I just didn't get this one, personally. It was disjointed and repetitive in a way that suggested the style mattered more than the story. This approach has its fans, I know, but I am not one of them. The narrator is supposed to be ten, but seemed far younger than ten throughout most of the book which, given the nature of the narration, I wasn't sure if I was supposed to take as a symptom of Gilly's difficulty understanding and processing her father's absence or if it was just an aspect of her character that I found unappealing. No doubt this book will find its readers, but cannot claim to be among them.

I understand this is book based on a 10year old however I lost interest in it several times. I did finish it and I'm not sure if I am glad I did? You follow Gilly and her bestie Oggy to find her dad. She does end up making it through the forest to where her dad is. It was a "fun" adventure for her however like I said I lost interest so it wasn't all that fun for me.

In a Nutshell: A lyrical and imaginative teen fiction about a girl looking for answers and finding none. Charming in its tone and subtly impactful in its themes. Aimed at middle-graders, but I feel this book will work better for older readers as several points are only hinted at without outright explanations.

Plot Preview:
Ten-year-old Gilly loves to write her deepest feelings and fears in her diary, which she hopes to publish someday. In its pages, she reveals her longing for her dad, who has left her mom to live on the other side of the forest. Gilly mainly has her mom and her best friend Oggy for company. But she also loves Orti, her beloved tangerine tree, under whose shade she has spent many a happy hour. Gilly wants to go and find her dad with the help of Oggy. But is it easy to traverse a forest you have never ventured across before?
The story comes to us in Gilly’s first-person perspective through her diary entries.

Bookish Yays:
🍊 Gilly – a lovely lead character and convincing as a child, with her wacky and wild imagination and optimistic personality even in the face of sadness. I love her love for nature and writing.
🍊 Oggy, Gilly’s best friend who is somewhat contrary to her in personality. Their friendship has its ups and downs, but their bond is always visible.
🍊 The ode to nature and its beauty throughout the writing, especially in the content connected to the tangerine tree and the special animal that only Gilly can see: the yanaka.
🍊 The titular tangerines, used literally as well as symbolically in the plot. Loved the metaphors connected to the fruit.
🍊 The diary reads just like an actual personal diary would, being full of Gilly’s thoughts, introspections, hopes, fears, wishes, prayers and even descriptions of things around her. I love it when content matches its declared format.
🍊 So many beautiful thoughts and lines! Quite thought-provoking, though they might be appreciated by adult readers better, Sample this: "Dreams are a bit like dandelion seeds--they float around and sometimes land where they are not meant to. And instead of getting your own dream, you might get someone else's."
🍊 The acknowledgments section, which comes from Gilly and not the author. Excellent, quirky, and heartfelt.

Bookish Mixed Bags:
🍓 Quite a few serious and relevant themes, touching upon tougher topics such as feelings of parental abandonment and mental health issues. However, as we hear only from Gilly’s first-person POV, our knowledge is limited. We only know what she thinks and imagines, not the actual facts. As an adult, I could read some things between the lines, but I am not sure if children will be able to understand what’s actually happening.
🍓 The luscious writing is a treat for prose lovers, but plot lovers might feel a bit frustrated. The storyline is minimal, with more focus on Gilly’s ramblings than on taking the story ahead.
🍓 The randomness of the narrative might not work for everyone. Gilly jumps from topic to topic just like typical kids do, making her diary entries feel almost like stream-of-consciousness writing. In her own words, "My thoughts don't go straight. They hop around, stop, and fly off again, like birds on Orti." Processing her meanderings takes effort, especially as her reveals aren’t linear. It helps that her thoughts are quite interesting.
🍓 The cover art – very pretty, but I have a feeling it is AI-generated. (I have a no-AI policy towards content and illustrations.) The book inside does mention a credit for “cover design”, but I am not sure if this refers to someone feeding prompts into Generative AI for the resultant art. I will delete this point if someone from the official team can confirm that no AI was used for this cover.

Bookish Nays:
🍄 Personal preference: Some of the content was a bit red-flag for me, especially considering the target age. Like, talking about eating mushrooms from the forest and the resultant "dreaming" – a risky idea to put across in a MG book. Further, Gilly often mentions her future wedding plans with Oggy. I am never a fan of middle-grade books that keep talking of “romance”, though there are kids who might think similarly and might be open to such content.
🍄 The adults in this book are really frustrating. There’s plenty of miscommunication, all in the name of protecting the child. As an adult myself, I found all of them irritating and their reasons, ridiculous.
🍄 The ending left too many things unanswered. The main objective of the book – Gilly’s wish to reunite with her dad – is also not handled satisfactorily. This would have been a great ending for adult literary fiction, but in a children’s book, I expect better closure.

