Book Review: Myracles in the Void

Myracles in the Void by Wes Dyson is a YA fantasy book that came out this past spring. I was sent an arc back then and as is often the case I just got to it on my tbr.

Myracles in the Void follows a brother and sister, Gai and Lynd, who live on a sort of floating island called Hop made up of floating wood, scraps, and garbage. They live with their mother and no one is particularly happy there since they’re in the middle of the water, no one trades with them anymore so they seem to be forgotten, they’re hungry, and everything is always wet. Gai and Lynd’s father disappeared on a ship with their uncle 5 years ago, also. They want nothing more than to get off Hop and to see their father again.

In this world they live in there are people with magic. They can either create or destroy. If they have a blue light inside that means they have Elix and can create things. People see them as good. If they have a red light inside that means they have Ruin and destroy things. They are seen as bad. Lynd has ruin and Gai has Elix, but both don’t realize the extent of what that means and they keep their abilities as quiet as possible, although Lynd sometimes can’t control hers when she is feeling upset. If people with Ruin get too out of control they can eventually become Voids.

After a night sneaking around outside, Gai and Lynd are separated. We follow Gai as he leaves Hop to search for his sister. And we follow Lynd as she figures out where she’s been transported to. Both have to figure out how to survive and save the world before it is destroyed by Voids and the fight between Elix and Ruin.

The world building in the book was really interesting and creative. I really liked the characters and grew attached to a few of them. Some of it was a little confusing or maybe not developed in a way that helped it be clearer, if that makes sense (I don’t want to give any spoilers). The book is over 300 pages and it had this weird quality of being too long and too short at the same time. Like, I felt that there wasn’t enough information at parts and then at the same time I felt like in 300+ pages how was there not more happening.

I loved the overall lesson that we define ourselves. It doesn’t matter if we have blue or red (Elix or Ruin) – that shouldn’t define or label someone. It’s what we think about ourselves.

Overall, I liked the book and if it becomes a series I’d be really interested to see what happens and maybe more of the storyline will get fleshed out and we’ll learn a lot more about that world.