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Rialto
A standalone mystery from a New York Times bestselling, Edgar Award-winning author set in a contemporary world tinged with magic, in which two sisters spend summer vacation in a small town in the shadows of abandoned amusement park that is not what it seems.
Ivy and Dahlia Vicar know this summer’s trip to visit friends in Rialto, Missouri, is going to be different from their usual family vacations.
Twelve-year-old Dahlia, an artist who lives with anxiety, is looking forward to something new. Rialto, after all, has its own abandoned theme park! But mystery-loving, fourteen-year-old Ivy is struggling with how to be the right kind of big sister to Dahlia, and longs for the way things—especially vacations—were when they were younger.
In Rialto, it quickly becomes clear that this vacation will also be different in totally unexpected ways. For one thing, the town stands in the middle of an improbable forest that, according to local legend, swallowed it overnight decades before. Then there are Dahlia’s even more improbable sightings of impossible creatures—a giraffe with antlers and a leopard with wings. And there’s their new friend Remy, whose family inherited the house they’re all staying in from an aunt who left bequests for local friends that Remy must personally distribute.
When he enlists Ivy and Dahlia to help deliver these gifts, they find themselves drawn into a mystery going back to the time when Rialto Park was still open. And it begins to seem that, if they are going to help Remy solve it, they will have to find a way to believe in magic.
Ivy and Dahlia Vicar know this summer’s trip to visit friends in Rialto, Missouri, is going to be different from their usual family vacations.
Twelve-year-old Dahlia, an artist who lives with anxiety, is looking forward to something new. Rialto, after all, has its own abandoned theme park! But mystery-loving, fourteen-year-old Ivy is struggling with how to be the right kind of big sister to Dahlia, and longs for the way things—especially vacations—were when they were younger.
In Rialto, it quickly becomes clear that this vacation will also be different in totally unexpected ways. For one thing, the town stands in the middle of an improbable forest that, according to local legend, swallowed it overnight decades before. Then there are Dahlia’s even more improbable sightings of impossible creatures—a giraffe with antlers and a leopard with wings. And there’s their new friend Remy, whose family inherited the house they’re all staying in from an aunt who left bequests for local friends that Remy must personally distribute.
When he enlists Ivy and Dahlia to help deliver these gifts, they find themselves drawn into a mystery going back to the time when Rialto Park was still open. And it begins to seem that, if they are going to help Remy solve it, they will have to find a way to believe in magic.
480 pages, Hardcover
First published April 14, 2026
About the author
Kate Milford
16 books1,159 followersKate is the author of THE THIEF KNOT, GREENGLASS HOUSE, GHOSTS OF GREENGLASS HOUSE, BLUECROWNE, THE LEFT-HANDED FATE, THE BONESHAKER, THE BROKEN LANDS, THE KAIROS MECHANISM, and the forthcoming THE RACONTEUR'S COMMONPLACE BOOK (February 2021).
Originally from Annapolis, MD, Kate now lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband Nathan and son Griffin and their dogs, Ed and Sprocket. She has written for stage and screen and is a frequent travel columnist for the Nagspeake Board of Tourism and Culture (www.nagspeake.com).
Originally from Annapolis, MD, Kate now lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband Nathan and son Griffin and their dogs, Ed and Sprocket. She has written for stage and screen and is a frequent travel columnist for the Nagspeake Board of Tourism and Culture (www.nagspeake.com).
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April 22, 2025i need this
update: KATE PLEASE I NEED THIS
update, again: KATE I’M BEGGING YOU
update, somehow, again: my sanity is unraveling
update, once more: it’s been years since i’ve had a new roaming world book and i’m losing my mind
update: KATE PLEASE I NEED THIS
update, again: KATE I’M BEGGING YOU
update, somehow, again: my sanity is unraveling
update, once more: it’s been years since i’ve had a new roaming world book and i’m losing my mind
April 16, 2026
**My thanks to HarperCollins Children’s Books for providing me with an advanced review copy via NetGalley**
5 stars
This is an excellent middle-grade fantasy novel that I would recommend to young readers and adults alike. There’s a marvelous sense of wonder in every page of the novel as the trio of protagonists explore the town of Rialto, the house in which they’re staying, and the familial relationships of the fantastic people they encounter.
Rialto is a small midwestern town that was swallowed up by woodland sometime in the eighties; the woods have grown so thick that the town’s beloved, possibly magical amusement park is now entirely inaccessible through the trees. Never mind that such sudden and dense growth is botanically impossible, that’s the reality that siblings Ivy and Dahlia encounter when they and their parents drive down to stay with family friends and their son Remy, who have recently inherited a house in Rialto from the mysterious but evidently much beloved Aunt Jess. Aunt Jess left Remy a task in her will: to hand out bequests to her friends and neighbors, and in so doing solve the mystery of what caused Rialto’s amusement park to close. Remy, Ivy, and Dahlia are eager to set about solving a real-life mystery, and their intrigue only grows when they start witnessing creatures and occurrences that are nothing short of magical.
I love the world of Rialto. The small town itself has a fascinating and endearing history as a haven for traveling entertainers and storytellers, and the world the town inhabits is made rich with folklore. The worldbuilding is inventive and a delight to explore. But what I love most of all about this book are the values it engenders. When I was young, I read a lot of fantasy books meant for children in which the child protagonists encounter a seductive magical world which they are encouraged, overtly and subtly, to keep a secret from their parents and guardians. By contrast, the magical side of Rialto is a world built upon kinship and the strengthening of community bonds via history-telling. Ivy, Dahlia, and Remy are not only allowed and invited to tell their parents about the magical encounters they have, they are explicitly urged to do so, and to bring their parents into the magic—or, in Remy’s case, bring them back into the magic—of Rialto. Rialto is at its core a novel about the magic of community, and that value shines so brightly and warmly throughout every inch of the pages.
5 stars
This is an excellent middle-grade fantasy novel that I would recommend to young readers and adults alike. There’s a marvelous sense of wonder in every page of the novel as the trio of protagonists explore the town of Rialto, the house in which they’re staying, and the familial relationships of the fantastic people they encounter.
Rialto is a small midwestern town that was swallowed up by woodland sometime in the eighties; the woods have grown so thick that the town’s beloved, possibly magical amusement park is now entirely inaccessible through the trees. Never mind that such sudden and dense growth is botanically impossible, that’s the reality that siblings Ivy and Dahlia encounter when they and their parents drive down to stay with family friends and their son Remy, who have recently inherited a house in Rialto from the mysterious but evidently much beloved Aunt Jess. Aunt Jess left Remy a task in her will: to hand out bequests to her friends and neighbors, and in so doing solve the mystery of what caused Rialto’s amusement park to close. Remy, Ivy, and Dahlia are eager to set about solving a real-life mystery, and their intrigue only grows when they start witnessing creatures and occurrences that are nothing short of magical.
I love the world of Rialto. The small town itself has a fascinating and endearing history as a haven for traveling entertainers and storytellers, and the world the town inhabits is made rich with folklore. The worldbuilding is inventive and a delight to explore. But what I love most of all about this book are the values it engenders. When I was young, I read a lot of fantasy books meant for children in which the child protagonists encounter a seductive magical world which they are encouraged, overtly and subtly, to keep a secret from their parents and guardians. By contrast, the magical side of Rialto is a world built upon kinship and the strengthening of community bonds via history-telling. Ivy, Dahlia, and Remy are not only allowed and invited to tell their parents about the magical encounters they have, they are explicitly urged to do so, and to bring their parents into the magic—or, in Remy’s case, bring them back into the magic—of Rialto. Rialto is at its core a novel about the magic of community, and that value shines so brightly and warmly throughout every inch of the pages.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Beautiful.
Stunning.
Magnificent.
Brilliant.
Poignant.
Breathtaking.
Full review to come.
Let's start with a story.