All in all, this indie novel is for those who enjoy the journey without bothering about the destination. It has lovely prose, but with the abundance of random musings, the lack of focus on the actual journey across the forest, and the unexplained plot points, I'm not sure if it would work well for children.
The protagonist Gilly is ten, hence a middle-grader. Amazon pegs this book for ages 13-18. NetGalley tags it for middle-graders and teens. However, the writing style and the plot structure make this a slightly unusual option for younger kids. I think it would be a much better book for older YAs and adult readers who wouldn’t mind reading stories written from a ten-year-old child’s perspective.
Recommended to readers who enjoy poetic writing and care more about the route than the terminus.
3.25 stars. (I would have rated this higher – say about 4 stars – if I looked at the content from an adult reader’s perspective. But I genuinely don’t know if this type of writing works well for children. I hope it does.)

My thanks to Brave Fawn Books for providing the DRC and ALC of “Tangerines” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

The digital version of this book is currently available on Kindle Unlimited.

Gilly is ten-years-old with one best friend, Oggy, and lives in a forest. Her Dad resides on the other side of it and she is determined to rescue him and return to his side. Oggy is the creator of spells whilst she is the master of stories and together they hatch a plan to reunite Gilly with her Dad.

I was initially drawn to this book due to the gorgeous cover art and alluring title. I was pleased to see the story inside was just as whimsical in its creation. I adored Gilly and Oggy and loved seeing their world through their young eyes.

Middle grade fiction forever has my heart and this book was no exception. From the very first page it exuded such raw and honest emotion, which stemmed from the protagonist's inability to be anything but totally and authentically herself. It was a refreshing read, but also one full of heartache and uncertainty. I thought Jolles penned this expertly, as though from the pen of someone actually in this age range.

Having just finished the book moments ago, I found it both hopeful and heartbreaking at the same time. I saw so much of my younger self in Gilly that by the time the ending came around I felt clobbered by how it mirrored my own life.

There is a touch of whimsy to this story. Told in snapshot moments, it fleets from thought to thought like an ADHD kid without their Vyvanse. Her entire world revolves around her mom, her bff, his parents, and a handful of others. And there is an intense undercurrent of longing for her dad who left for unknown reasons. I spent a massive chunk thinking we were in a magical world only to be smashed back to reality by mentions of televisions and Stephen King.

Now Gilly presents as perfectly well adjusted. She plays, has fun, enjoys mom’s cards night, going to eat with her mom, writing, but mostly, chilling in her tangerine tree. She and her bff, Oggy, make names up for trees and animals. Between the two of them they make spells and prayers and hatch a plan to get back Gilly’s dad.

Here’s the thing, at the tender age of ten, the adults in her life have deemed to keep Gilly in the dark about a lot. And a lot of the hurt in this book could have been eliminated by simply talking to Gilly and telling her what’s going on. It really annoys me, personally, when adults use age as a reason to avoid difficult conversations.

As a kid who grew up with a bipolar dad who was in and out of hospitals, who attempted suicide multiple times and used harmful substances to self-medicate when the medication didn’t work - no one talked to me. No one told me what was going on. I grew up to be highly anxious, depressed on/off, and spent a lot of my childhood/teens/adulthood thinking it was my fault.

Not speaking to kids to “protect them” actually does the opposite. Which is why the whole last part I was so invested in the story..

While I would have liked to have seen Gilly’s mom’s reaction to her turning up after a night traversing the forest, I was content where it left off. Perhaps we will get a coda to Gilly & Oggy’s story when they’re all grown up…

— 2.5 ✷


I don't particularly have anything to say.


I loved the cover and thought the book was going to give childlike wonder and whimsy, based on the synopsis, but I didn't. Something just felt off and I couldn't connect with the magic the story supposedly had. Sometimes the tone felt machine-like, sometimes like ramblings.

It was told episodically, in sort-of vignettes, and I didn't mind it.

At the same time, nothing was inherently bad about it to the point of making me abhor the book, so I didn't lower the rating to 2 stars.


Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was first drawn to this book by its gorgeous cover but the writing proved to be just as captivating.

Tangerine’s by Tvsi Jolles takes you into the mind of a 10 year old girl named Gilly. The way the story is written in prose feels so authentic to the narrator’s young age. She’s telling a story but her thoughts are innocent and scattered just like a young mind. You really start to forget this book isn’t actually written by a child.

In this story Gilly and her best friend Oggy take you on an adventure through the forest to find her father on the other side. Not all is as it seems. Seeing the world through Gilly’s eyes almost gives you a sense of nostalgia and reminds you what it was like to think like a child. This book might be children’s literature but it is a fantastic read for all ages. Though the story itself may be simple, it still has complex themes and gives an interesting childlike outlook on adult dynamics. In this book you will find themes of love, loss, grief, family and friendship. Don’t let the size of this book fool you, it may only be 180 pages but it is packed full of heart and soul.

