Copy provided by Wakefield & Quincy Press through Netgalley

I have read some so called "middle grade" fantasy books, that would rightfully put to shame the more "adult oriented" ones.

From the writing, characters and plot, these authors are able to create amazing worlds, and characters that so far, have been able to stay away from ya and adult clichés.

This is not one of those cases.

I'll try to make this as concise as possible.

First of all, when i saw the cover, read the title, i honestly thought this would some whimsical little fantasy book about a magical purple girl. 

I was not expecting this to be some sort of profound wake up call to race discrimination issues, as the author may have intended... in a very small (delusional) way. 

The thing is, if this book was destined to open consciousness about racial discrimination?

It just crashed and burn!!

Because our little quirky character meets a young girl about her age who is:

 "Afraid of being seen, I turned my back to him and gazed the other way—where I spotted her. A gypsy girl! Just like the picture in my book…

The gypsy looked about my age, maybe a little older. Her long, straight hair was pulled back from her face, and large hoop rings dangled from her earlobes. When she spotted me, she stopped short. She mumbled to herself and waved her bony, ring-covered fingers through the air in a circular motion."

Gypsy is a racist word. 

The proper term is: Roma ou Romani

I'm surprised this passed the editing process. Especially in a book that is supposed to alert to racial problems.

Also, resorting to stereotypes regarding the romani characters was just, once again, racist.

What was this??

What's this supposed to "teach" young readers?

Regarding the writing, the story is told in a concise lackluster manner. 

There's no world building (England of Long Ago ? That's it?), no character development, nothing. The characters are just flat, relying in a bunch of clichés.

There's the baby, who was born purple, and that's it.

"Of course" people are "afraid of her", because she's different....

"Of course" the parents will try to protect her...

And "of course" than when a strange boys climbs the garden walls that confine her world sh falls madly deeply in love..as teens do, with their first love.

O_O

Middle grade or YA, this is the question.

Apparently YA.

An errand boy rushed by, carrying a parcel under each arm, the sun kissing his honey-blond hair.

His knuckles brushed my hand. I held my breath, but he didn’t notice the lavender tint creep across his knuckles…or he pretended not to. From the corner of my eye, I stole a look at him. His eyes were as clear as blue glass, and although he was thin, his chest was solid and strong and—

                              THIRTEEN YEARS OLD!!!!!

He leaned toward me, as if he might kiss me.

A thirteen year old girl would probably kick his ass! o_O Just saying....

“Trust me, you’re anything but ordinary,” he said, breaking into his usual smile. “You’re more like a babe in the woods, so unsuspecting—”