aprildiamond's reviews
144 reviews

Impulsively bought this book from a Target and got it 3 weeks earlier than I would have from the library. I'm so glad I did :)

This next book on my own voices mythology journey deals with Hispanic folklore and culture, which I loved learning more about.

The whole book was great, but the best part was the main character, Paola, herself. Not even 3 pages in and I already loved her because I related to her so much. Science obsessed? Loves space? Stubborn? Full of righteous anger? Say no more. The whole book revolves around her emotional growth and it's a very powerful experience. Her character is so complex, interesting, and strong, and she moves the narrative along through her own decisions. we love to see it!

I found this to be pretty different from most MG I've read recently in that it was creepier. It's not outright horror or anything close, but there are definitely darker tones compared to other mythology stories. I really enjoyed that deviation from what I usually read.

Even though the story deals with paranormal myths, the characters have to deal with and are surrounded by real world problems, from big things like poverty and racial discrimination to smaller issues like keeping secrets and fighting with friends. This mixing of real and fantastic elements was handled so well and added to the overall experience.

Paola Santiago and the River of Tears is a lot of things at once and is very successful at being all of them. It's occult, it's emotional, it's real, and it's fun.

It's incredible to realize the difference between the first book in this series and this one. It's definitely a natural progression, but the intensity is so much higher and it makes the book so much better.

There are so many twists in this final adventure, most of them perfect, and the paranoia just keeps building... honestly reading this book is an experience.

It's also emotionally fulfilling, especially the ending

This sequel has maybe a tiny bit of middle book syndrome? But even so I enjoyed it.

I really loved getting to explore more of Alke and meet new characters! I thought the themes of this one were just as strong as the first, though different. Trauma, revenge, grey morality, diaspora, and of course, the power of stories make for another powerful message, just like the first book.

The ending sets up really well for the third and final book and I'm REALLY excited to see how the setting change is going to make things even more interesting.
(we already saw some... new looks... for a few characters and I honestly can't wait

My favorite of the trilogy and a fitting end to this series! There are so many great characters, especially in the supporting cast, and that's what I really love most about these books.

Ren has my whole heart I can't wait for her spinoff series!!!

!!! The Dragon Warrior was good but The Fallen Hero was just so much better!

There were angsty moments (Katie plz stop torturing Faryn

I read this whole book in one day and I don't regret a thing. I'm thinking this might just be my new favorite book.

First, THERE'S A CHARACTER WITH MY NAME??!! I mean, it's not used in the book (which makes sense in context) but still??? Hello??? I've been waiting for this day my entire life...

I haven't read a spy story in so long so I thought this was a really fun time! And honestly, I was expecting an all-white cast, or at least a racially-ambiguous one, but there's actual diversity. For some reason a lot of books are like "this character is from (insert city in another country)" and then proceed to always make them white. Not the case here!

The biggest thing I noticed about the book was the POV, which was 3rd person omniscient. I don't see that a lot, except technically in books that switch POVs at chapter breaks. At first this threw me off, but it makes a lot of sense for a story like this - all the pieces come together like a spy movie so you can get a good sense of the whole picture. Despite being unsure of this style at the beginning, I think it definitely proved its worth by the end.

I'll for sure be picking up the second one! Can't wait to see where the story goes next.

Ok I was really not expecting to get so e m o t i o n a l while reading this book but here I am!

This is a fairly straightforward adventure/exploration story at first glance, but it gets a lot deeper than that as it goes. It includes a needed critique of colonization at a level that is accessible for younger readers. Loss and grief are surprisingly not avoided, and are in fact integral to the story.

I was not expecting their dad to be dead tbh that was so sad :(

And finally, the book discusses the topic of deciding whether or not to excuse corruption in one's family and what that means for the future of those traditional blood relationships. (which is coincidentally also a theme explored in my upcoming WIP yes this is shameless self promo I just thought the parallel was cool)

I'm looking forward to seeing how the next book expands on all this. This was the author's debut, so I can't wait to see her improvement on an already solid novel!

tbh I was sold when I read the description, because I love anything heist related. And for the most part, the book itself did not disappoint.

As you can probably tell by the name, this book has a lot to do with art. Whenever the book mentions an art piece, there's an actual link (for the ebook) and QR code that takes you to the museum website where you can see the art. I LOVE IT SO MUCH??? I think it's so creative and plus I just like looking at art lol

Story-wise, I really enjoyed how all the different characters and plot points came together. The formatting was cool too; with the time and date stamps it felt very cinematic. I was a bit disappointed by the resolution to the mystery, however. It made sense, I was just expecting more, but it's not a big deal in the context of my overall enjoyment.

Another note is that for the majority of the story, the main character Art is missing most of his memories, which was good for the plot but not so much for characterization. It was impossible for me to figure out what he was like. And since the other MC, Camille, had a lot more personality than him, he seemed like more of a background character. He got his memories back at the end, though, so I don't think this will be a big issue in the sequel.

A fun adventure based on West African mythology!

Favorite things: Maya and her two best friends Eli and Frankie have a great dynamic that was solid from the start, so I was really happy that all three of them had large parts throughout the whole book. There was also a Comic-Con scene... enough said.

I thought there were some interesting themes and the characters had more nuance than I was expecting, both of which were cool. I'm looking forward to seeing how those develop more as the series goes.

(And the cover art is so! pretty!)