There are so many quotes I wanted to annotate while reading and listening to this book.

“When scared and hopeful meet in the woods at night, they have a sword fight. Only scared has an actual sword, but for hopeful to win, it just needs to believe it's holding a sword-one twice as sharp, three times as long, and five times as dangerous.”

I read this book in tandem with the audio and truly you cannot go wrong with either. The book will have you wanting to highlight every other sentence. The narrator’s voice for the audio was so calming and perfect for this story being told by a 10 year old girl.

I unfortunately felt like this skipped around a lot to the point I couldn’t get into it at all. However, I do see my young cousins enjoying this book!

Reading Tangerines by Tsvi Jolles was a joy. A sweet, tender story about a 10 trying her best. My thanks to NetGalley

his book is the diary of Gilly, a 10-year-old girl.
In the diary she recounts her personal events and the plan, devised with her best friend Oggy, to go to Mississippi where Gilly's dad is staying.
Gilly names everything; the tangerine tree in her garden is called Orti and it is a special tree because it is full of hearts carved into its bark by Gilly herself. Oggy, on the other hand, is a neologist, making up incredible words and having an answer for everything, more or less.
On their journey to Mississippi's home Gilly and Oggy meet a yanaka and a monkey.
A very nice book with the point of view of two children in adult dynamics. The interaction between Gilly and Oggy is very very nice.
The story has everything: it is beautiful, it is funny but also sad, it is simple but also has complex themes.
I hope they will translate it into many languages, it is worth it.
Highly recommended!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book was a beautifully written and deeply engaging read. The storytelling was rich and immersive, pulling me into the characters’ lives and emotions. It had a quiet intensity that lingered long after I finished. A thought-provoking and memorable book that I truly enjoyed!

I appreciate NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Tangerines is a very cute and charming children’s book that completely exceeded my expectations. The story follows a ten-year-old girl named Gilly and her best friend, Oggy, as they go on adventures together. At first, I expected this to be a lighthearted and funny read aimed at kids, but I was surprised by how much depth it had. While the book is imaginative and intelligently told, it also carries a meaningful message that stuck with me long after I finished reading.

One of the standout aspects of this book is its prose. Tsvi Jolles does an excellent job capturing the voice and mindset of a ten-year-old, making Gilly feel incredibly authentic. The writing style is interesting and kept me engaged throughout the story, adding to its charm and uniqueness.

It was a delightful and worthwhile book. It’s a quick, engaging story that offers a fun yet meaningful experience, and I’ll definitely be checking out more of Jolles’ work in the future.

I listened to the audiobook while following along on my kindle. From chapter thirty, what i was listening to didn't match up to what i was reading, so eventually i decided to stick to listening since i loved the voice of the narrator so much. The cover is beautiful and the story was good as well. When i get the chance I'll surely purchase it for myself. I found Oggy to be kind of a jerk, but at the same time he was just like kids in real life, with the thought of 'knowing everything' and having random believes. I wish I had a childhood in a forest as well. The audiobook was 3 hours, so I finished in a day.

Wow, this was such a lovely, lyrical story following ten-year-old Gilly through her journal entries. These entries are filled with so much curiosity, and they truly made me feel like I was following the thoughts of a ten-year-old girl as she processes the world and her experiences through her writing. There were moments when the pacing of the story felt a little slow, but I was still intrigued to see where Gilly's journey would go.
Overall, I highly recommend this middle grade story!

Tangerines by Tsvi Jolles is a masterpiece! I loved the experience of reading it. I gave it 5 stars because I couldn't give it more. I totally recommend everyone to read this book as fast as they can because it's really good and the characters are fantastic.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me an e-ARC.

"Beautiful things should stand out on their own"

This book is a lovely story of a girl named Gilly who's on a journey with her friend Oggy to find her father as they venture through the forest. She meets friends along the way - and renames them multiple times.

"Tangerines" perfectly captures the mind of a young child. I've felt a range of emotions as Gilly narrated her story. I love her relationship with Oggy, and how trusting she is towards him. Oggy is my favorite character in this book that he made me laugh. A few times. He was also unpredictable with a wide range of imagination which made it so fun to read.

I read this in one seating and I would recommend it to anyone. It was such a great read.

This is a cute book about a little girl named Gilly. She goes on a journey through the forest with her friend Oggy. This book deals with emotions, friendships, and family dynamics, but I think it would be a good read for older children.

This is a gorgeous little story that I enjoyed reading alongside the audiobook.

The writing is somewhat poetic and easy to follow. The plot was quite meandering but I didn't mind too much as it made for a relaxing read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC