BBNYA 2022 Winner Tour: Toby and the Silver Blood Witches by Sally Doherty

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Hello, reader!

As BBNYA 2023 starts off, it’s finally time to sing the praises of our winner from 2022, Toby and the Silver Blood Witches by Sally Doherty! I didn’t get to read this book as a panelist, so I was eager to join in on this tour and get my chance! I love that a middle grade novel won last year’s competition and, having read it, I can certainly see why.

But, before I go on, let me tell you more about this award. BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 finalists and one overall winner.  If you are an author and wish to learn more about the BBNYA competition, you can visit the official website http://www.bbnya.com or Twitter @bbnya_official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the @Foliosociety (if you love beautiful books, you NEED to check out their website!) and the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.

And, now, let’s talk about this book!

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A sinister plot. A hidden city in the sky. A boy with an impossible choice.

Twelve year old Toby has little time for friends or football since his mum fell ill. All he wants is to stay at home and keep an eye on her.

But mysterious things are happening beyond his garden hedge. Who is the figure at the window behind the barbed wire fence? And why is there a strange woman in his attic with a broken broom and bothersome pet bat?

Toby becomes entangled in an adventure of flying dogs, sparking hiccups and dangerous escapes. An innocent, young witch has been captured by a secretive organization which will stop at nothing to find out how magic works. Toby must rescue her and time is running out.

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Author Links

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Sally Doherty lives in leafy Surrey with her husband and three-legged (but speedy) rescue dog. After studying French and German at university, she worked for a year in London before unexpectedly falling ill with M.E. Being stuck at home and often in bed for sixteen years, however, has lit a cauldron of stories bubbling inside her imagination.

Sally’s debut book and the first in a trilogy, TOBY AND THE SILVER BLOOD WITCHES, was a finalist for The Wishing Shelf Awards 2021 and shortlisted for both The Selfies and The Rubery Book Awards 2022.

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Thank you to BBNYA, The Write Reads, and the author for providing me with a free e-book in exchange for an honest review! All opinions contained within are my own.

For the past couple of years, I’ve been getting back into reading middle grade. Sometimes, I just need some whimsy in my life and it has the added bonus of finding books for my 9 year old son. That was part of the reason why I was so excited to learn who won the 2022 BBNYA competition! I feel like a lot of people sleep on middle grade, but it can be such a fun age group to read while also imparting great information and tackling important topics. Toby and the Silver Blood Witches certainly accomplishes all of that in this start to the series.

In the novel, we follow a young man named Toby. Toby is just like any other kid in his class except for one large difference. His mom has a chronic illness that leaves Toby in charge of taking care of her and their household. Toby tries not to let it get to him, shoving all the things that used to fill his life to the side to do what he feels he needs to do. Then, one day, a witch tumbles into his life and his world is changed forever.

This book was a great mixture of what I love in middle grade stories. It had a lot of whimsy, but also incorporated important messages about chronic illness and the effect it can have on not only the sufferer, but their loved ones. There were several moments in this story where I felt so much empathy for both Toby’s mom, who suffers from M.E., and Toby, who has the weight of so much responsibility dropped on his young shoulders. I can’t truly know what it’s like to live with chronic fatigue or to be a young child with a parent who has it, but this book does an incredible job of giving an unbiased glimpse into their world. It truly touched my heart and made me want to learn more about the disease (bonus: there are links at the end of the book to learn more!).

But let us not forget about the magic and whimsy that is suffused throughout this story! I absolutely adored the authors descriptions of the witches and their home. The trio that end up working with Toby and such a delight, from Bumble who is a walking disaster, to Willow, who has a great head on her shoulders. I enjoyed getting to know more about their magic and their world and how it tied into lore from our own. If I could visit Little Witchery, I absolutely would! There were some things, though, that I would have loved a little more information on. Like why the male witches have to live somewhere else and, for that matter, where are they? But, this is the first book to a series, so there’s plenty of time for those questions to be answered.

I also enjoyed getting to know Toby as a character. He had so much going on in his life and it was interesting to watch his growth throughout the novel. Had to roll my eyes when he was suddenly onboard with the rescue mission after seeing a picture of the potential rescuee, haha. Hormones, amiright? Still, moments like that reminded you just how young Toby is and how much he’s had to struggle with on his own. He’s a beautifully nuanced character who truly brought the heart to this story.

Overall, I had a great time with this middle grade fantasy. There were some things that I wished had more explanation, but, for the most part, I was engrossed in this story from start to finish. Again, I can definitely see why this beat out some tough competition to take the top prize for BBNYA 2022!

Star rating: