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The Wielder Diaries #1
The Wielder Diaries: My Crystal
"Please...Please come back..."
Those words ring in her ears as she awakens. A strange band of characters call her Kayla, a name she's forgotten along her life filled with transforming animals, magic, and dragons. Anybody would want to remember such an exciting life, yet, there seems to be a truth no one wants to share, WHY it's important Kayla remembers. With a mystical book in hand, she races against time to recall her adventures she shared with her family and friends in this first installment of The Wielder Diaries series, My Crystal .
Those words ring in her ears as she awakens. A strange band of characters call her Kayla, a name she's forgotten along her life filled with transforming animals, magic, and dragons. Anybody would want to remember such an exciting life, yet, there seems to be a truth no one wants to share, WHY it's important Kayla remembers. With a mystical book in hand, she races against time to recall her adventures she shared with her family and friends in this first installment of The Wielder Diaries series, My Crystal .
324 pages, Paperback
First published September 10, 2015
About the author
Ashley Scheller
8 books117 followersScheller has many hats. Educator by day and artist by night, if she isn’t sketching new creations in her notebook she loves to write. Residing with her family in Iowa, she also enjoys connecting with her community about a variety of topics in her blog and cannot wait to deliver the next installment of her current series.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 14, 2021
A friend of a friend told me to read this as a joke. It was. If I could rate it 0 stars I would; however, this author needs to re-examine the writing BEFORE publication. It is not acceptable in our current world (see below). The author needs to refund patrons and take this book off the market. There is no plot. There is no descriptive writing to determine which character is which looking the childlike sketches posted on Instagram. On top of that there are so many typos, formatting inconsistencies, and sentence structure issues that make me question if the writer graduated 5th grade.
Elements that need to be addressed are:
-white colonizers and their actions in the story
-evident racism
-evident pedophiliac/grooming relationships
-White colonizers
-Typos
-Constant use of Tildas
-Racist microagressive language towards poc characters
-Rip off of popular children's media
-Questionable child mentor relationships
-Indistinguishable character language
-2d characters, share 1 personality
-Main character not likeable and didn't seem like a child
-No one acted their age
-2/3s of the way through, no main plot to speak of
-Jumps back and forth in time for no reason.
-Character voice is annoying and inconsistent
-Morals of story being said instead taught to main character
-Cast of characters is not diverse despite promises.
-Cast of main characters is way too big.
I will update when there is more to say
Update 4/13/21: There is a second book. There shouldn’t be.
If your only non-binary character is the villain... you see how that is incredibly problematic???!!!
Elements that need to be addressed are:
-white colonizers and their actions in the story
-evident racism
-evident pedophiliac/grooming relationships
-White colonizers
-Typos
-Constant use of Tildas
-Racist microagressive language towards poc characters
-Rip off of popular children's media
-Questionable child mentor relationships
-Indistinguishable character language
-2d characters, share 1 personality
-Main character not likeable and didn't seem like a child
-No one acted their age
-2/3s of the way through, no main plot to speak of
-Jumps back and forth in time for no reason.
-Character voice is annoying and inconsistent
-Morals of story being said instead taught to main character
-Cast of characters is not diverse despite promises.
-Cast of main characters is way too big.
I will update when there is more to say
Update 4/13/21: There is a second book. There shouldn’t be.
If your only non-binary character is the villain... you see how that is incredibly problematic???!!!
April 21, 2021
If you are looking for a white saviour narrative taming the savage animals, this is the book for you! If you are looking for two cis men discussing how to out the only trans character, this is for you! The main character manages to kill the king of the animals that magically happen to be people of colour, and then nothing happens! I highly recommend this book to anyone who has no sense of social literacy or the ramifications of equating people of colour with animals. Wonderful for white, cishet people looking to pass the time while squatting over a toilet.
December 20, 2022
is it possible to rate this 0 stars? this book is bizarre, racist, and transphobic. White female lead with a saviour complex wielding control over shapeshifters that are POC. The (questionable) plot is filled with micro aggressions against POC, grooming, pedophilic relationships, questionable bonds between children and adults..
April 25, 2021
disgusting. can’t believe this was written by a teacher. a shame for all of those who truly care about trans children.
April 28, 2021
I feel like my thoughts are echoed repeatedly in the other reviews for this ARC. I signed up to review this book with high hopes. As a writer myself, I understand that there are often hard pills that we have to swallow when we open ourselves up to criticism. However, this author not only dry-swallowed those pills but threw away the entire bottle in the process. The author, despite opening herself up to feedback, has not been open to constructive criticism at all. In doing this, she has alienated all of her minority readers who have expressed their discomfort with certain portrayals. But let's be completely clear — even if the author had not done these things, her work would not be held in high regard by me personally.
