The Tiara on the Terrace (Young and Yang #2) by Kristen Kittscher Book Review

In this funny, clever novel, perfect for fans of Pseudonymous Bosch and Gordon Korman and a companion to The Wig in the Window, tween sleuths Sophie Young and Grace Yang go undercover at Luna Vista's Winter Sun Festival to catch a murderer before he—or she—strikes again.

Sophie Young and Grace Yang have been taking it easy ever since they solved the biggest crime Luna Vista had ever seen. But things might get interesting again now that everyone is gearing up for the 125th annual Winter Sun Festival—a town tradition that involves floats, a parade, and a Royal Court made up of local high school girls.

When Festival president Jim Steptoe turns up dead on the first day of parade preparations, the police blame a malfunctioning giant s'more feature on the campfire-themed float. But the two sleuths are convinced the mysterious death wasn't an accident.
Young and Yang must trade their high tops for high heels and infiltrate the Royal Court to solve the case. But if they fail, they might just be the next victims.

Hello Loves!

So today’s review is of a fun middle grade read I had the pleasure of reading a while back. I was able to borrow an ARC from my workplace and ended up reading this one pretty quickly. Check out below for more on the book & my thoughts on it!

Also, if you’re sort on time, then check out my Need to Know section for a quick summary of my review!

Ownership: Borrowed an ARC from my workplace
Genre: MG mystery
Publisher: Harper
Published: 2016 
Pages: 388
Price: $16.99 (hardcover);
Place: Amazon, B & N, Book Depository, GoodReads, IndieBound

My Rating:

The Tiara on the Terrace by Kristen Kittscher follows Sophie Young and Grace Yang–two best friends who’ve just recently finished solving Luna Vista’s biggest crime. Now the two are trying to enjoy the upcoming Winter Sun Festival activities, that is until they come across another crime mystery! Young and Yang team up again to try and solve the latest mystery to hit Luna Vista–the murder of Festival president Jim Steptoe. In order to do so, the two girls join the Royal Court as royal pages. Amidst fashion emergencies, float decoration and figuring out how to walk in high heels, Young and Yang must also try to find the killer!

Not having read the first book in this series, I was unsure if I’d be missing any details. However, Kittscher does a great job of adding in some summarization of the first book. I quickly picked up on who most of the characters were and was introduced to new players as well. (I’ll definitely be going back to read the first book though!). So, it’s not necessary to read the books in order to understand and enjoy this mystery.

Young and Yang are great main characters! The story is told from Sophie’s point of view, but readers get to see a lot of Grace as well. It was great seeing the characters develop together. Like all friendships, their relationship hits some snags along the way, but the two of them ban together (with the help of some friends) to solve the mystery. I really enjoyed Kittscher’s focus on friendship. Coming from reading mainly YA, friendship isn’t always a focus in a lot of the books I’ve read. It seems Middle Grade tends to focus more on friendship–which I appreciate.

Kittscher has definitely created well developed characters that readers will enjoy and connect with. I found a lot of the instances that Sophie and Grace went through to be similar things I went through as a young teenager/tween. Sophie has her first crush; Grace develops new interests like fashion which draws the eyes of the “popular” crowd. Trista, Sophie & Grace’s friend and new mystery-solving partner, is into mechanics and engineering. All three girls are growing and struggling through the first years of adolesence  while also retaining their childhood innocence/nature. I felt that Kittscher did a great job of capturing this age–twelve/thirteen years old. She also did a great job of making the characters unique with their own clear voice.

The mystery part of the book was also well done. While I had some inclinations on who it was, it did take me some time to actually figure it out. There were multiple possibilities, but I’m happy I figured it out before the girls did 🙂 All that Criminal Minds, NCIS/CIS and Law & Order has done me well over the years haha. But seriously, the mystery aspect of the novel was suspenseful and entertaining. It added a lot to the pacing of the novel. I felt like I read through this one very quick. If you like faster paced novels with mystery then I’d definitely recommend this title.

Overall, I found this book a quick and delightful read. I’m slowly reading more mystery and was glad that I picked this one up. I’ve been recommending the series to some of the customers coming into the shop, so I’d definitely recommend this to anyone interested in mystery or even contemporary. I think readers around 10+ would really like this book. I mean I’m in my 20’s and I really liked this book haha. So yup, if you’re looking for an easy read with a great young girl POV as well as a strong female POV with some mystery and suspense thrown in, then definitely pick this one up! I’m going to be reading the first one and anticipating any future ones!

• The Tiara on the Terrace by Kristen Kittscher follows Sophie Young and Grace Yang–two best friends who’ve just recently finished solving Luna Vista’s biggest crime. Now the two are trying to enjoy the upcoming Winter Sun Festival activities, that is until they come across another crime mystery!
• Young and Yang are great main characters! The story is told from Sophie’s point of view, but readers get to see a lot of Grace as well. It was great seeing the characters develop together & seeing the book focus on friendship as well as the mystery.
• Kittscher has definitely created well developed characters that readers will enjoy and connect with. I found a lot of the instances that Sophie and Grace went through to be similar things I went through as a young teenager/tween. I felt that Kittscher did a great job of capturing this age–twelve/thirteen years old.
• The mystery aspect of the novel was suspenseful and entertaining. It added a lot to the pacing of the novel. I felt like I read through this one very quick.
• 4 STARS! – Overall, I found this book a quick and delightful read. If you’re looking for an easy read with a great young girl POV as well as a strong female POV with some mystery and suspense thrown in, then definitely pick this one up!

Thanks for stopping by! Let me know if you’ve read this book and your thoughts on Young and Yang and their mystery-solving skills! Did you figure out who committed the crime? Have a favorite quote or scene? Looking to read or recommend more middle grade mystery? Let me know in the comments below! 🙂

As always, Happy Reading!

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