to find out more of Fleur’s story though, because I still have a lot of loose ends to tie up!

Fleur Marie Bottom is about to finish primary school but new girl Celeste seems to have taken Fleur’s best friends Ruby and Anais away from her. To top it off, Fleur’s father has recently disappeared in the wake of Grandpa Willie’s death and her Nan has inexplicably taken in a parrot. Then Fleur starts hearing voices even when no one around is talking. What could be going on?

Fleur’s life, both at home and at school, has recently been turned upside down and to be honest, I admired her for managing to get on with things. I’m sure a weaker person would have just descended into madness if they’d recently lost two close family members, two close friends and was starting to hear voices. I just wanted things to get better for her!

Her Nan’s parrot is a fantastic character and I knew that there was going to be hilarious mischief, whenever he was around. Fleur initially doesn’t like him but as she learns more about him and his story, she develops sympathy and a friendship with him. Sir Barclay has his own quest, which Fleur helps him out with, and I’d love to see more of his crazy ornithological adventures in future instalments.

There are some lovely bits of humour in the book and I definitely audibly laughed at several points. Flying old ladies? Explosive bird poop? A crisp packet getting stuck to our antagonist’s face? It was so silly but I couldn’t help but laugh and I loved it!

A Head Full Of Magic is a light-hearted story of family, animals, witchcraft and self-belief. I would have loved Nan’s St Lucian culture to have been explored more, perhaps through stories of her childhood and how she came into her own powers. It would have been great to see her share her culture with Fleur, but I suppose that is scope for a sequel. I flew through this quick, magical read and was fascinated by the magic system and its origins. Definitely one for quirky younger readers!

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Title: A Head Full of Magic
Author: Sarah Morrell
This is a middle grade book, for children in year groups 5 and 6, aged around 9-11yrs old.

SYNOPSIS
Fleur is used to balancing her two different
cultures from her English Mum to her West
Indian Nan but when she discovers that she
can talk to animals she finds herself in a
whole new world!
Can her new powers help her take down
Celeste 'The Best' the hockey-loving, ankle-
smashing new girl, once and for all?

REVIEW
Living in London, ten-year-old Fleur Marie Bottom is dealing with a lot as she approaches the final weeks of primary school.
The death of her Grandpa, seemingly the cause of her dad mysteriously leaving home, with no contact being made since.
Nan and Sir Barclay, an African Grey Parrot that Fleur can’t stand, have moved into the attic.
Celeste, the new girl at school who has really taken a dislike to Fleur.
And, of course, there’s Fleur’s sudden ability to talk to the animals.
Think it sounds like Dr Dolittle?
You’re right!

This book has it all.
A sarcastic and snobbish parrot
Talking animals
Mean girls
Weather powers
& MORE!
It’s a lovely book with a great message about being proud of who you are and realising that sharing worries instead of bottling them up is the right way to go about things.
It’s a 4⭐️ read from me.

Trigger Warnings - Bullying, Grief, Absent Parent.

Thank you to Netgalley, Helen Lewis at Literally PR and Hashtag Press for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

I’d like to thank Helen from Literally PR for contacting me to take part in this blog tour.

For me this was a quick and easy read that left me with a big grin on my face. Fleur and her Nan were cracking characters and their relationship was something very special that made me reminisce of times with my own Nan. Granted neither my Nan or I had magic within us but when Fleur talked about the chess games she played with her Nan most evenings it made me think of all the lovely times I had spent with my Nan and how precious they were.

And the brilliant characters didn’t stop there. Despite her appalling cooking Fleur’s Mum was another attentive and supportive character who clearly loved looking after her mother in law and Fleur. Then we have Sir Barclay, the talkative and amusing parrot who was there to help and guide Fleur from the beginning. Even Celeste, the bully of the story, won me over slightly in the end.

Whilst magic is a big feature in this middle grade story and it is written in very well it’s about so much more. As Fleur tries to deal with her new found skills she also has to deal with bullying, losing friends, leaving primary school and the list goes on. Sarah Morrell has taken the every day concerns of parents and children, brought them to life and made Fleur the next great heroine to look up to.

Charming, witty and fun, with a faultless plot, this book would make a great addition to any school library or avid bookworms collection. I really hope this book gets made into a series as I would love to see what happens next for Fleur and her family!

What hit me with this book wasn’t really the magical aspect but rather the bullying that the main character is a victim too as I, at that age, also was targeted by that sort of bullying where my “friends” left me for someone cooler than I and made me feel horrible for a very long time. That made the whole story relatable to me.

I thought the writing was very appropriate for the demographic and I think that many readers in the right age group will recognise themselves in the characters and connect with them. How often didn’t one wish (or play!) that you were a witch and could speak to animals.

A nice, little story which I’m sure will find its readers.

This is a brilliant book all about a young girl who has magic powers and can talk to animals. Full of humour and magic. And learning to deal with life and school and balancing thing out. I loved fleur character was strong and funny. I hope I get to read more from this author. I loved the writing style and the story was fun to read.

Sarah Morrell is a new author to me, but the cover and description looked fun, so I thought I’d give it a go.

I liked Fleur and her family very much. Fleur is a determined girl and gets on with things, even when life is very much not going her way. Her mum obviously works very hard to keep the family together.

I enjoyed the story very much. Fleur has a tricky time, with magic popping up unexpectedly, and her friends abandoning her. I felt like the plot of this book is very much the beginning of a longer story, so I really hope there will be a sequel.

Sir Barclay adds a nice touch of humour to the book, and I liked the way that he and Fleur gradually learned to work together. This was my favourite part of the story.

