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Entangled
When Tia wins an art prize trip to Venice her older brother, Thomas, is delighted to go with her as family support because Tia is blind, even though his clumsiness causes its own issues.
But then Tia disappears and Thomas is sure she has been kidnapped. With no one to believe him, Thomas sets out alone at night to find his sister through the carnival-filled streets and dark canals of the floating city, where he uncovers a hair-raising conspiracy.
But then Tia disappears and Thomas is sure she has been kidnapped. With no one to believe him, Thomas sets out alone at night to find his sister through the carnival-filled streets and dark canals of the floating city, where he uncovers a hair-raising conspiracy.
Unknown Binding
Published April 2, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 21, 2026
This was a combination of my least favourite middle grade trope (the adults are all incompetent or evil), with impressively poor neurodiveristy representation.
The premise of this book, where is sounds like the blind Tia is going to be a main character, on an adventure around Venice, sounded so promising. And I will admit, I can see that the author took a lot of care in making the setting come through in the writing. However, Tia is very much a side character, and not even the central side character for the majority of the book. Instead, we get her brother Thomas (more on him in a second), and the perfect can-do-everything Affie.
The plot really didn't work for me here, because it is reliant on the fact that every single adult they encounter being either fully, laughably incompetent, or fully evil. And I cannot stand when middle grade books rely on this trope to make the plot work, because all it's doing is teaching children that they can't trust adults or people in authority... Which is dangerous.
Now, Thomas. I spent 90% of the book thinking that he's neurodivergent - he struggles to understand other people's emotions, he compares everything to atoms, has a special interest in the brain, and is very clumsy. You feel it, right? But no, it turns out that he's only like this, and specifically only clumsy, because his sister is blind.... Excuse me? Apparently, according to 10 year old Affie, it's because he's feeling bad for Tia that he is 'pretending' to be clumsy... And then he magically stops being clumsy! I have no words.
Plus, up until that point, he spends the entire book calling himself "a clumsy idiot", which isn't exactly a positive, encouraging message for the clumsy kids out there... Especially when the only 'fix' is him magically stopping being clumsy!
So, in summary... No. Just no.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eArc.
The premise of this book, where is sounds like the blind Tia is going to be a main character, on an adventure around Venice, sounded so promising. And I will admit, I can see that the author took a lot of care in making the setting come through in the writing. However, Tia is very much a side character, and not even the central side character for the majority of the book. Instead, we get her brother Thomas (more on him in a second), and the perfect can-do-everything Affie.
The plot really didn't work for me here, because it is reliant on the fact that every single adult they encounter being either fully, laughably incompetent, or fully evil. And I cannot stand when middle grade books rely on this trope to make the plot work, because all it's doing is teaching children that they can't trust adults or people in authority... Which is dangerous.
Now, Thomas. I spent 90% of the book thinking that he's neurodivergent - he struggles to understand other people's emotions, he compares everything to atoms, has a special interest in the brain, and is very clumsy. You feel it, right? But no, it turns out that he's only like this, and specifically only clumsy, because his sister is blind.... Excuse me? Apparently, according to 10 year old Affie, it's because he's feeling bad for Tia that he is 'pretending' to be clumsy... And then he magically stops being clumsy! I have no words.
Plus, up until that point, he spends the entire book calling himself "a clumsy idiot", which isn't exactly a positive, encouraging message for the clumsy kids out there... Especially when the only 'fix' is him magically stopping being clumsy!
So, in summary... No. Just no.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eArc.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I received an eARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. It has not affected my opinions.
ENTANGLED is an adventure across Venice as a brother tries to find his missing sister.
MG mysteries rarely centre murders - certainly not as frequently as YA and adult novels do - and it's nice to get that variety of different mysteries. Plus MG mysteries aren't as dark, the motives less horrifying, which makes them nice breathers. You have all the tension of whodunnit but without the grim subject matter.
