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Review: Vanya and the Wild Hunt

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Vanya and the Wild Hunt
By Sangu Mandanna
New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2025. Fiction. 277 pages.

Eleven-year-old Vanya Vallen often feels like an outcast at school because she is different from the other students, for one thing she can hear books talk. One day, Vanya comes home early from school. She discovers her mother fighting a monster called an Old One in their kitchen. Vanya isn't about to run and hide, she jumps in and helps her mother fight off the monster. Now she is learning about a world she never knew existed, where there are secrets she could never have imagined. For her safety, she is sent off to school in Auramere where she discovers an enchanted library, learns about monsters called Old Ones, and is introduced to archwitches and archivists who protect the world from these dangerous monsters. However, even in Auramere, there are dangers. The mysterious and powerful Wild Hunt is on the prowl and it is threatening to destroy the school that Vanya is beginning to love. 

This is the first book in the series, so if you enjoy stories that are fast paced, exciting and filled with magical creatures and monsters, this is the book for you. 

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