Rick Riordan Presents, 2021. 336 pages. Fantasy
Riley Oh can't wait to see her sister earn her Gi bracelet and finally be able to cast spells without adult supervision, even though Riley herself has no magic. Then Hattie gets an idea: what if the two of them could cast a spell that would allow Riley to share Hattie's magic? They decide to perform a forbidden incantation from the family's old spell book, but in so doing, they violate the laws of the Godrealm. With Hattie's life hanging in the balance, Riley has to fulfill an impossible task: find the last fallen star. But what even is the star, and how can she find it? Riley finds herself meeting fantastic creatures, collaborating with her worst enemies, and uncovering secrets that challenge everything she has been taught to believe. Now she must decide what it means to be a witch, what it means to be family, and what it really means to belong.
I love the way in which Kim has seamlessly incorporated Korean mythology (about which I know very little) into modern life without info-dumping tons and tons of backstory. She deftly addresses the struggles of immigrants' descendants to connect with their roots while keeping the story entertaining and the plot moving. This work is definitely set up for a sequel (or multiple), of which there are already two published.