While middle grade fiction is exactly what I'm looking for for my students, this book was definitely not my cup of tea. I read through one chapter but the style was so disjointed and lacked detail I could not bring myself to read any further. Did not finish.

When I originally requested this, I was not aware it was written by someone so young! Color me impressed because I love the cover and the title is intriguing as well.

Before I even touch on the book I want to say that I absolutely loved to write as a child and I am so incredibly thrilled for Mr. Rode for releasing a whole novel at his age!! It is a great feat and I wish you congratulations on your release!

Now into the nitty gritty…I found it hard to judge this because the author is so young, I’ve never read a book by someone of this age before so it was hard to get used to. It was a light, easy, heartwarming read and the art is a beautiful addition to it.

It has great dialogue and a good pace, the plot is enticing and fun. Overall it is really enjoyable and if I had any kiddos in my life I would happily share it with them!

Thank you for the ARC, NetGalley and Publisher and good luck in your career Mr. Rode!

I want to start by saying awesome job writing a book so young. I am a 5th grade teacher and my students write Sci-fi stories during one of our units. I was interested to see how this story played out. Great use of dialogue and the story progression is definitely there. I'd like to see more character descriptions to better understand their purpose. Overall this was a great 1st book and I know your stories will keep growing. Thank you for sharing your talents!

Edit: I was NOT aware that this was written by an author THIS young. I usually don't look up authors beforehand, but will now, lesson learned. Im very sorry if this came off very harsh at points and I deeply apologize. I will not delete the review as to not delete my mistake.

Okay. This was a lot. I stopped reading at around 15%, but still already have two pages worth of annotations. *THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS*
So first: What is this book about? Leo, the first boy we meet, goes downstairs and after a (very very) quick conversation with his parents, finds out he is accepted at the Element Kingdom School, a school for gifted children. He packs his bags, goes to the school and meets Red - another student at the Element Kingdom. Together, they go out and go on adventures together.
Let's start out with the things I liked, and these were the illustrations. But that unfortunately was about it. Lets get to the hard part.
I am baffled that this is categorized as middle grade/young adult because the writing and its level definitely is not appropriate for that age, but I dont know if this was just accidentally miscategorized. For my review, I will stay with the categorization of MG/YA. The writing is very simplistic, things around the character are only very poorly described and the actions are rushed, like how directly in the beginning Leo is accepted to the school and instantly goes there. There's no description of what kinda world we are in, how Leos family life exactly is, there's not really an introduction into the characters and the world. It lacks a lot of depth and the characters feel really flat. On top of that are the grammar mistakes that appear, like on Page 19 with "They soon figured out the place they had appeared" as one example of this. The sentence beginnings constanly repeat and diversity of language is overall just missing. The biggest problem though, and this is what made me put this down early, are the MASSIVE plot holes, lack of consequences for the characters and missing information. Already beginning with how the boys meet: They bump into eachother, talk two words and Red instantly considers him a friend. No bond, no friendship development. And come on, you know kids. They aren't as easy as that.
Continuing with the boys going on their first adventure, when, even though the year JUST started, in their holidays discover The Tomb of Dark Magic which is said to turn everything evil that comes near it. Leo points to it and says they have to stop it, but why exactly? What threat does the Tomb expose? If everything that goes near it turns evil, why not just ignore it?
Also the kids first school day and overall classes are just straight up skipped and Leo claimed to have learned an Invisibility spell from Mr.Jack. But,,, who is he? I mean, yes, a teacher, but why not introduce him?Why not show the classes the kids went to, to see how theyre developing their powers?
Adventure One alone was so incredibly rushed, the fight scene in the end was described in 5 sentences, and that was it.
The worst thing though, is how the kids dont suffer consequences. Like yes, theyre heroes, but why does no one take them aside and tells them how dangerous their actions are and how naive it is of them to go there without help and barely any experience?
Lastly, The Lord of The Darkness being the Dad, and Leos wand instantly turns to a sword and without second thought he kills him? I mean, it turns out that the Lord of Darkness only POSED as his father, but still. How did Leo just swing is sword right at someone, that has probably been there for him his entire life, has bonded deeply with that person and loves that person dearly? Scenes like this require a LOT more of development and thought process of the characters. And, yes, this time REALLY lastly: Why don't the kids struggle with anything? They seem to get everything by just fine, get hurt there and there, but show no weakness? Why are they flawless with their wands and gauntlets after so little experience? Yes, they are gifted, but somehow they have to learn all these things first, which sadly isnt shown. I might pick this up again and read completely through it, but this is very unlikely. Honestly really disappointed because the premise sounded amazing and promising and the cover is just really gorgeous.

An exciting, and heart warming story of friendship; this book is a super cute, and fun series of adventures involving the magical Leo and Red!
We are introduced to a young Leo and Red when they arrive at a school for gifted children, the Element Kingdom, where they learn that they have been selected to become wizards. The young pair travel across the kingdom to seek out ancient relics, battle against dark magical enemies, to ultimately save the world and eliminate all the evil that spreads across it.
This is not my usual read, as I feel it fits more into the Children's category more than Young Adult, where it was advertised within NetGalley and how I happened to find and request it, but I still enjoyed it regardless and I would definitely recommend this book to families with young children.
The illustrations within the book are absolutely stunning and the writing style is brilliant for such a young author and it definitely appeals to a younger audience.