I really liked that this book focused on a brother-sister pair. I really like it when books focus on positive siblings relationships (mine was definitely most fractious at this age - we're fine now!) There are tensions that the book explores, but it comes from too much love and needing to give the other a bit of room.
Thomas, to me, read as neurodiverse. He's super interested in the brain and his thoughts ping about and he's also not very coordinated. It's so nice to find ND characters in books who are the heroes - it's important not just so ND kids can see themselves but also to build empathy.
Tia is a blind character and a fabulous artist. It's great to see disabilities handled so sensitivity in fiction, and that it doesn't define her. We need more books like this that centre characters with disabilities without making them objects of pity.
ENTANGLED is an adventure across Venice as a brother tries to find his missing sister.
MG mysteries rarely centre murders - certainly not as frequently as YA and adult novels do - and it's nice to get that variety of different mysteries. Plus MG mysteries aren't as dark, the motives less horrifying, which makes them nice breathers. You have all the tension of whodunnit but without the grim subject matter.
I really liked that this book focused on a brother-sister pair. I really like it when books focus on positive siblings relationships (mine was definitely most fractious at this age - we're fine now!) There are tensions that the book explores, but it comes from too much love and needing to give the other a bit of room.
Thomas, to me, read as neurodiverse. He's super interested in the brain and his thoughts ping about and he's also not very coordinated. It's so nice to find ND characters in books who are the heroes - it's important not just so ND kids can see themselves but also to build empathy.
Tia is a blind character and a fabulous artist. It's great to see disabilities handled so sensitivity in fiction, and that it doesn't define her. We need more books like this that centre characters with disabilities without making them objects of pity.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
3.5 - 4 stars
Thanks to NetGalley and Firefly for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
This is my first of Emma's books but it sounded right up my street. I might be more than three times the reading age, but I was attracted by the bright cover and exciting blurb.
It has a blind main character and whilst she's not the hero of the story (that's her brother), it was so nice to see a disabled character used not just for comic effect or for tick boxing.
It's a short book, probably the correct length for the reading age target, but I'm old and greedy and I wanted more as it was fabulous.
It isn't heavy on detail, which is good as I don't think young readers want tons of detail and description, and yet she has manged to infuse it with such knowledge of Venice that it is absorbing.
I've been to Italy several times, but never to Venice, but this had everything I expect Venice to have (minus the kidnapping).
There's peril and danger and fear, there's action and adventure, exploration; it looks at friendships and sibling relationships, hardships, and overcoming obstacles. It's got something for everyone.
It finishes well and it doesn't necessarily lend itself to future instalments but I'd love to read more stories with Tia and Thomas.
I mean, it does get quite silly but that's okay, it was fun and I really enjoyed it.
I zoomed through it in a couple of hours and I think young readers are going to love it
Thanks to NetGalley and Firefly for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
This is my first of Emma's books but it sounded right up my street. I might be more than three times the reading age, but I was attracted by the bright cover and exciting blurb.
It has a blind main character and whilst she's not the hero of the story (that's her brother), it was so nice to see a disabled character used not just for comic effect or for tick boxing.
It's a short book, probably the correct length for the reading age target, but I'm old and greedy and I wanted more as it was fabulous.
It isn't heavy on detail, which is good as I don't think young readers want tons of detail and description, and yet she has manged to infuse it with such knowledge of Venice that it is absorbing.
I've been to Italy several times, but never to Venice, but this had everything I expect Venice to have (minus the kidnapping).
There's peril and danger and fear, there's action and adventure, exploration; it looks at friendships and sibling relationships, hardships, and overcoming obstacles. It's got something for everyone.
It finishes well and it doesn't necessarily lend itself to future instalments but I'd love to read more stories with Tia and Thomas.
I mean, it does get quite silly but that's okay, it was fun and I really enjoyed it.
I zoomed through it in a couple of hours and I think young readers are going to love it
April 11, 2026
This story somehow missed the mark. The premise is good, it's just the emotional "stuff" is a bit clunky. It tries too hard, and didn't flow well in my opinion.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews