The Unfortunate Wish of Melony Yoshimura & The Last Hope in Hopetown [MG Reviews]

Recently, I read two middle grade books back to back which rekindled my excitement of the genre. Both felt like fresh new creative stories – different from anything I’ve read before. Middle grade has only just started fluorishing in the past 10 years. There are so many diverse stories waiting to be told! And I don’t even mean diverse in terms of “the characters have different identities”! I mean it in a super broad story narrative sense!

Okay, I will try to elaborate. The Last Hope in Hopetown is about a girl who lives in a town where the supernatural is normal – her adoptive moms are vampires and her best friend is a ghost – when vampires start going rogue, including her mom. The Very Unfortunate Wish of Melony Yoshimura sounds like a more traditional middle grade story at first (although second gen stories of this type are relatively new in middle grade) – girl rebels against her overprotective parents – but there’s a refreshing twist that I won’t give away here, which even I didn’t see coming. Of course, the fact that Melony is Japanese American and Sophie is adopted by two women makes these stories unique. But I think where each book really shines and stands out is their unique plots.

I found the start of Melony a bit slow going, but once Melony befriends Chloë, things pick up pace. The tension picks up as well. The Amanjaku is a nasty piece of work. I love a supernatural creature that appears to befriend a woebegotten MC but then turns out to be quite sinister. Another highlight of this book for me was the realistic behaviour of a 12 year old progtagonist. There were a few points in the story where I noted “lol, that is such as a 12yo thing to do”. This is actually an uncommon thought for me when I read MG. Either I don’t put any thought towards the characters’ age, or if I do, I think they’re acting too young or too old. It feels rare for me to encounter a ‘Goldilocks’ MG protagonist, who feels just right for her age. In particular, the progression of Melony’s thoughts of jealousy and how she has to push back against that is a great topic to explore for this age bracket.

“Ha HA ha haha HA… HA hahahaha…” My friend’s laughter bounced off the trees and echoed all around. A chill crept over me, and it wasn’t just the type of cold that grew more intense when the sun went down – it was a prickling sensation that caused all the hairs on the back of my neck to rise.

The Very Unfortunate Wish of Melony Yoshimura, 23%

My main recollection of Hopetown was that it is fast paced and engaging without sacrificing character. The plot actually wasn’t too special (I think the villain was extremely cookie cutter) but I really loved the primary conflict being that the main character’s own mother has gone rogue, and the family has to hide her so that she doesn’t get taken away. What a scary scenario. And of course we know I love middle grade where caregivers have a significant role!

The Bottom Line 💭

If you’re looking for contemporary middle grade with a supernatural twist, both The Very Unfortunate Wish of Melony Yoshimura and The Last Hope in Hopetown are engaging reads offering fresh stories that can even be appreciated by those who have grown weary of the genre.

Do you have a favourite book about vampires?
What about other middle grade books based in folklore?