When I was a kid, I lived in the corner house on a crossroads of an old neighborhood. Diagonally from me, behind the house, one street west, was a Mom & Pop grocery store. One street east and two and a half blocks north was my Grandma's house. If I walked into the middle of the street and looked due east I could see my elementary school, the same school my Dad and his brother and sisters attended when they were kids. But the most important location was three streets east and two and a half blocks south.
The library.
When I was a kid, I remember my Dad started having part of the summer off and he'd plan day trips to the library. We'd have breakfast, get our bags ready for our books and set off. I remember we would choose a different route sometimes, skip a turn and go longer down a street, things like that, but we would always end up walking through a street that felt like tunnel of trees and it would be one more left and the library was on our right. We'd get water at the fountain and my Dad would leave us in the kid's section, saying to choose some good books, come find him when we were ready and then we would go home for lunch. It would be somewhere between three or four hours to sit in the library, searching the shelves and choosing the best spot to settle in and read. I'd pull books off the shelves, trying to find something, changing my mind every trip about what I wanted to read. I'd read everything by Mary Downing Hahn, Betty Ren Wright, Lynn Reid Banks, James Howe, Bruce Coville. Wandering around, I remembering finding a biography on Louisa May Alcott that I'd never seen before and I'd found several shelves consisting of every Oz book by Baum that the library had collected for decades.
Some books were new, others were so old they creaked when they opened and laid splayed out without my having to hold the book, the smell of old paper lingering for hours after I put the book away, the pages so yellowed they were almost brown. I made it a point to try anything I found but back in the 90s, it wasn't easy for me to find the right book I was really looking for, something with the right balance of real world situations and a little bit magic and mystery. I was too anxious to try asking at the public library for help finding a book and my school librarian had too many kids to focus on. Eventually I moved on, finding great mysteries to read, science fiction and fantasy and horror while reading the assigned books for school. But, ever since then, I have wandered into the middle grade section of various bookstores, still looking for that right book, that book that childhood me was searching for so long to find. That's what I was doing, maybe a dozen years ago now, when a particular title caught my eye.
The Boneshaker by Kate Milford.
I picked it up, a paperback, and noticed The Broken Lands, a hardcover, right next to it. I stared at the artwork, my eyes moving this way and that, seeing things here and there that would make sense once you'd read the book but I didn't know that then. All I knew is that the artwork called to me, the synopsis hooked my attention. I took them home and started to read and it was then that I felt that I'd done it. I'd found a book that I would have ADORED when I was a kid. My whole personality would have been that book. I would have carried it around everywhere, reading it so many times, memorizing passages just from the act of reading it time and time again. I've bought and read every Kate Milford book since. I'm planning to read them to my kids when they're older. Because some of that need to find brilliant middle grade books is to make sure my kids don't have trouble finding books that appeal to them. These are the books I wish I'd found, so now I have them to hand to my kids when they want to try them and I can't wait to give them Kate Milford's books. Milford writes kids that feel real, that have trials to overcome and a world that they have to look at just a little bit differently to solve the mystery. The kids are treated with respect, never looked down on, or dismissed. The adults in these books pay attention to the kids, they listen, they try to learn. All together, each book has been lovely, and brilliant, and astounding. I LOVE Kate Milford books so when I saw that there was a new book, Rialto, ready to be published, my heart leapt into my throat. I had to read this book, end of story, and you want to know the best part?
It was magnificent.
Rialto starts with following Ivy and Dahlia Vicar, on their way to Rialto, Missouri for a family vacation to visit friends. The sisters are currently a little at odds with each other. Dahlia is dealing with anxiety and is looking forward to a new destination to try for their trip, which comes with an abandoned amusement park that their Mom is interested in researching for a book. Ivy is trying to understand how to be the big sister that Dahlia needs while longing for the times when they were younger and the traditions that they had in the past. Once they arrive in Rialto, it is obvious that things are going to be very different for their vacation. The town looks like it was swallowed by a forest and stories say that the town woke up one morning to find that the trees had grown up around them overnight. While driving through the town Dahlia spots a giraffe with antlers and after meeting Remy and his family, who own the house they will be staying in, she sees a leopard with wings through the window. Remy and his family inherited the house from their Aunt Jess, who has left bequests for Remy to give to her friends now that she has gone. Remy decides to ask Ivy and Dahlia to help with the bequests and the trio start to realize that there is a mystery to solve about the town that goes back to when Rialto was still open to visitors. In order to solve the mystery, they must believe in the magic that seems to be in the town that was swallowed by a forest and has strange creatures roaming its streets.
There is so much in this book, so many things that make it yet another brilliant Milford book and yet more at the same time. Greenglass House has held the title of favorite Kate Milford book for quite some time but Rialto might have just knocked it from its place of honor. Ivy felt so familiar to me as a kid who loved to solve riddles and mysteries and her trying to understand her sibling who has started to change in ways that are difficult for Ivy to accept. As soon as it was revealed that Dahlia had anxiety and was seeing a therapist, I was completely invested in these girls and their story. I loved the things that Milford added for Dahlia, the fact that she had methods to deal with her anxiety when she was out in public, the fact that she needed to retreat to her room and have time on her own to deal with the way the day unfolded and how it affected her sense of well-being. I loved that Ivy had a hard time accepting this new normal, how she wanted to cling to the way things were and how she needed her parents to help her with understanding how to be what Dahlia needed.
I also LOVED the fact that Mr. Vicar had his own social issues that made him able to understand Dahlia and how the fact that he had his own issues meant that Mrs. Vicar knew what to do to help both of them or when to give them space. This was a family unit that was in tune with each other. It was believable that these parents made an effort to understand and help their kids and that Ivy and Dahlia never doubted the support they would get from their parents. When Dahlia started to see the amazing things hiding in Rialto, I was excited to see how quickly her logic had her reasoning the existence of magic and how she made the decision to believe that there was something more to the town. It made sense that Dahlia would be the character to get the ball rolling for the magic of the book and I loved how Ivy, in trying to support her sister, was brought along for the ride and evolved as well.
On the other side of the characters is Remy, his parents and everyone else in town. These are the characters that know the ins and outs of Rialto, they've grown up in the town and some of them know everything about the town. Remy is the perfect character to bring Ivy and Dahlia into the world of Rialto. He knows SOME of the truth but he knows things in the sense of stories that have been handed down, the legends that make up the place. He knows some things, he's seen the animals that Dahlia has seen, but at the same time he's been kept at a distance in the town because he's not a resident. His belief in the sisters to be the best companions for him and his quest endeared him to me. I loved how quickly he became Ivy's number one supporter in asking her for help with the clues and knowing how she could solve the mystery. Remy's parents were also supportive and I liked how they defended the kids as they worked on the mystery. There's a scene with Bailey, Remy's dad, and some of the residents of the town where he backed up the circumstances up to that point and how the kids were involved that just made me want to stand up and applaud. He had no doubt in his son and his son's new friends and he was in their corner and I loved every parent in this book, seriously, the reveals about the town and how these adults helped the kids just made me want to be just like those parents. I'm too old to say I want to be Ivy and Dahlia when I grow up but I'll settle for being any combination of the four parents in this book.
The mystery was engrossing from the start. The idea that this town had been swallowed up by a forest and that no one was able to enter the Rialto amusement park again was so intriguing, I wanted to know everything about it. Which is good because Milford does not skimp on the world development, on the stories that surround the town and the people that are in this place. I've tried to think if there was anything I had questions about once the book was done but I honestly believe that anything and everything I questioned or wanted to know was revealed and answered over the course of the book. It's a sign of great writing and a great story when I can get to the end of the book and feel like the whole thing was complete. If there is ever a story that can branch of from something in this book though, I will try my hardest to be first in line to read it. The mystery itself deserves to be discovered by the readers that try this book so I won't delve further into it. Once the reveals are made, I was a self-declared number one fan of this book. I'm older, so I had my suspicions about the reveals that ended up being right but it still felt perfect with everything the book gives to the reader.