Beyond the glaringly problematic elements of the story, I would highly suggest that the author seek out a professional editor. The author has a terrible tendency to switch which voice (active or passive) that she is writing in. This makes the book hard to read. However, that's not even the tip of the iceberg when it comes to grammatical criticisms that I could make regarding this book. Perhaps my biggest criticism of the author's writing (ignoring literally everything else) is her excessive use of tildes (~). I have never read a book with such gratuitous use of improper characters for what I not-so-lovingly refer to as "uwu-ization". Combine these blatant grammar mistakes with the plot, and you have something out of an animalistic written RP that I might have engaged in when I was twelve.
Despite all of this, I will say that the meat of my criticism regarding this authors' story, is the abundance of microaggressions that are present within the work. Whether this was the intention or not, for the author to have touted this series as "diverse", and "having nonbinary characters", there really wasn't any positive representation. I am not the type of person to immediately condemn someone for what COULD be construed as a stereotype. However, when that stereotype leads to ALL of the anthropomorphic animals being POC, and no one else, then I start to wonder if there are red flags present. As for the nonbinary representation, I found it truly upsetting that the author's best attempt at including such a character would be at the expense of cis people.
Final verdict: I'm tired of authors creating problematic stories and not taking accountability for them. We all have problems, and that's not an excuse to silence the voices of those whose opinions matter, or to shove off your responsibility to the world that you have created. Do better.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Beyond the glaringly problematic elements of the story, I would highly suggest that the author seek out a professional editor. The author has a terrible tendency to switch which voice (active or passive) that she is writing in. This makes the book hard to read. However, that's not even the tip of the iceberg when it comes to grammatical criticisms that I could make regarding this book. Perhaps my biggest criticism of the author's writing (ignoring literally everything else) is her excessive use of tildes (~). I have never read a book with such gratuitous use of improper characters for what I not-so-lovingly refer to as "uwu-ization". Combine these blatant grammar mistakes with the plot, and you have something out of an animalistic written RP that I might have engaged in when I was twelve.
Despite all of this, I will say that the meat of my criticism regarding this authors' story, is the abundance of microaggressions that are present within the work. Whether this was the intention or not, for the author to have touted this series as "diverse", and "having nonbinary characters", there really wasn't any positive representation. I am not the type of person to immediately condemn someone for what COULD be construed as a stereotype. However, when that stereotype leads to ALL of the anthropomorphic animals being POC, and no one else, then I start to wonder if there are red flags present. As for the nonbinary representation, I found it truly upsetting that the author's best attempt at including such a character would be at the expense of cis people.
Final verdict: I'm tired of authors creating problematic stories and not taking accountability for them. We all have problems, and that's not an excuse to silence the voices of those whose opinions matter, or to shove off your responsibility to the world that you have created. Do better.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
October 27, 2015
I received this book in exchange of an honest review. I liked reading this book. I Fell in love with the shapeshifting animals. Oddly though, but in the middle I had some issue reading, but I pushed through. Luckily...
May 2, 2021
I really enjoyed this book. I received this book as an ARC book but bought it anyway that way I can go back anytime and re-read it. To me this is a young girl coming of age type book. A young girl is dropped into another realm and in doing so all of the creatures in that realm take on human type features. The creatures of the realm are animals.
This book starts out with a Lion King vibe but changes into a young heroine coming into her powers type of book. Kayla the heroin of the book learns that she is a prophesied Saqui and is destined to save her new family as well as her human family from the dark shadow that has taken over the lands. This happened when through events Kayla and her guardians fall asleep and the lands do as well.
The book starts when she wakes and is given a Folk-in ( diary) that tells her about her life. Because when Kayla wakes she has no memory as to what had happened to her. I will let you as a reader finish the rest because I do not want to give anymore away. This a good book and I know there are more in this series. I will defiantly be reading this to my grandson when he is a bit older.
This book starts out with a Lion King vibe but changes into a young heroine coming into her powers type of book. Kayla the heroin of the book learns that she is a prophesied Saqui and is destined to save her new family as well as her human family from the dark shadow that has taken over the lands. This happened when through events Kayla and her guardians fall asleep and the lands do as well.
The book starts when she wakes and is given a Folk-in ( diary) that tells her about her life. Because when Kayla wakes she has no memory as to what had happened to her. I will let you as a reader finish the rest because I do not want to give anymore away. This a good book and I know there are more in this series. I will defiantly be reading this to my grandson when he is a bit older.
