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Afia in the Land of Wonders: Book Review

Afia in the Land of Wonders is a middle grade fantasy book written and illustrated by Mia Araujo. It is inspired by Alice in Wonderland, and it was published this year, 2025. The story is about Afia, a sixteen-year-old girl who is dissatisfied with her life at home, a place called Dafra. Her mother and the rest of her family expect her to go through her ewende, which is her coming of age ceremony, and continue their crystal selling business. However, she yearns to explore the world, and wants more for her life. So when a young man named Bakame offers her an escape, she takes her chance and finds herself in the magical land of Ijábù. However, after being warned by a ghost boy named Ojike, she quickly discovers that not everything is as it seems, and she must escape this so-called “land of wonders.” The Non-Spoiler Review One thing I like about this book are the illustrations. Most of the images are fully colored and take up a page or two, while others are smaller pencil sketches. All o...

Creating My First Moodboards

After scrolling on Pinterest late into the night, I saw some moodboards and decided to try making some myself. I heard that some writers use moodboards to get ideas for their stories, so maybe the moodboards I made will give me inspiration for a story or maybe it will give you inspiration for one. 

This is my first attempt to make moodboards. Though there were a couple that I thought could have turned out better, I did like some of them. All of the images used in these moodboards were taken by me.

Mysterious Forest


This one is my second favorite so far. I love how the pink flowers go well with the green leaves of the trees and vines. 

This moodboard gives me the sense that there is a mysterious forest nearby, and within it is a hidden garden with beautiful pink flowers.

Yellow


This didn’t quite turn out as well as I wanted it to, but I did enjoy putting together the images that had similar colors to one another.

This moodboard gives me an idea of a place where perhaps an eccentric personality loves the color yellow so much that she decorates most of her home with that color. She plants yellow flowers, and only allows yellow butterflies and other insects into her little domain. She only makes a few exceptions to her little rule, such as flowers that are the color pink, since pink is her second favorite color.

Red


This one is my favorite. I loved taking pictures of birds, plants, and anything else that seemed to pop in my surroundings. I’m glad these pictures became of use later.

Although some of the images were taken during spring, the red berries, the cardinals, and the red coat give off winter vibes to me. Perhaps in one fantastical world far away from our own, there is magical oasis of sorts that grows spring flowers even in the midst of winter.

So what do you think? Do you have a favorite? Let me know in the comments if you do. 😊

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