I have loved every Kate Milford book I have read. I have a signed copy of The Left-Handed Fate and a numbered and signed copy of Bluecrowne. I have waited years for another Kate Milford book and I will continue to look for a new book every year until we readers are given another book. I am a fan for life of Kate Milford's books and I hope that more readers find their way to these novels. I'm counting down the days until my kids are old enough to sit and listen and imagine while I read them these books.
Rating on my scale: 10 STARS!! This is one of the best books I've read in recent years. I know when I sit down with a Kate Milford book, I will be enthralled and Rialto did not disappoint. Read this book if you like mysteries with magic and characters that can change and make changes and defeat evils and triumph.
My thanks to Netgalley, HarperCollins Children's Books and Kate Milford the eARC of this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.
Stunning.
Magnificent.
Brilliant.
Poignant.
Breathtaking.
Full review to come.
Let's start with a story.
When I was a kid, I lived in the corner house on a crossroads of an old neighborhood. Diagonally from me, behind the house, one street west, was a Mom & Pop grocery store. One street east and two and a half blocks north was my Grandma's house. If I walked into the middle of the street and looked due east I could see my elementary school, the same school my Dad and his brother and sisters attended when they were kids. But the most important location was three streets east and two and a half blocks south.
The library.
When I was a kid, I remember my Dad started having part of the summer off and he'd plan day trips to the library. We'd have breakfast, get our bags ready for our books and set off. I remember we would choose a different route sometimes, skip a turn and go longer down a street, things like that, but we would always end up walking through a street that felt like tunnel of trees and it would be one more left and the library was on our right. We'd get water at the fountain and my Dad would leave us in the kid's section, saying to choose some good books, come find him when we were ready and then we would go home for lunch. It would be somewhere between three or four hours to sit in the library, searching the shelves and choosing the best spot to settle in and read. I'd pull books off the shelves, trying to find something, changing my mind every trip about what I wanted to read. I'd read everything by Mary Downing Hahn, Betty Ren Wright, Lynn Reid Banks, James Howe, Bruce Coville. Wandering around, I remembering finding a biography on Louisa May Alcott that I'd never seen before and I'd found several shelves consisting of every Oz book by Baum that the library had collected for decades.
Some books were new, others were so old they creaked when they opened and laid splayed out without my having to hold the book, the smell of old paper lingering for hours after I put the book away, the pages so yellowed they were almost brown. I made it a point to try anything I found but back in the 90s, it wasn't easy for me to find the right book I was really looking for, something with the right balance of real world situations and a little bit magic and mystery. I was too anxious to try asking at the public library for help finding a book and my school librarian had too many kids to focus on. Eventually I moved on, finding great mysteries to read, science fiction and fantasy and horror while reading the assigned books for school. But, ever since then, I have wandered into the middle grade section of various bookstores, still looking for that right book, that book that childhood me was searching for so long to find. That's what I was doing, maybe a dozen years ago now, when a particular title caught my eye.
The Boneshaker by Kate Milford.
I picked it up, a paperback, and noticed The Broken Lands, a hardcover, right next to it. I stared at the artwork, my eyes moving this way and that, seeing things here and there that would make sense once you'd read the book but I didn't know that then. All I knew is that the artwork called to me, the synopsis hooked my attention. I took them home and started to read and it was then that I felt that I'd done it. I'd found a book that I would have ADORED when I was a kid. My whole personality would have been that book. I would have carried it around everywhere, reading it so many times, memorizing passages just from the act of reading it time and time again. I've bought and read every Kate Milford book since. I'm planning to read them to my kids when they're older. Because some of that need to find brilliant middle grade books is to make sure my kids don't have trouble finding books that appeal to them. These are the books I wish I'd found, so now I have them to hand to my kids when they want to try them and I can't wait to give them Kate Milford's books. Milford writes kids that feel real, that have trials to overcome and a world that they have to look at just a little bit differently to solve the mystery. The kids are treated with respect, never looked down on, or dismissed. The adults in these books pay attention to the kids, they listen, they try to learn. All together, each book has been lovely, and brilliant, and astounding. I LOVE Kate Milford books so when I saw that there was a new book, Rialto, ready to be published, my heart leapt into my throat. I had to read this book, end of story, and you want to know the best part?
It was magnificent.
Rialto starts with following Ivy and Dahlia Vicar, on their way to Rialto, Missouri for a family vacation to visit friends. The sisters are currently a little at odds with each other. Dahlia is dealing with anxiety and is looking forward to a new destination to try for their trip, which comes with an abandoned amusement park that their Mom is interested in researching for a book. Ivy is trying to understand how to be the big sister that Dahlia needs while longing for the times when they were younger and the traditions that they had in the past. Once they arrive in Rialto, it is obvious that things are going to be very different for their vacation. The town looks like it was swallowed by a forest and stories say that the town woke up one morning to find that the trees had grown up around them overnight. While driving through the town Dahlia spots a giraffe with antlers and after meeting Remy and his family, who own the house they will be staying in, she sees a leopard with wings through the window. Remy and his family inherited the house from their Aunt Jess, who has left bequests for Remy to give to her friends now that she has gone. Remy decides to ask Ivy and Dahlia to help with the bequests and the trio start to realize that there is a mystery to solve about the town that goes back to when Rialto was still open to visitors. In order to solve the mystery, they must believe in the magic that seems to be in the town that was swallowed by a forest and has strange creatures roaming its streets.
There is so much in this book, so many things that make it yet another brilliant Milford book and yet more at the same time. Greenglass House has held the title of favorite Kate Milford book for quite some time but Rialto might have just knocked it from its place of honor. Ivy felt so familiar to me as a kid who loved to solve riddles and mysteries and her trying to understand her sibling who has started to change in ways that are difficult for Ivy to accept. As soon as it was revealed that Dahlia had anxiety and was seeing a therapist, I was completely invested in these girls and their story. I loved the things that Milford added for Dahlia, the fact that she had methods to deal with her anxiety when she was out in public, the fact that she needed to retreat to her room and have time on her own to deal with the way the day unfolded and how it affected her sense of well-being. I loved that Ivy had a hard time accepting this new normal, how she wanted to cling to the way things were and how she needed her parents to help her with understanding how to be what Dahlia needed.
I also LOVED the fact that Mr. Vicar had his own social issues that made him able to understand Dahlia and how the fact that he had his own issues meant that Mrs. Vicar knew what to do to help both of them or when to give them space. This was a family unit that was in tune with each other. It was believable that these parents made an effort to understand and help their kids and that Ivy and Dahlia never doubted the support they would get from their parents. When Dahlia started to see the amazing things hiding in Rialto, I was excited to see how quickly her logic had her reasoning the existence of magic and how she made the decision to believe that there was something more to the town. It made sense that Dahlia would be the character to get the ball rolling for the magic of the book and I loved how Ivy, in trying to support her sister, was brought along for the ride and evolved as well.
On the other side of the characters is Remy, his parents and everyone else in town. These are the characters that know the ins and outs of Rialto, they've grown up in the town and some of them know everything about the town. Remy is the perfect character to bring Ivy and Dahlia into the world of Rialto. He knows SOME of the truth but he knows things in the sense of stories that have been handed down, the legends that make up the place. He knows some things, he's seen the animals that Dahlia has seen, but at the same time he's been kept at a distance in the town because he's not a resident. His belief in the sisters to be the best companions for him and his quest endeared him to me. I loved how quickly he became Ivy's number one supporter in asking her for help with the clues and knowing how she could solve the mystery. Remy's parents were also supportive and I liked how they defended the kids as they worked on the mystery. There's a scene with Bailey, Remy's dad, and some of the residents of the town where he backed up the circumstances up to that point and how the kids were involved that just made me want to stand up and applaud. He had no doubt in his son and his son's new friends and he was in their corner and I loved every parent in this book, seriously, the reveals about the town and how these adults helped the kids just made me want to be just like those parents. I'm too old to say I want to be Ivy and Dahlia when I grow up but I'll settle for being any combination of the four parents in this book.