June 29, 2021
I really enjoyed this story. It reminded me of several children's movies such as the Jungle Book, Lion King, or Dr. Doolittle. An assortment of intelligent African animals have formed five peaceful tribes. In to this paradise comes a growing darkness. The protagonist is, Kayla, a little girl with no memory of who she is, her past, or those who care about her. Like a normal elementary aged child, she has strong emotions. It turns out she has god like powers and doesn't know it at first. She is terrifyingly dangerous to everyone and everything around her until she learns how to control her power. It is a hero's journey plot. Her magic talisman is a crystal covered book. There is a loyal band of comrades. There are good and bad dragons, battles, animals that Kayla can change into humanoid forms of their original species. Finally, like the curious, naive child Kayla is, she releases an imprisoned ancient evil.
I recommend this delightful story that even includes a pillow fight.
I recommend this delightful story that even includes a pillow fight.
October 25, 2021
I wasn’t sure about this book after reading the reviews but after finishing it I just couldn’t understand why! This is a fun read. Never ending story meets Chronicles of Narnia genre, it kept me smiling through out the entire story. I enjoyed the lightness and I recommend it for those who want to just sit back and enjoy the ride.
February 23, 2023
Ashley is a fun author with a sense of imagination. This story is full of whismpy,twists and turn with a sense of lion long. Fun story! It took me a couple times to get my bearings straight with what's happening but over all enjoyed it.
July 1, 2023
The Wielder Diaries: My Crystal is a great read for fans of fantasy adventure novels and it is sure to keep you entertained from beginning to end. There is a loyal band of comrades within this epic fantasy novel and it is the characters who really bring out the fun in this novel.
May 30, 2021
Theirs a lot of happy times and a lot of heart jerking moments that make you want to turn the page to find out why and what happened.
March 31, 2022
This book was an enjoyable read. A fantasy tale about Kayla, a young girl who awakens from a long sleep and realizes she possesses a past that she doesn’t remember. Kayla also has magical powers she doesn’t understand. The author uses entertaining dialogue to tell a fascinating tale. Ashley's debut novel is insightful, colorful and is a wonderful journey of a girl trying to find herself and the powers she possess.
June 17, 2023
absolutely loved this book the world building made me feel like i was in the story myself so glad that i read it, it was so worth it
June 30, 2024
This book was a little weird, which is okay, I just wasn’t expecting it to be like what it was. The story was alright but it felt a bit young.
May 21, 2023
I personally love the found family trope, it’s the best, and this book has it in spades. Heck, Kayla’s story is all about her family and remembering them. An interracial adoption and creating a family from friends. The interactions between the rest of the cast also really gives the feeling of family. The interactions between all of the characters are great, you can see they have history and are trying to help someone very important to them all. Yes, one of the young kids does have a crush on one of the other young kids and there is an accidental kiss I found cute and innocent, but that’s all.
The story structure was also an interesting part of the book. As mentioned above, part of Kayla’s story is remembering her family. The way Scheller has Kayla do this is to read the titular Wielder Diary, the magical diary that records her life. When Kayla is reading these parts so are we, it’s diegetic! It means that the story will flow from the present to the past and right back to the present. It’s such an interesting way to tell a story and helps to keep the reader on their toes.
This book does wear its love of other media on its sleeve, know that if it isn’t your cup of tea. Yes, there are nods to the "Lion King", but having nods to favorite series seems to be a thing writers of all types are doing, looking at you "Steven Universe" and "Dragon Prince". There are other nods in here to anime I’ve noticed, which I love seeing as well. Speaking of Dragons, without giving anything too big away, they are one of the most interesting depictions of dragons I’ve read in a while.
TL/DR: Great story for young and old, found family/adoption trope, time flow is not linear, and pop culture reference. If you like any of these things give this a read. Oh, and OP young girl is the main character.
The story structure was also an interesting part of the book. As mentioned above, part of Kayla’s story is remembering her family. The way Scheller has Kayla do this is to read the titular Wielder Diary, the magical diary that records her life. When Kayla is reading these parts so are we, it’s diegetic! It means that the story will flow from the present to the past and right back to the present. It’s such an interesting way to tell a story and helps to keep the reader on their toes.
This book does wear its love of other media on its sleeve, know that if it isn’t your cup of tea. Yes, there are nods to the "Lion King", but having nods to favorite series seems to be a thing writers of all types are doing, looking at you "Steven Universe" and "Dragon Prince". There are other nods in here to anime I’ve noticed, which I love seeing as well. Speaking of Dragons, without giving anything too big away, they are one of the most interesting depictions of dragons I’ve read in a while.
TL/DR: Great story for young and old, found family/adoption trope, time flow is not linear, and pop culture reference. If you like any of these things give this a read. Oh, and OP young girl is the main character.
June 3, 2023
A wonderful fantasy-filled adventure with loveable characters and an intriguing plot. I enjoyed entering this world the author created and look forward to the next books in the series.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews