Today I am joining the blog tour for The Legendary Mo Seto by A. Y. Chan.

I have previously joined two other blog tours for this brilliant book. For the first tour I reviewed the book and for the second tour I was lucky enough to have been able to interviewe A. Y. Chan about the writing of The Legendary Mo Seto and her inspiration.

To see this interview take a look at: Blog Tour Two – The Legendary Mo Seto.

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Here is a copy of my review:

Title: The Legendary Mo Seto

Written by: A. Y. Chan

Cover illustrated by: Amber Ren

Published by: Aladdin / Simon & Schuster

The Legendary Mo Seto, is a well-paced adventure with plenty of dynamic action scenes that kept me turning the pages. One of my favourite scenes was when Mo loses focus during the tournament at the beginning of the book as her dad left in the middle of her fight. This scene was a great example of showing rather than telling the protagonist’s character.

The character arc has been artfully crafted in the way she learns to accept and even ‘love’ her short stature. It is believable and I would personally like to see Xiaoxi Fu in action. I hope it is as cool to watch as Martha’s dance fighting in the Jamanji (2017).

Written in first-person we are able to immediately identify with Mo from her love of Taekwondo to her hang-ups about her height. She is a fully-rounded character with a whole list of flaws, some of which I wish she’d learnt the hard-way that dishonesty does not pay. I enjoyed the friendship between Nacho and Mo but after it was pointed out to her how handsome he was, it made me cringe slightly that she started developing feelings for him. I would rather she felt jealousy about others showing an interest in her friends than start liking him more than a friend. Even so, the reader is able to empathise with Mo and appreciate her courage and loyalty. She most definitely has a stubborn determination to admire.

I also enjoyed the movie scenes with the vivid descriptions that immediately conjured up a realistic image of life on a movie set. It was good that the book highlighted the stress and drama behind the scenes as well as the gloss and glamour captured by the camera. The mystery around her father and what had happened to him was intriguing.

A great, excellently written middle-grade mystery with themes of identity and finding the best in yourself. Would be suitable for Key Stage Two and Three readers.

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To see the original post take a look at: Blog Tour – The Legendary Mo Seto by A. Y. Chan.

I would like to thank Dave at The Write Reads for inviting me on this tour. Thank you.