The mystery was engrossing from the start. The idea that this town had been swallowed up by a forest and that no one was able to enter the Rialto amusement park again was so intriguing, I wanted to know everything about it. Which is good because Milford does not skimp on the world development, on the stories that surround the town and the people that are in this place. I've tried to think if there was anything I had questions about once the book was done but I honestly believe that anything and everything I questioned or wanted to know was revealed and answered over the course of the book. It's a sign of great writing and a great story when I can get to the end of the book and feel like the whole thing was complete. If there is ever a story that can branch of from something in this book though, I will try my hardest to be first in line to read it. The mystery itself deserves to be discovered by the readers that try this book so I won't delve further into it. Once the reveals are made, I was a self-declared number one fan of this book. I'm older, so I had my suspicions about the reveals that ended up being right but it still felt perfect with everything the book gives to the reader.
I have loved every Kate Milford book I have read. I have a signed copy of The Left-Handed Fate and a numbered and signed copy of Bluecrowne. I have waited years for another Kate Milford book and I will continue to look for a new book every year until we readers are given another book. I am a fan for life of Kate Milford's books and I hope that more readers find their way to these novels. I'm counting down the days until my kids are old enough to sit and listen and imagine while I read them these books.
Rating on my scale: 10 STARS!! This is one of the best books I've read in recent years. I know when I sit down with a Kate Milford book, I will be enthralled and Rialto did not disappoint. Read this book if you like mysteries with magic and characters that can change and make changes and defeat evils and triumph.
My thanks to Netgalley, HarperCollins Children's Books and Kate Milford the eARC of this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.
November 14, 2025
Kate Milford is a master of her craft. Readers new to Milford’s work will find a wholly original world that works as a stand-alone novel, but those travelers already familiar with the Roaming World will find nods and references to earlier works that will make them feel right at home. I would have adored Rialto as a kid, and as an adult fan of Milford’s work found no shortage of things to love.
Milford seamlessly blends a magical mystery with the story of tween sisters navigating their changing relationship. Rialto is filled with heart and warmth and Milford’s signature magic. I could not have loved this book more.
Milford seamlessly blends a magical mystery with the story of tween sisters navigating their changing relationship. Rialto is filled with heart and warmth and Milford’s signature magic. I could not have loved this book more.
October 12, 2025
Kate Milford does not disappoint. She has created an entire world, much as she did in the Greenglass House series, that enchants the reader and draws them in. This is a book I didn’t want to end because it is so beautifully written. But I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next! In addition to the beautiful imagery of art and music and fiber crafts and writing, I also gathered helpful information about anxiety and social anxiety.
Many many thanks to Harper Collins for the ARC.
Many many thanks to Harper Collins for the ARC.
October 13, 2025
*Received as an ARC*
So it appears a story from my favorite Storyteller has once again moved me. This story was so wondrous, so thoughtful, it was a hand-carved stamp that changed every time I put it to paper. I'll always look for magic, but sometimes it's nice to have a reminder. So glad I got to have this now, exactly when I needed it. I can't wait to hold the final copy!
So it appears a story from my favorite Storyteller has once again moved me. This story was so wondrous, so thoughtful, it was a hand-carved stamp that changed every time I put it to paper. I'll always look for magic, but sometimes it's nice to have a reminder. So glad I got to have this now, exactly when I needed it. I can't wait to hold the final copy!
April 14, 2026
** “I’ve just always been aware that here, there’s a greater-than-usual possibility of encountering something weird or wonderful or even miraculous, if I keep my eyes and my mind open.” **
Kate Milford offers a magical book with “Rialto,” a book about a magic theme park, sibling relationships, and overcoming mental health issues.
When sisters Ivy and Dahlia and their parents travel to Rialto, Missouri, to stay with their Aunt Sally, they realize there’s more than meets the eye with this strange little town. Rialto was said to have been unexplainably swallowed up overnight by a forest in 1988.
So when Sally’s Aunt Jess leaves her family her home near the abandoned amusement park, Rialto Park, the siblings come to help Sally and her husband and stepson, Remy, adjust to their new home.
But when mysterious situations begin happening, the kids try to get to the bottom of things — mysterious fantastical creatures appearing, music boxes changing the songs they play, and tales of wishes and crossings to a mysterious land.
Will they figure out what’s currently going on in Rialto, and why the forest overtook the town and theme park 40 years ago?
Milford does an incredible job of creating a magical world with characters filled with moxie, pluck and relatable struggles. She also fills “Rialto” with several great themes like depending on who is telling a story can impact the story’s meaning; there are boundaries everywhere and we just have to figure out how to find them and cross them; the weird, wonderful and magical is everywhere, if we just look; wishing is complicated; life is made up of a series of crossroads, threads twisting around them; and we must find ways to manage how we feel.
This book is quite long and does deal extensively with Dahlia’s issues with anxiety and depression, especially at the beginning of the book. Therefore, it does take a little bit to get into the story. Although this book is suggested for children ages 10 and over, I think I’d recommend it for children ages 12 and older.
Fans of series like Kiersten White’s “Sinister Summer,” Chris Grabenstein’s “Ms. Pennypickle’s Puzzlers” and Amy Sparkes’ “The House at the Edge of Magic,” and even Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” will love “Rialto.”
Four stars out of five.
Clarion Books provided this complimentary copy through NetGalley for my honest, unbiased review.
Kate Milford offers a magical book with “Rialto,” a book about a magic theme park, sibling relationships, and overcoming mental health issues.
When sisters Ivy and Dahlia and their parents travel to Rialto, Missouri, to stay with their Aunt Sally, they realize there’s more than meets the eye with this strange little town. Rialto was said to have been unexplainably swallowed up overnight by a forest in 1988.
So when Sally’s Aunt Jess leaves her family her home near the abandoned amusement park, Rialto Park, the siblings come to help Sally and her husband and stepson, Remy, adjust to their new home.
But when mysterious situations begin happening, the kids try to get to the bottom of things — mysterious fantastical creatures appearing, music boxes changing the songs they play, and tales of wishes and crossings to a mysterious land.
Will they figure out what’s currently going on in Rialto, and why the forest overtook the town and theme park 40 years ago?
Milford does an incredible job of creating a magical world with characters filled with moxie, pluck and relatable struggles. She also fills “Rialto” with several great themes like depending on who is telling a story can impact the story’s meaning; there are boundaries everywhere and we just have to figure out how to find them and cross them; the weird, wonderful and magical is everywhere, if we just look; wishing is complicated; life is made up of a series of crossroads, threads twisting around them; and we must find ways to manage how we feel.
This book is quite long and does deal extensively with Dahlia’s issues with anxiety and depression, especially at the beginning of the book. Therefore, it does take a little bit to get into the story. Although this book is suggested for children ages 10 and over, I think I’d recommend it for children ages 12 and older.
Fans of series like Kiersten White’s “Sinister Summer,” Chris Grabenstein’s “Ms. Pennypickle’s Puzzlers” and Amy Sparkes’ “The House at the Edge of Magic,” and even Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” will love “Rialto.”
Four stars out of five.
Clarion Books provided this complimentary copy through NetGalley for my honest, unbiased review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This was enjoyable and, being very honest, most of my issues with Rialto have little to do with its quality — the reason I didn’t love it is simply personal preference, which is truly a pity. I wanted to adore this one so, so much! The cover alone drew me in, and its premise has a bit of everything I enjoy: a quasi murder mystery; magic realism; an intriguing abandoned amusement park and complicated family dynamics.
My main impediment to fully immersing myself in this novel was its pacing. Rialto starts slow, intentionally so — the author is trying to build up the magic, inviting us in as if we, too, are quotidians inserted in a reality that doesn’t seem real when compared to our lived experiences. Even when taking this into consideration, the first 25% or so could’ve benefited greatly from a more thorough edit. I’d have struggled to bear with it if I wasn’t listening to it and, thinking back to my younger self, I probably would’ve just given it up in order to read something else.
Even though I didn’t particularly enjoy the therapy session being portrayed in full, I also think this novel does a great job at normalising mental illness and its treatment, portraying a very supportive family and environment — speaking from my own personal experience, reading something like this as a teen maybe would’ve helped me accept the therapeutic process earlier on in my life. The way the evolving relationship between the sisters is portrayed is also very tender, and I quite like how the author handles the topic of growing up in the narrative. All the teen-aged characters are portrayed with a lot of respect and relatability, which makes Rialto a very good bet for audiences aged 10 through 14.
I have to commend Milford for her amazing descriptions, especially when it comes to magic and art. Those were the highlights of the book for me (that and the carousel animals, of course).
Regarding to the audiobook, the narrator has a very pleasant voice. However, it gets quite monotone at times and our main characters have very little variation in tone and manner, which is a shame — especially when we see that the narrator is very much capable of performing with more gusto when it comes to other side characters.
My main impediment to fully immersing myself in this novel was its pacing. Rialto starts slow, intentionally so — the author is trying to build up the magic, inviting us in as if we, too, are quotidians inserted in a reality that doesn’t seem real when compared to our lived experiences. Even when taking this into consideration, the first 25% or so could’ve benefited greatly from a more thorough edit. I’d have struggled to bear with it if I wasn’t listening to it and, thinking back to my younger self, I probably would’ve just given it up in order to read something else.
Even though I didn’t particularly enjoy the therapy session being portrayed in full, I also think this novel does a great job at normalising mental illness and its treatment, portraying a very supportive family and environment — speaking from my own personal experience, reading something like this as a teen maybe would’ve helped me accept the therapeutic process earlier on in my life. The way the evolving relationship between the sisters is portrayed is also very tender, and I quite like how the author handles the topic of growing up in the narrative. All the teen-aged characters are portrayed with a lot of respect and relatability, which makes Rialto a very good bet for audiences aged 10 through 14.
I have to commend Milford for her amazing descriptions, especially when it comes to magic and art. Those were the highlights of the book for me (that and the carousel animals, of course).
Regarding to the audiobook, the narrator has a very pleasant voice. However, it gets quite monotone at times and our main characters have very little variation in tone and manner, which is a shame — especially when we see that the narrator is very much capable of performing with more gusto when it comes to other side characters.
April 18, 2026
The cover of this book is fantastic. The premise made me want to read it more.
But a few things made the reading slow. I'd feel like I made a lot of progress when it would only be 5%.
Dahlia (12) and her sister Ivy (14) Vicar are on a family trip to see their "Aunt" Sally, their mother's best friend from college, after Sally's actual Aunt Jess died. Jess happened to live right next to the Rialto theme park, and Sally (and her husband and stepson, Remy) inherited the house. This is right up Mrs. Vicar's alley, since she writes about theme parks.
The Rialto park is something all right, and I wish the park map at the start of the book was as colored and detailed as described after the kids receive a map and brochure from a nearby gas station.
Ivy is treating her sister differently and feels her sister is always down (especially when she doesn't partake in the friendly competition of the family's game called Penny Wars). That's because Dahlia was recently diagnosed with anxiety (like their father) and depression.
Something I love is that Dahlia and dad have the same therapist, AND there are also family sessions. Too, her therapist reminds her that not everything is related to her mental health issues, but the fact that she's 12 and is changing--and Ivy is dealing with her own issues.
But the focus on adults being part of things and the kids asking parents for help is such a healthy change from other MG books I've read over the years.
Part of Jess' will is that Remy (maybe a year older than Ivy) is asked to deliver other bequeathed items around the town, with specific instructions. He and the girls feel like it's an interesting mystery to be solved.
My issue is that the mystery is only somewhat hinted at for the firt 25% (Why do some adults call each other Roamers? What is up with the antlered giraffe and ginormous cat Dahlia sees), and then continues as a slow burn for (IMO) far too long. But some other questions did come up...
- What is the connection between the Marchen Wood book/tales, Remy's "quest," and the Marchen Wood in Rialto Park?
- Why/How are the songs in the music boxes different from what others know the songs to be?
- What is up with the coin-sized discs with holes punched in the middle?
- Who did Jess and Reever take into the park, and why did the Woods magically crop up that same night?
- What does the phrase "Crossing" really mean if not death?
The end is predicable for an adult yet wonderfully magical
But a few things made the reading slow. I'd feel like I made a lot of progress when it would only be 5%.
Dahlia (12) and her sister Ivy (14) Vicar are on a family trip to see their "Aunt" Sally, their mother's best friend from college, after Sally's actual Aunt Jess died. Jess happened to live right next to the Rialto theme park, and Sally (and her husband and stepson, Remy) inherited the house. This is right up Mrs. Vicar's alley, since she writes about theme parks.
The Rialto park is something all right, and I wish the park map at the start of the book was as colored and detailed as described after the kids receive a map and brochure from a nearby gas station.
Ivy is treating her sister differently and feels her sister is always down (especially when she doesn't partake in the friendly competition of the family's game called Penny Wars). That's because Dahlia was recently diagnosed with anxiety (like their father) and depression.
Something I love is that Dahlia and dad have the same therapist, AND there are also family sessions. Too, her therapist reminds her that not everything is related to her mental health issues, but the fact that she's 12 and is changing--and Ivy is dealing with her own issues.
But the focus on adults being part of things and the kids asking parents for help is such a healthy change from other MG books I've read over the years.
Part of Jess' will is that Remy (maybe a year older than Ivy) is asked to deliver other bequeathed items around the town, with specific instructions. He and the girls feel like it's an interesting mystery to be solved.
My issue is that the mystery is only somewhat hinted at for the firt 25% (Why do some adults call each other Roamers? What is up with the antlered giraffe and ginormous cat Dahlia sees), and then continues as a slow burn for (IMO) far too long. But some other questions did come up...
- What is the connection between the Marchen Wood book/tales, Remy's "quest," and the Marchen Wood in Rialto Park?
- Why/How are the songs in the music boxes different from what others know the songs to be?
- What is up with the coin-sized discs with holes punched in the middle?
- Who did Jess and Reever take into the park, and why did the Woods magically crop up that same night?
- What does the phrase "Crossing" really mean if not death?
The end is predicable for an adult yet wonderfully magical
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
This was such a cute book. I got this ARC based mostly on the gorgeous cover that I want tattoo’d on my eyelids. It's so beautiful! The story centers on two sisters, Ivy and Dahlia who are invited to a trip to Rialto to see a friend of their mom’s. Rialto is the name of the two but also the abandoned theme park that has been shut down since the 1980’s. There they met Remy and his family where they are dealing with the loss of his Aunt Jess who was a pillar of the town, and she has left him some bequests to make something she thinks she did wrong right again. What follows is a really sweet heartwarming book that reminds me of books like The Thief Lord or Bridge to Terabithia in the magical sense. The last few chapters made me so happy with how magical it was, I wish I could visit this park. It seems so cool and beautiful. I feel a bit sad my copy didn’t have the map of the park in it yet. This book also tackles autism and therapy pretty well. I don’t know if it was my autism but sometimes it got very tiring hearing about it. Both sisters deal with it and I will say seeing a book deal with breathing patterns or kids talking to therapists is actually really cool. It even comes into play at the end of sometimes it’s hard to see change or not follow “traditions” can be hard but the world will change and there are ways to work around it while embracing it.
I do wish I had books like this when I was a kid. I love this little theme park and the characters and it was such a great, beautiful place. I can tell Kate is a fan of theme parks because hello!! a SEA (The Society of Explorers and Adventurers) mentioned in 2026!!! This is such a cute little book. I definitely think I’ll be picking up Kate’s other books because I really did enjoy this!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for this e-ARC! I first read Kate Milford in 2016, "The Greenglass House" giving it one of my rare 5-* reviews! She has an ability to create familiar, yet magical/fantastical places. While "Rialto" is intended to be (at least for now) a stand-alone novel, one could feel it to be within her extended Greenglass/Nagspeake universe.
Beyond the heartwarming mystery of Rialto, MO and the one-time theme park that has been encased by the overnight creation of the Marchen Forest decades ago, Milford's book deals with mental health issues that protagonist Dahlia and her father deal with. She also portrays the transitional phase in sibling relationships as Dahlia and her Older sister Ivy find themselves changing as teenagers, in a realistic manner, with Ivy lamenting the loss of Dahlia's desire to participate in traditional family trip rituals.
Ivy and Dahlia, traveling with their mother and father, to meet up with their mother's friend, their "Aunt Sally" and her new family, including her teenage stepson, Remy. They'll be staying with Aunt Sally and her family, who have just inherited Remy's Aunt Jess' home. Aunt Jess has crossed-over, and left a quest bequest for Remy. Ivy and Dahlia join Remy on his quest that includes delivering letters and gifts to several of Aunt Jess' friends and colleague in Rialto, which begins to help Remy and friends discover Rialto's secrets and maybe solve the mystery as to why the Marchen Forest appeared overnight and created a barrier, not allowing anyone into the amusement park.
I highly recommend this middle-grades/tween novel for both that age group as well as readers of any age!
Beyond the heartwarming mystery of Rialto, MO and the one-time theme park that has been encased by the overnight creation of the Marchen Forest decades ago, Milford's book deals with mental health issues that protagonist Dahlia and her father deal with. She also portrays the transitional phase in sibling relationships as Dahlia and her Older sister Ivy find themselves changing as teenagers, in a realistic manner, with Ivy lamenting the loss of Dahlia's desire to participate in traditional family trip rituals.
Ivy and Dahlia, traveling with their mother and father, to meet up with their mother's friend, their "Aunt Sally" and her new family, including her teenage stepson, Remy. They'll be staying with Aunt Sally and her family, who have just inherited Remy's Aunt Jess' home. Aunt Jess has crossed-over, and left a quest bequest for Remy. Ivy and Dahlia join Remy on his quest that includes delivering letters and gifts to several of Aunt Jess' friends and colleague in Rialto, which begins to help Remy and friends discover Rialto's secrets and maybe solve the mystery as to why the Marchen Forest appeared overnight and created a barrier, not allowing anyone into the amusement park.
I highly recommend this middle-grades/tween novel for both that age group as well as readers of any age!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I really enjoy Kate Milford's writing. Her middle grade books are imaginative and descriptive, with marvelous world-building and fantastically three-dimensional characters who are relatable even to adults. I like that she doesn't over-simplify life or complex emotions or experiences, but shows children and young adults muddling through (as we all do) and getting it right sometimes, wrong sometimes, and landing in the middle of those at other times yet.
This time around she touches on anxiety in tweens and adults, and I found that story element particularly resonant given my own family's experiences. It helped provide a thoughtful way of considering what my child goes through and how she might experience the world differently than I do. The sibling relationships, as well as the parent/multigenerational relationships, were realistically presented - warts and misunderstandings and frustrations all - and their plausibility provided a backdrop against which the more fantastic elements of the story felt all the more real as a result.
The magical town and theme park, the concept of crossings, and the magic of music were all so creatively presented and well developed that I found myself engrossed in the backstory as much as the current mystery of the book. While I may have figured out who the antagonist would turn out to be early on, my enjoyment of the story was not at all lessened by this, as Milford did a masterful job rolling out revelations, red herrings, and world-building elements with an even hand designed to keep readers wholly engaged.
This was a marvelous story and I'd love to see her return to the world of Rialto (town AND theme park) in the future - perhaps in a style similar to the Greenglass world and its books...
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.
This time around she touches on anxiety in tweens and adults, and I found that story element particularly resonant given my own family's experiences. It helped provide a thoughtful way of considering what my child goes through and how she might experience the world differently than I do. The sibling relationships, as well as the parent/multigenerational relationships, were realistically presented - warts and misunderstandings and frustrations all - and their plausibility provided a backdrop against which the more fantastic elements of the story felt all the more real as a result.
The magical town and theme park, the concept of crossings, and the magic of music were all so creatively presented and well developed that I found myself engrossed in the backstory as much as the current mystery of the book. While I may have figured out who the antagonist would turn out to be early on, my enjoyment of the story was not at all lessened by this, as Milford did a masterful job rolling out revelations, red herrings, and world-building elements with an even hand designed to keep readers wholly engaged.
This was a marvelous story and I'd love to see her return to the world of Rialto (town AND theme park) in the future - perhaps in a style similar to the Greenglass world and its books...
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Rialto is a spectacularly good book. I would even include it amongst the best middle grade books I have read in the past year or two. I will be recommending Rialto to library patrons without hesitation. It's so solidly good--characterization, descriptive beauty, storyline, informative about anxiety and how old theme parks worked, action and pacing--everything is solid, fits together, and works, like the gears that keep the magical carousel running. My brain wants to group it together with The Mysterious Benedict Society and Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, books with puzzle mysteries and memorable places.
I think Rialto is more powerful in certain aspects than those books, because the nuance and character depth added via Dahlia's anxiety and artistic ability, and similarly nuanced characters for Ivy and Remy, strengthen the story and plot. Plus, it's great to read middle grade books with good adults in them, especially good parents. It's great to read a sibling relationship where the siblings address tension of growing up and changing, and actively choose to do things that strengthen their relationship. Therapy, including family therapy, is incorporated naturally into the story, and solid best practices for dealing with anxiety. This is such a healthy, mental health positive book, while still being centered on an original and vibrant story.
And what a story it is! It's fresh and innovative, with magical systems that work, a connection to the quotidian world that makes sense, and an art-as-magic structure that is deeply pleasing to me.
If I have a criticism of Rialto, it's that Rialto is a slower book than many others. Even though the story is sandwiched into a less than weeklong time, which should lend itself to more intense energy and time pressures, it is long and more character-driven than action driven. Taking time for discussions of mental health etc. does slow it down. To me, it's worth the tradeoff, but not all readers will agree.
I think Rialto is more powerful in certain aspects than those books, because the nuance and character depth added via Dahlia's anxiety and artistic ability, and similarly nuanced characters for Ivy and Remy, strengthen the story and plot. Plus, it's great to read middle grade books with good adults in them, especially good parents. It's great to read a sibling relationship where the siblings address tension of growing up and changing, and actively choose to do things that strengthen their relationship. Therapy, including family therapy, is incorporated naturally into the story, and solid best practices for dealing with anxiety. This is such a healthy, mental health positive book, while still being centered on an original and vibrant story.
And what a story it is! It's fresh and innovative, with magical systems that work, a connection to the quotidian world that makes sense, and an art-as-magic structure that is deeply pleasing to me.
If I have a criticism of Rialto, it's that Rialto is a slower book than many others. Even though the story is sandwiched into a less than weeklong time, which should lend itself to more intense energy and time pressures, it is long and more character-driven than action driven. Taking time for discussions of mental health etc. does slow it down. To me, it's worth the tradeoff, but not all readers will agree.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
In this mystery/fantasy, the Vicar family takes a road trip to Rialto, Missouri, where they become entwined in a murder mystery in an abandoned amusement park. Sisters Ivy and Dahlia, who are pretty competitive, struggle to see eye to eye as they have in the past, especially with Dahlia struggles with anxiety. They meet Remy, another key player in solving the mystery, as he is showing them to their vacation home–the one where his aunt died recently.
