Book Review: How To Be Brave by Daisy May Johnson

Happy Monday bookish people! It’s Monday and today is my spot on the book tour for How To Be Brave by Daisy May Johnson. Thank you to Poppy Stimpson for having me on this tour.

In this book review I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little about each one. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible. I hope you enjoy my book review.

Onto the review!

How To Be Brave Plot:

The plot of this book was reminiscent of so many books that I read throughout my childhood, books like the Naughtiest Girl at School, Malory Towers, books with boarding schools as the setting. They were some of my favourites, there is something very intriguing about a boarding school and everything that goes on there, so I was especially excited to get to read this book. I loved that this story let the reader see some of the Mother, Elizabeth’s, story before focusing on the daughter Calla and her experience at the school. I loved that the duck (it will make sense if you read the book) was a thread that the author used to link all the stories together. This book is filled with fun, friendship and adventure that kept me hooked from beginning to end.

How To Be Brave Characters:

The characters in this book are well written and interesting. I found myself wanting them to succeed with their plans. I liked that this book was written in third person because it helped me to view the whole scene as well as the characters. I felt that this was one of the reasons I became so recruited to the characters.

How To Be Brave Writing and Dialogue:

I didn’t enjoy this part of the book as much, I still enjoyed it but this book has footnotes on some of the pages and for me I found this difficult to navigate but that is only my opinion, otherwise they add humour and I can see how they would help the reader understand some parts of the story. I also felt the pacing was a little fast for my reading style.

How To Be Brave Overall:

I gave this book four stars overall because it was a fun, quick read full of heart and with a focus on family and friendships that I really enjoyed.

Blurb/Synopsis:

Calla North and her mother Elizabeth live a quiet but happy life together. Elizabeth happens to be the world’s leading expert on ducks—but unfortunately, being an expert on ducks doesn’t always pay the bills (no pun intended).

When Elizabeth is offered a well-paid research trip to the Amazon, it’s an opportunity too good to miss. But while her mother’s off exploring, Calla winds up at boarding school. No adventures are likely to find her there—or so she thinks.

Then Calla receives the terrible news that her mother’s plane has gone missing. Can Calla, her friends, and a motley crew of nuns defeat an evil new headmistress and find Elizabeth before it’s too late?

That’s it for this book review, I hope you all enjoyed it!