This story follows Elizabeth and Raya, best friends who learn they have powers they can access from the Heart of the Forest the Faeries. The Queen of the Fae, Serena, allows them to come into the Heart of the forest to learn about their powers and learn to control them. As they grow older and stronger, Elizabeth begins to crave the power she has, and along with the anger she still holds from losing her mother, it causes her to lose control of her power and become an evil entity, Elowyn, who then takes control of the Forest cutting off the Fae from their magic and causing her friends and family to suffer. Now it is up to Raya to help and stop her best friend or bring her back from the darkness.

This is quite an unexpectedly long book for being geared toward a younger audience, so definitely more of an epic fantasy with morals that come into question and that make you really think and even relate to a lot of the characters in the story, especially Elizabeth. This story took quite a twist for me and I didn’t expect a young girl to venture to the “dark side” the way she did, and that drew me in immediately making me wonder where this was going!

Elizabeth and Raya’s story I think can be relatable in that we all have had those friends who were close and have fallen away. Maybe some in a darker way theirs and it’s heartwarming to see how they conquered the evil and found each other again and still supported each other no matter what. It’s a long journey though since there was a lot they had to learn about themselves first to get to that point.

I really d the main female characters. It’s refreshing to read a book with some major female characters that are strong and yet vulnerable, who have insecurities we do, and yet face those insecurities and fears to come out victorious in the end.

There are A LOT of characters and we get to see the POV from quite a few of them, most of them adults which was interesting for me. We get to see how the parents suffer too despite always trying to be brave and strong for the kids.

I would say out of everyone, my favorite character was Witmer or Wit. He gave us the needed humor we needed while going through such a dark and sad story. He was the light shining through the clouds. I don’t appreciate how no one seemed to truly show him any respect, in fact it made me angry how they would treat him and yet, he never allowed it to get to him. He still helped his ungrateful friends. He reminds some of Wit(yes same name) in Brandon Sanderson’s books which is another favorite character of mine!

I will say I enjoy long books, but this one made me feel lost and is primarily why I gave it 3 ?? because first, I still don’t understand why Elizabeth became evil and just stayed there in the forest by the village. I was expecting something Lord of the Rings with this girl deciding to become most powerful and take over the world. But no, she just sat there tormenting her family and friends. It was rather anticlimactic for me. And then there are 4 Parts to the story. And between Part 1 and Part 4, there’s a lot that happens that I think could have been taken out. I guess it was to help us learn about the characters and see their journey through the book, but I got a bit bored(sorry!) but I really did and it made me sad because that first Part started with a bang and then it just fizzled out for me until finally the last Part that was more exciting and started putting everything together.

Overall, it’s a well written story, a dark fantasy about good versus evil, about people who learn who they really are and fight for their friends and family and for what is right, and see that we all may have a bit of darkness in us, but it’s how we conquer and face it that shows we can overcome that darkness. I highly recommend this book! I think a lot would really enjoy this one!

I received a free digital copy to read. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Wayne Walker871 14

Damarion is a man who believes in freedom and refuses to bow down to any of the petty tyrants of Destrier and Arden. His wife Stacia is killed by one of the tyrants, so Damarion, his daughter Elizabeth, his bravest knight Andelyn, her husband Malcom, their daughter Raya, Andelyn’s sorcerer brother Jasper , Damarion’s oldest friend Witmer (Wit), and other go far away into the Sylvan Mountains and found a new, peaceful kingdom called Waverly where they live in harmony with the Faerie and their queen Serena. Damarion is reluctantly chosen as King. Elizabeth has always been close to Raya, who is two years younger. When the two girls discover that they can wield the magic of the forest, neither is prepared for how it will change their lives. They find themselves playing with the elements of earth and sky and toying with the powers of life and death. Elizabeth yields to temptation and becomes the evil witch Elowyn who attacks and enslaves her former friends.

How does Elowyn treat the citizens of Waverly? Is there anything that Raya can do to protect the kingdom? And will Elizabeth ever return to normal, or is she lost forever? The book was written for the author’s fifth grade students and began as a musical for a youth theater group. In his Author’s Note, Jon Midget wrote, “I wanted messages that would resonate with my young performers. I wanted themes that were real, meaningful, and good….And the themes mattered to them. They related to the idea of struggling, of falling short of your hopes, and forgiving those who have hurt others….The novel was written to deal with themes and situations that are relevant to kids as they go through the tween and teenage stages of their lives.” There are several pages of Discussion Questions at the end to help develop these messages, themes, and situations. About halfway through the book, a separate, though loosely connected, plot appears with totally different characters involving generally a group known as the Heralds and specifically two of them, a young man named Jaren and a young woman named Seraph, but it all ties in with the story of Waverly in the last section of the book.

The author told me, “The novel is not explicitly religious or Christian. However, it was written for parents and teens who have grown tired of literature and media filled with content and themes that are destructive. The novel is modeled after classic stories and fairy tales that give us heroes who struggle and themes that invite us to be better than who we are.” In addition he noted, “I have grown frustrated with the frequency I find inappropriate material in novels for kids and teenagers….I also find that many stories geared toward older kids and teens can be embedded with themes that are a bit narcissistic (‘don’t let anyone hold you back,’ ‘be true to yourself’ immediately come to mind). I wanted to have a novel with themes that hearken back to the novels that I grew up loving. This includes sacrifice and loyalty to family.” Catch the Wind is the first of “Three Young Adult Fantasy Novels,” the second and third of which are entitled Dragon Music (or Red Horizons, Crimson Skies), and Children of Pandora, which are patterned after such well-known works as the Chronicles of Narnia, Wrinkle in Time, and Chronicles of Prydain. Spencer Smith2

Although this book is geared towards a younger audience, I still found myself relating to a lot of the characters struggles and motivations. There are so many characters that are fully developed, each facing different challenges and reacting differently to shared challenges. It would have been easy to use surface level characters for a lot of parts, but Jon Midget gave all of the main characters a compelling story arc that got me invested in them. Highly recommend this book for kids, teens, and adults. Nichole61

11 year old son review:
It is really good, but there are some dark parts in it. I highly recommend you read this book. It has lots of adventure and some action too. It’s just a really good book that I actually enjoy very much. And I’m not a big reader. Alyson1,193 2

There is a lot of complexity to this children's fantasy book. It gave me a lot to digest. I appreciated seeing the consequences of letting anger get the best of you and how easy it is to justify your actions.5th-grade fantasy Whitney223

It is a heartwarming book with many lessons, battles, and the plot, dialogue, and scenes are amazing!
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