I struggled with this one. For one thing, it was too long and there were too many things going on. What is the core focus of this book? There was so much backstory that it took away from the mystery. The fantastical animals and the crossing did not seem to meld with the story, but I had already lost interest by the time all of that was introduced. Also, who is the intended audience? The girls are teens, yet it read like a children’s book in that their voices and actions (until the random kiss at the end) did not seem teen-like. And the anxiety parts of the plot were so pedantic and inauthentic, I just wanted to say enough already, we get it, they have anxiety and need a time out. Ultimately, I think I’m more drawn to a different writing style, and while some will love this for her long, descriptive prose, this isn’t one to give to reluctant readers. 2.5 stars rounded up
I struggled with this one. For one thing, it was too long and there were too many things going on. What is the core focus of this book? There was so much backstory that it took away from the mystery. The fantastical animals and the crossing did not seem to meld with the story, but I had already lost interest by the time all of that was introduced. Also, who is the intended audience? The girls are teens, yet it read like a children’s book in that their voices and actions (until the random kiss at the end) did not seem teen-like. And the anxiety parts of the plot were so pedantic and inauthentic, I just wanted to say enough already, we get it, they have anxiety and need a time out. Ultimately, I think I’m more drawn to a different writing style, and while some will love this for her long, descriptive prose, this isn’t one to give to reluctant readers. 2.5 stars rounded up
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
I'm a huge fan of vintage theme parks, and was greatly amused by the family's travels to various ones. The setting is spectacular, and there are plenty of twists and turns in the plot. The family dynamics and the characters' struggles with mental health embrace the current zeitgeist and have deeper relevance since the author shares some of these struggles.
The cover is fantastic!
This is a long book, with lots of rich descriptions, lyrical language, and weighty themes. It would probably be best for very strong middle grade readers.
Rialto put me in mind of several other titles, for various reasons. I can see readers of Stewart's The Mysterious Benedict Society enjoying this. The world building is similar to Guterson's The World-Famous Nine or Winterhouse (which always reminds me a bit of this author's Greenglass House). Lee's new The Magic of Someday Soon, which involves a roadside fossil park, also has strong family themes and some magic.
I don't know that I have readers for this titles, but if you have a lot of fantasy and mystery fans, definitely check it out.
I'm a huge fan of vintage theme parks, and was greatly amused by the family's travels to various ones. The setting is spectacular, and there are plenty of twists and turns in the plot. The family dynamics and the characters' struggles with mental health embrace the current zeitgeist and have deeper relevance since the author shares some of these struggles.
The cover is fantastic!
This is a long book, with lots of rich descriptions, lyrical language, and weighty themes. It would probably be best for very strong middle grade readers.
Rialto put me in mind of several other titles, for various reasons. I can see readers of Stewart's The Mysterious Benedict Society enjoying this. The world building is similar to Guterson's The World-Famous Nine or Winterhouse (which always reminds me a bit of this author's Greenglass House). Lee's new The Magic of Someday Soon, which involves a roadside fossil park, also has strong family themes and some magic.
I don't know that I have readers for this titles, but if you have a lot of fantasy and mystery fans, definitely check it out.
Did Not Finish
April 20, 2026(Review copy courtesy of Recorded Books, Inc., Kate Milford, and NetGalley.)
DNF @ 31%
I wanted to like this book so badly, you've got no idea. Abandoned amusement park?! Sign! Me! Up!
Unfortunately, the reading experience was painful. I spent days clawing for inches, almost entirely because of the audio. So… let’s start there.
Audio-Specific 🎧: 15 hours, 20 minutes. Eleanor McCormick is not it. It took until the 11% mark before I could even tell the two sisters apart, largely because McCormick makes almost everyone in this book sound the same. And her accent work is spotty at best. (Ex. The Italian accent was rough. I couldn't place it at first, and even once I knew what it was supposed to be, it kept slipping into something else entirely.)
I became so frustrated that I bumped the speed from 1.25x to 2x just to force progress. Obviously, that was impossible to follow, which meant rewinding and re-listening anyway. At 20%, I checked out the ebook and read it myself. (I’ve literally never had to do that before.) But my print stamina is limited, and eventually… it was back to audio. Which led to the DNF.
As for the story itself…
Kate Milford is clearly talented, and the care and research show. She even has a character drop the “positive anymore,” which is a personal delight of mine! It’s one of the weirdest, most delightful Missouri speech quirks. (“Anymore, you hear it’s just a broken down thing in the woods.”)
And I’m still SO INTERESTED in the mysteries. Jess and Remy, the bequests, the amends, the abandoned park… yes. Please.
But in addition to the audio, there was Dahlia. I just couldn’t with her; could not be in her head for another eleven hours.
I made myself sit with that for a while. Was it because of her anxiety? (It’s realistically written, and I appreciate the techniques she uses to get through an attack.) But Dahlia constantly ‘mind-reads’ Ivy — assumes her thoughts, reacts to those assumptions, and treats her accordingly. No one ever says, “Talk to your sister. Use your big girl words. Stop treating her like ass and then maybe she can give you what you need.” The anxiety spiral feels real, fam. The communication failure feeding it feels real. It’s supposed to be that way… It’s just a lot.
There were two craft flags that also pulled me out. First, Dr. Mun is called a psychiatrist, but psychiatrists are prescribing doctors who typically do short med-management sessions, not ongoing multi-session family therapy. Second, the family encourages Ivy to see the same therapist as her sister in private sessions, which made me incredibly uncomfortable. That’s a significant ethical violation. Both girls deserve their own therapists.
That said, I found Dahlia’s therapy session very realistic, and I appreciated that the book normalizes therapy. That’s so important for teens and tweens to read!
📌 TL;DR: I regret not being able to finish this story and I hope it finds its perfect readers.
DNF @ 31%
I wanted to like this book so badly, you've got no idea. Abandoned amusement park?! Sign! Me! Up!
Unfortunately, the reading experience was painful. I spent days clawing for inches, almost entirely because of the audio. So… let’s start there.
Audio-Specific 🎧: 15 hours, 20 minutes. Eleanor McCormick is not it. It took until the 11% mark before I could even tell the two sisters apart, largely because McCormick makes almost everyone in this book sound the same. And her accent work is spotty at best. (Ex. The Italian accent was rough. I couldn't place it at first, and even once I knew what it was supposed to be, it kept slipping into something else entirely.)
I became so frustrated that I bumped the speed from 1.25x to 2x just to force progress. Obviously, that was impossible to follow, which meant rewinding and re-listening anyway. At 20%, I checked out the ebook and read it myself. (I’ve literally never had to do that before.) But my print stamina is limited, and eventually… it was back to audio. Which led to the DNF.
As for the story itself…
Kate Milford is clearly talented, and the care and research show. She even has a character drop the “positive anymore,” which is a personal delight of mine! It’s one of the weirdest, most delightful Missouri speech quirks. (“Anymore, you hear it’s just a broken down thing in the woods.”)
And I’m still SO INTERESTED in the mysteries. Jess and Remy, the bequests, the amends, the abandoned park… yes. Please.
But in addition to the audio, there was Dahlia. I just couldn’t with her; could not be in her head for another eleven hours.
I made myself sit with that for a while. Was it because of her anxiety? (It’s realistically written, and I appreciate the techniques she uses to get through an attack.) But Dahlia constantly ‘mind-reads’ Ivy — assumes her thoughts, reacts to those assumptions, and treats her accordingly. No one ever says, “Talk to your sister. Use your big girl words. Stop treating her like ass and then maybe she can give you what you need.” The anxiety spiral feels real, fam. The communication failure feeding it feels real. It’s supposed to be that way… It’s just a lot.
There were two craft flags that also pulled me out. First, Dr. Mun is called a psychiatrist, but psychiatrists are prescribing doctors who typically do short med-management sessions, not ongoing multi-session family therapy. Second, the family encourages Ivy to see the same therapist as her sister in private sessions, which made me incredibly uncomfortable. That’s a significant ethical violation. Both girls deserve their own therapists.