The magic in this book is different to other books, and it’s interesting to read. I’d like to explore this deeper if there’s a sequel. It feels like there’s a lot of potential for fun world building here.

Overall, this was a fun adventure, with magic and a loveable, relatable, main character. I very much look forward to seeing how the story develops, and the world expands, should there be further books in the series.

I was given a free copy of this book, my opinions are my own.

A very charming and sweet middle grade novel. Fleur is very relatable and unique, which makes me love her. We all encounter bullied, and much like Fleur, they don't always have a concrete reason for hating us. Although it can seem like it's a tremendous weight on us to have someone acting cruel towards us, it can also encourage us to be the greatest version of ourselves.

Fleur and her pet parrot go through many trials and tribulations in life to try and regain order, by finding his long-lost parrot wife, finding out Fleur's Hexler abilities, and dealing with losing friends/growing apart from them.

In this whimsical novel, the difficulties of growing up are taken on in a wonderful way that shows real growth. Plus, a little magic never hurt anyone. Especially being able to talk to some cute animals with your gifts. This is definitely a must read for any middle schooler, as it provides a happy medium to growing up, outgrowing old friends, and becoming the person you were meant to be.

A Head Full of Magic is an engaging and whimsical fantasy for middle grade readers by Sarah Morrell. Due out 25th April 2022 by Hashtag Press, it's 208 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.

This is such a fun and compassionate story. Fleur is a young girl whose life was more or less on an even keel; she had two best friends and her mum and gran, and if she wasn't terribly popular at school and even though animals (especially birds) took an unusual interest in her, at least she had Anais and Ruby and generally knew what to expect. That all changed when a new girl moved in, commandeered her friends, and made her school life an utter misery every day. To make matters worse, she doesn't know how or why, but she can hear animals talking to her.

I just loved this story. Fleur has a sort of genuine warmth which resonated with me. She's brave and kind and loyal but she's no Polyanna and I love how she reacts to the denouement and resolution in this book. The secondary characters are very well rendered and I adore her Nan and her irascible sarcastic and tetchy African grey parrot, Sir Barclay. The magical realism is well done and there are genuinely funny bits throughout.

Fleur & her nan were a bit caustic about her mother's lack of ability cooking, but I think it'll resonate with the target audience as more typical 10 year old talk and not cruel. Spelling and vernacular are UK standard English (tyre, crisp, biscuit) which is something of which to be aware for readers from the USA. This is a standalone novel, although there is scope for future adventures for Fleur and co.

Four stars. This would be a good choice for school or public library acquisition or for fans of magical realism.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

A Head Full of Magic is a charming and magical tale, which is very different to anything I’ve read before.

Things are tough for 12 year old Fleur: she’s lost her best friends and feels alone; she’s being bullied mercilessly by the new girl in school; her father is absent; her grandmother is frail and ill; and she’s locked in a daily battle involving hockey sticks and her ankles. What more can a girl take?! Fleur thinks she’s already at capacity until she suddenly discovers a new magical talent, which threatens to turn her world upside down.

A Head Full of Magic feels like the first book in what is sure to be a fantastic series and I’m interested to see where the author will take the story next. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Read this to the children over the course of a few evenings and a Saturday morning , then asked them (as usual) what should the review say.
The answers were,

Just like school but with more magic
Brilliant, will you read it again
Can we go there ?
Are bullies everywhere ?
Are there more stories (by this author ).
Pretty successful considering we have not read this author before.
I enjoyed it too.

This book feels like magical in normal way and I think it makes kids believe in magic, that awesome things can really happen, and I love it!
I love Fleur! She was tough but sweet. Like, she got bullied at school, and instead of being insecure or unconfident, she was still do her best in study and hockey, and she was also still being this happy sprit around her friends and family. And that's a good example for kids!

Fleur Marie Bottom is a 10-year-old girl who had two best friends - Anais and Ruby - until Celeste “The Best” Morton enrolled in her school. Her friends became Celeste’s best friends and her enemies by association since Celeste spends her days terrorizing Fleur.
She lives with her mom, her Nan, and Sir Barclay - her Nan’s parrot. One day her life starts to get weird when she hears Sir Barclay talk to her. How is it possible? He’s a parrot! How can she hear animals speak? Well, the same way parts of bodies are flying around town. Magic!

Fleur is a normal young girl with problems at school that is ashamed to admit. This book is about learning to trust others, ourselves, and our instincts. Also, the story with Celeste may be more than meets the eye and Fleur has to learn how to deal with people that don’t like her.

It's an interesting book that I think will delight the children. Let’s hope there’s going to be a second book where Fleur learns to manage her gifts, her dad comes back, and other adventures await!

The best way to describe this book is Mean Girls with magic. Although the mean girl herself, doesn't appear to have magic, or does she? Somehow Celeste knows and resents those who are magical, but how could she? The setting is contemporary London, UK, and most people don’t have magic, or even know it is around, but Fleur does, though she has only just discovered it. And mean girl Celeste is her nemesis, and does what most bullies do, do the bullying when the teachers aren’t watching, and act all sweet and nice the rest of the time.

Oh, and there is an African Gray Parrot, as well as lots of parrot poo.

This is one of those books where magic exists in the "real" world, and no one seems to notice, so it is odd that Celeste not only notices, but takes advantage of that knowledge to drive Fleur crazy.

Cute book that makes me wonder if it is going to be a series, as things are left open, as though Fleur is going to learn to use her powers better, and perhaps her dad will return, as well.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>