Hello, everyone! Happy Star Wars Day! To celebrate, I thought I’d hop on and post a review of my most recent Star Wars read, Beware the Nameless by Zoraida Córdova. I don’t read a ton of middle grade, but these High Republic middle grade novels have had some pretty great stories. Did this penultimate story live up to the rest of the series? Read on to find out!

The New York Times best-selling series continues with this compelling and fast-paced adventure set during the High Republic that picks up after Escape from Valo .

It is a dark and dangerous time for the galaxy, and the Jedi of the High Republic must face their greatest trials yet. A year has passed since the destruction of the Starlight Beacon, and hopeful Jedi-in-training must work together to overcome their fears—and stop the monsters that threaten the very existence of the Jedi.

Beware the Nameless was another pretty great entry of the High Republic middle grade series. It had some great returning faces alongside some new characters that completely stole my heart. The plot was exciting and provided hints about overarching mysteries about the blight and nameless. I just had a really great time reading it and regret not picking it up sooner.

Tep Tep and Kildo were back in Beware the Nameless, and I loved every second I got to spend with them. Tep Tep’s love for creatures got some wonderful moments to shine. Kildo showed immense bravery for someone so young, and he helped some fellow younglings overcome their own fears. Ram returned in this story, as well, but he was mostly sidelined. His absence for most of the story was actually my biggest complaint about the plot. Although, I also understand that he’s older now, and the story wanted to focus on the younger kids having an adventure.

My favorite new character in Beware the Nameless was Churo the Hutt. He was obsessed with studying plants and insects. His personality was the opposite of what I’d expect from a Hutt, and I adored getting to see him make friends for the first time and figure out it was okay to just be himself. Zenny was a great character, too. She was quite impulsive, but I appreciated her bravery and her devotion to family. Jamil, another Jedi youngling, probably had some of the best growth other than Churo. He learned to overcome his fear while also gaining wisdom about his skills and readiness to become a Padawan.

The plot of Beware the Nameless was adventurous and downright scary at times. A simple rescue mission turned into a horror story when the younglings faced the monstrous Nameless. The author held no punches as the children faced some significant losses. The atmosphere was tense throughout and kept me on the edge of my seat. There were a lot of moving parts in this story, and it managed to balance it all quite well.

Overall, this was an epic middle grade addition to the High Republic narrative. The characters stole my heart, and the story kept me glued to the page. I definitely recommend that it not be skipped if you are reading phase three of the High Republic. Therefore, I rate Beware the Nameless 4.25 out of 5 stars.

There you have it! My thoughts on Beware the Nameless by Zoraida Córdova. Have you been reading the High Republic novels? Are you excited about the upcoming finale? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments!