Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an EARC of this novel. The free copy did not influence my review.

Tess has lived in a hidden cottage all of her life. She has been taking lessons with her classmates about magic, history, and what they are supposed to do after they go out into the world for the first time. When evil people invade her home, she barely escapes and goes on a journey filled with magic, mystery, and trolls.

This was a good book. I do think that fans of The School for Good and Evil and Harry Potter would enjoy this one. It was very fast paced and entertaining. I do wish that there was a little bit more backstory on all of the characters, but younger readers would not care about this. Overall, an entertaining novel that young readers would enjoy.

Ages 9+

dnf pretty early on

Merlin's last prophecy says there there were two children born from the same line, one good and one evil. Not what they're going to do, but that there is a clear distinction between them - but he doesn't know which is which.

Sooo in the prologue alone we have a wild mash-up of multipe mythologies that annoyed me. Anachronisms, nothing made any sense whatsoever, and I didn't like the writing on top of it. It reminded me a bit - no, a lot - of my fanfic days and of reading stories written by people who just found out they really like telling tales, and had yet to find their own voice, both in terms of ideas and in terms of phrasing.

I feel like I can't even judge the writing of this author yet, because they're so freshly into this that there is no telling where they will wind up in a few hundred thousand words.

I just can tell that there is no way I am going to enjoy this, and if we already have unlogical details in the beginning, and it already annoys me, it would be hard work to read on, so I quit.
The only reason to not quit this would have been that I already dnf-ed books today, but considering the amount of stories in the world and the time I have to consume them, I need to get my priorities straight.

Of course, you could say this might work for the target audience, but it feels both lazy and rude to the children to say they're only children, just put some magic in it and they'll gobble it up.

No recommendations from me.
The arc was provided by the publisher.

Love Love Love this book! And more to the point so did my grandaughter. I like to buy books that we can read together and this one is perfect. It’s a story of a different world, one filled with magic and mystery but it also touches on some themes universal to all young people growing up eg bullying, a fear of not fitting in, friendships gained and lost, and a sense of something bigger than self. But that said its not a book of morals and teachings, absolutely not. It’s a great story and the characters are superb. My grandaughter is already asking when the next book will be published.

The previous reviews pretty much summed up my overall feeling about this book. It meant well and no one would blame the author for trying to ride the successful wave launched by J. K. Rowling. But sadly this novel was too much of a mixture of already existing material to stand out on its own and feel new. I just couldn't click with the universe and was rather annoyed by the choice of character names, a lineup of names reminiscent of a Disney sitcom. Anyway, I gave it a go but it wasn't for me.

This book was cute and fun but otherwise there wasn't a whole lot to it. It definitely feels a little TOO inspired by Harry Potter.

I also honestly wished that Tessa could be a great role model for younger girls reading this who could see her agency and growth but no...and I do truly wish we could stop having the typical "girl group bullies" because it feels so stereotypical and kind of a mark against females in general.

I think younger readers would enjoy this, and like I said from a non-critical stand point it is cute and fun. I also liked the world too, it was interesting.

There is a good appeal to younger readers, it's like the School for Good and Evil but set in Camelot.

Filled with adventure, magic, and secrets. The story takes a while for it to start, there is a lot of building to get there. Tess has the potential to develop and come into her own as the series progresses, but at this stage she felt more of a character filler and the main bully is a blonde named Brittney, I mean really? Cliché much?

At times it is sometimes too similar to other works (School for Good and Evil, Harry Potter etc.) to really appreciate this as something new. The plot can be halted due to some confusing features in the storytelling, events happening without detail or explanation.

A promising new series, but for me just not promising enough to continue. For anyone who loves Arthurian lore, chosen ones, and magical schools.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Greater Path LLC for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I read this book super quickly, it is a good story with well developed characters that worked really well with the story and a good setting. I think children will love the adventure element of it. An enjoyable read.

I found this book to be a bit confusing and more than a bit derivative. That is not to say I disliked it. I did like a lot about it. I just thought it could have been so much better. The plot is similar to other magic-based stories; quite similar, in fact, to the Harry Potter series. It is also difficult to figure out why things are happening, as the backstory is doled out a little at a time. While this might increase the suspense level, it also makes things more confusing than they need to be. While this part of the story is brought to a resolution it is clear there is more to learn about Tess and her companions and their fight. Tess and her friends are interesting characters and I look forward to meeting them again in a sequel. Hopefully, that sequel will avoid some of the problems of this book.

I really enjoyed the originality of this novel and how it merged well with the Arthurian Legends! It had a great pace and the characters were both believable and likeable. I'm excited to read the rest of this series.

Tess and her friends have been raised in a secret location, the Island of Avalon, while they wait for Revealing Day, when they will finally be told their last names and have a chance to meet the families they don't remember being taken from for their protection years ago. Tess has begun seeing visions and feeling a darkness swirling around her at odd times, though, that make her begin to suspect she is slated for darker things. When the school is attacked unexpectedly, though, Tess barely escapes and is taken in by a troll couple who protect her and try to help her fulfill her true destiny. While sections of this story are creative and engaging, I felt that there were areas that were weaker, particularly when it came to the descriptions of the setting. I felt like I was thrown into a story that I was supposed to make sense to me, but without the background knowledge of the world in which it took place so that it could flow. About halfway through, I felt like it starting coming together. I'm not sure that middle grade readers will stick with it that long, though, if they are confused by what is happening. Matthews has some clever ideas and characters, but the gaps in the story foundation might cause a lack of engagement for readers.

Very rarely do I give a book a one star rating. Tess Pendragon is that rare book..

I don't know anyone who doesn't love Arthurian legends and introducing it to kids is always amazing. This book is not the book I would give to kids to do that.

It reads so much like Harry Potter. Or a weak Harry Potter rip off. The setup in the first chapter is so similar. And it's the entire book that's like that. Yes, with a book about a magical school it's going to draw parallels because the series was so big for so long.

So it's up to the author to instill it with their own twists and flavor.

I couldn't wait to get to the end of this book. I just wanted to see Tess grow and have more agency and she doesn't. Things happen to her but she doesn't seem to have any real impact on them.

Also, the first instance we have of conflict among the students, to show that Tess is bullied, are the Golden Witches. Three blond girls who bully Tess.

This put such a sour taste in my mouth. It's 2021! Are we really still doing this?

Then there's the writing that just isn't that great. Is it hard to read? No. Is it nice to read? Unfortunately, not for me. I didn't enjoy it. I didn't enjoy any of it.

I know it's a first book so I'm hoping that with time the author gets more solid footing under their writing. I'd like to give them another chance but this book was a poor showcase for me.

I received this digital arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The story has lots of promise. Characters and background just needs to have more definition. Hoping the next one solves some of the issues. But a good start! Thanks #netgalley and #GreaterPathLLC for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

I so much wanted "Tess Pendragon and the Wand of Avalon" to be exciting, attention grabbing and giving the readers a fresh new fantasy world in which to lose themselves. Unfortunately, it is a mash up of Arthurian legends, Harry Potter, Wings of Fire and the Mists of Avalon; as such it does not succeed. Character development, especially for the LeFay daughter is sadly lacking and the "housemates" sudden change of heart towards Tess after "Revealing Day" just doesn't ring true. The old trope of "princess in hiding" has been done many times before as has the kindly old wizard/teacher. I was looking forward to this series but found that the story line and characters were all ones I had read before. Disappointing.

This was a fun, mystical and adventurous Middle Grade story that felt like a fairy tale and real life at the same time. I especially loved the relationships in this one... great stuff here.

This book was an amazing, fast passed, fantasy story. I loved the plot line, and all the characters. Though, some things were left unexplained, so I am looking forward to reading the next book. The cover, title, and description drew me in, but it was the actual story that kept me interested. The only things I disliked was that a lot of the portals and main events happened withought explanation. Such as, how did Tess not realize that she was a princess, and why wasn’t she told this if her arrival was looked forward to so much? Also, the first part of the story seemed a bit unnecessary because that wasn’t mentioned much later in the book. It seemed like that part was only there so the book would be longer. Connor and his girlfriend trying to get Tess to help do evil wasn’t even much of the main plot lines so it didn’t seem necessary. Overall, it was a great book that I enjoyed reading, and I look forward to the sequel.

Honestly, I'm not sure I really enjoyed reading this book, BUT I would be willing to read the next one to see whether some of the issues I had will resolve themselves.

I guess at some point, every Magic School book is going to feel inspired by Harry Potter...but so much of this feels a little TOO obviously Harry Potter. This author has created a very detailed world, and I would really love to see what else is in it that ISN'T an obvious HP-ism.

Tess herself is not an especially active protagonist, and it would be nice to see her gain some agency in her next adventure. Her first encounter of the day is getting bullied by a trio of stereotypically rude pretty blonde girls, in a move that feels a little tired for 2021, and from there it's a lot of the adults guiding her life rather than make her own decisions. If it's going to be her book, I feel she deserves a little more of her own personality and power as a main character.

Again, when the sequel comes out, I will probably read it; there's a lot here that I find interesting, namely the take on Arthurian lore. This is a fairly uneven debut to what COULD be a really cool series--if the story, and its heroine, can step out of the shadow of the Boy Who Lived and trust its own originality.

The world of Tess is very fascinating especially how it connects to Merlin. The child (even the adult) in me loves the world of magic and dragons so I think that a lot of young readers will enjoy this.

However, the story would have been better for me if Tess went about her quest with more of her friends instead of adults. Of course, she is still young and definitely would need adults to guide her but that’s it, the adults should just be guides. At the beginning of the story, a lot of kids her age were introduced and I kind of hoped that those same kids were the ones who went on the adventure with her. They would discover their strengths and create bonds that would help them thru every obstacles.

On the other hand, I liked how Tess’s story is slowly being revealed. I loved her journey in rediscovering her heritage. And like most of us, I like seeing a worm become a butterfly and Tess here definitely came out as a butterfly, after being bullied in school and later finding out that she is a Pendragon.

I also like the connection of Tess with the antagonist. It’s intriguing how they are linked as “twins” in the story. I look forward to discovering more about their powers and how both will reign over the magical realm.

Overall, I love this book and I believe that this is a good start to a great series. I can’t wait to read the sequel.

Disclaimer: I received an advanced reader copy for review.

KR Matthews creates a fabulous world that every kid will want to live in.
I think that Matthews really had a clear vision for the world and they people in it. With goblins and trolls and pegasus. This world goes beyond the average and I think that young readers will want to explore the world in the same way that I as a child wanted to explore the world of Harry Potter.

Unfortunately I think that more time should have been spent towards the characterization of Tess. Tess seemed to just rely on everyone else, without any initiative of her own. That's fine for the beginning of the story, but I wanted to see her grow throughout. Instead we get her being led by the hands of the adults around her. They all tell her where she needs to go and what she needs to do. We see a peak of that in the beginning with Brittany, but once the adventure starts in earnest, any drive goes away.

I also think the story could have started sooner. There were so many characters that got a lot of page time, but didn't really have much to do with the actual plot of the book.
The Wand of Avalon felt shoehorned in which is strange given the title. We don't really learn about it until the last 75% of the book and it feels like it should be driving the plot a lot more.

I think that a lot of this book was setting up the world and supporting characters, but I wanted more of Tess actually trying to be something, I wanted more leadership from her, and I definitely wanted her to have a stronger goal.

I didn't like the way that it seemed to make crushes a thing. The characters are 11-12. It feels a little uncomfortable, That goes into what I think could solve a lot of the issues I have with the book.
Tess feels too young. I think if Tess was even just a few years older, the author could have done more with her. It feels like Matthews really wanted to show that Tess was young and unsure, but it went to the extreme. I think if Tess was 13 or 14 it would allow for her to take more initiative without the adults around her stopping her because she is a small child. It seemed like Matthews was teasing some sort of romance with Triston, and that feels off for a preteen character.

On a more positive note I think that the character of Triston has a lot of potential and can be a great mover of the plot, as well as someone who Tess can rely on without it feeling like an adult is handling her problems. She and Triston can work together. I hope that in future books Tess can have more of her peers surrounding her. Yes she needs adults to guide her, but they need to be just that, a guide.

The connection to the dragon girl is intriguing and I think that young readers will be stunned by it. I have my complains about it, but generally I think it was well done..

I really liked this neat take on the world of King Arthur and of course our protagonist in this world Tess. I think this series has the potential to be the next Magic Treehouse or Narnia. This is absolutely a book that I will be purchasing to keep on my shelves for 5th and 6th grade students. I can't wait to watch students pretending to be Tess Pendragon at recess. With a world so well developed, I know that every student who reads it will want to imagine themselves adventuring through it.

First few things I knew about this book? Sci fi fantasy, Harry Potter meets the school of good and evil. Is there anything I needed more? Absolutely not! This was stunning. I love books set in magical schools so again this was the perfect set up for me. For one, when I found out that this book would involve magical dragons and they were the children of merlin, I couldn’t pass by the offer to read. So I did! Tess was a phenomenal character. Characters who have magical powers are always appealing to children which is why tess was such a wonderful character to read about. I think it’s important for children to feel safe when reading books and I couldn’t have found anything more comforting, even as an adult, to read about these children and their journeys. I would surely allow children around me to read this book and it would 100% be something I gift in the near future. What a delight to read about. A+ on the dragons also! 5 out of 5 stars I cannot wait for this authors other works!