That said, I found Dahlia’s therapy session very realistic, and I appreciated that the book normalizes therapy. That’s so important for teens and tweens to read!
📌 TL;DR: I regret not being able to finish this story and I hope it finds its perfect readers.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
4.5 Thank you author for writing this one. As an artist with severe anxiety who grew up having to leave my condition at home not to upset others, I felt seen. How much better it would have been growing up if I had read this book as a tween. where parents see, understand, and respect the child's needs and differences. Both sisters have their parents' support. having different needs.
I qualify this type of fantasy more towards urban paranormal and magic realism than hard-core epic worldbuilding. It has a great slow pacing for readers who want family relatable issues, relationships, mystery solving, dreamy creative surreal imagery, and paranormal vibes.
I read it as an audio the book may seem long to some who need action plot driven happening at every paragraph, perhaps the audio format can add more urgency to their necessities. Pairing the audio with the book makes it perfect for vocabulary, accent and immersion.
I qualify this type of fantasy more towards urban paranormal and magic realism than hard-core epic worldbuilding. It has a great slow pacing for readers who want family relatable issues, relationships, mystery solving, dreamy creative surreal imagery, and paranormal vibes.
I read it as an audio the book may seem long to some who need action plot driven happening at every paragraph, perhaps the audio format can add more urgency to their necessities. Pairing the audio with the book makes it perfect for vocabulary, accent and immersion.
April 9, 2026
This book is fantastic! I love the sense of magic and wonder created within. The setting is enchanting! I was drawn by the stunning cover and the story did not disappoint. In Rialto, we are transported to a small town in the middle of the woods that is home to an abandoned theme park with a magical mystery. It is absolutely wonderful!
The characters are fantastic as well. I really enjoyed the fact that the character who struggles with anxiety is presented as already having coping because she has been struggling with anxiety for a while and has been in therapy. She’s learned to set boundaries, take time when needed, practices grounding exercises, and so on. I think seeing a character with established coping skills is awesome in a book for this audience. I also love that she could check in with trusted adults.
Overall this book was great! I am excited to share this one with my kids!
The characters are fantastic as well. I really enjoyed the fact that the character who struggles with anxiety is presented as already having coping because she has been struggling with anxiety for a while and has been in therapy. She’s learned to set boundaries, take time when needed, practices grounding exercises, and so on. I think seeing a character with established coping skills is awesome in a book for this audience. I also love that she could check in with trusted adults.
Overall this book was great! I am excited to share this one with my kids!
April 23, 2026
Rialto is an atmospheric and engaging middle grade mystery that blends family dynamics, subtle fantasy, and an intriguing sense of place.
Kate Milford builds a layered narrative around sisters Ivy and Dahlia, whose differing emotional worlds shape how they experience the strange town of Rialto. The abandoned amusement park and surrounding mysteries create a compelling backdrop that slowly unfolds with a balance of wonder and suspense.
What stands out most is its atmosphere. The setting feels immersive and unusual, supporting both the emotional growth of the characters and the unfolding mystery at the heart of the story.
Thoughtful, imaginative, and gently mysterious, Rialto is a strong read for fans of middle grade fiction with magical realism and adventure elements.
Kate Milford builds a layered narrative around sisters Ivy and Dahlia, whose differing emotional worlds shape how they experience the strange town of Rialto. The abandoned amusement park and surrounding mysteries create a compelling backdrop that slowly unfolds with a balance of wonder and suspense.
What stands out most is its atmosphere. The setting feels immersive and unusual, supporting both the emotional growth of the characters and the unfolding mystery at the heart of the story.
Thoughtful, imaginative, and gently mysterious, Rialto is a strong read for fans of middle grade fiction with magical realism and adventure elements.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
It took me a while to warm up to Rialto, but once I did, I was committed. Kate Milford's Rialto is one of those YA titles that gets us to look at a "might-be" world that still has time for occasional magic, if only we pay attention.
The novel is populated with eccentrics of all types, which made for fun reading. And an amusement park consumed by a forest in a single night? Score! Milford takes her time with the world-building, tantalizing us with small bits of magic as the novel progresses.
If you like novels that leave you feeling hopeful, Rialto will leave you satisfied I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher; the opinions are my own.
The novel is populated with eccentrics of all types, which made for fun reading. And an amusement park consumed by a forest in a single night? Score! Milford takes her time with the world-building, tantalizing us with small bits of magic as the novel progresses.
If you like novels that leave you feeling hopeful, Rialto will leave you satisfied I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher; the opinions are my own.
April 19, 2026
Thank you NetGalley! I’m not sure how to begin. The book is classified for middle grade, but I don’t see it. I found it very slow going and don’t believe it would hold a younger reader’s interest. So many ideas and characters muddy the story. If I break down the story to its basic components, it sounds great yet it was a challenge to stay engaged. 2 young girls travel with their parents to Rialto and find a town hidden within a forest and apparently secrets. Magic, mystery, crushes, it was just too much and I found it hard to keep my interest with the fairly robust cast of vague characters and the slow beginning it just didn’t come together.
December 27, 2025
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. Sometimes you find magic and the unexpected when you’re not looking. I felt like the book had a slow start but picked up. I enjoyed trying to figure out these characters and what part they played in the story. I like how the kids work together to figure out what’s going on and keep at it. The places the kids had to visit in Rialto made me chuckle. It was interesting to try to figure out what some of the businesses were based on the names. A whimsical, fun read!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Review of advanced copy received from Netgalley
Rialto was incredibly charming. Whimsical, original, and full of beautifully lush, descriptive writing, it was one of those stories you’re immediately transported into. What stood out to me the most was the very honest and realistic portrayal of anxiety and mental illness. It’s so important for media, especially children’s media, to portray therapy and mental health openly and without bias. The audiobook’s narrator was excellent and brought all of Rialto to life. I will definitely be reading more from this author in the future.
Rialto was incredibly charming. Whimsical, original, and full of beautifully lush, descriptive writing, it was one of those stories you’re immediately transported into. What stood out to me the most was the very honest and realistic portrayal of anxiety and mental illness. It’s so important for media, especially children’s media, to portray therapy and mental health openly and without bias. The audiobook’s narrator was excellent and brought all of Rialto to life. I will definitely be reading more from this author in the future.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
This has such an original and enthralling premise and an excellent setting. It’s quite complex for a middle grade book, so I think it will do best on the upper end of that spectrum or with readers undaunted by a large page count. I thought the mental health aspect of this was particularly well done and I especially liked the themes of kids gaining agency by fighting for access to information as they solve a mystery that adults are trying to keep hidden from them.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
Rialto is rich and decadent (in a good way), with layers upon layers of what is happening. There are stories within stories within stories, as well as callbacks to classic books. If you love magical realism, this is a must read. It is long but worth it. I did feel that Ivy felt a lot younger than 14, and more like Dahlia's younger sister than her older sister. Highly recommended for grades 4 & up.
eARC provided by publisher via Edelweiss
eARC provided by publisher via Edelweiss
Did Not Finish
April 23, 2026I DNF'd this book, not because of anything wrong with it. But fantasy is just not my thing. When I picked it up I was attracted by the beautiful cover and thought I should stretch myself in my reading selections. I got through the first 100 pages but couldn't continue. I'm sure many others will love this book.
Did Not Finish
April 3, 2026I really wanted to like this book, but dnf’d it around 60% of the way through. It was a really neat premise, but the pacing was too slow and I found it hard to relate to any of the characters. 450+ pages makes for a very long middle grade book, especially when it is slow paced.
Review of advance copy
Absolutely magical.
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
Excellent. Very well written.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
A world of imagination and magic and wonder. :-) It’s a thicker book, so those fantasy-loving middle grade readers of longer stories would be your go-tos for this one!
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