This is going to SCREAM similar to Rick Riordan books to anyone who has ever read a Rick Riordan book, but hang on one moment. Let me just say that Rick Riordan made a genre of retelling myths and plunking modern day people in the middle of them wildly popular, but he wasn't the first one to do so. He won't be the last, and he may not be the best. BUT, a huge thank you to Rick Riordan for paving the way a little better for books like this.
If you haven't figured it out by my little rant, this book will have myths in it with modern day characters figuring it out. ...yeah.
An amazon summary, "Charlie Hernández has always been proud of his Latin American heritage. He loves the culture, the art, and especially the myths. Thanks to his abuela’s stories, Charlie possesses an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the monsters and ghouls who have spent the last five hundred years haunting the imaginations of children all across the Iberian Peninsula, as well as Central and South America. And even though his grandmother sometimes hinted that the tales might be more than mere myth, Charlie’s always been a pragmatist. Even barely out of diapers, he knew the stories were just make-believe—nothing more than intricately woven fables meant to keep little kids from misbehaving.
But when Charlie begins to experience freaky bodily manifestations—ones all too similar to those described by his grandma in his favorite legend—he is suddenly swept up in a world where the mythical beings he’s spent his entire life hearing about seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Hispanic folklore and into his life. And even stranger, they seem to know more about him than he knows about himself.
Soon, Charlie finds himself in the middle of an ancient battle between La Liga, a secret society of legendary mythological beings sworn to protect the Land of the Living, and La Mano Negra (a.k.a. the Black Hand), a cabal of evil spirits determined to rule mankind. With only the help of his lifelong crush, Violet Rey, and his grandmother’s stories to guide him, Charlie must navigate a world where monsters and brujas rule and things he couldn’t possibly imagine go bump in the night. That is, if he has any hope of discovering what’s happening to him and saving his missing parents (oh, and maybe even the world).
No pressure, muchacho." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
A few major things happen to Charlie all at once; his house burns down while he's away, his parents are missing (their bodies were NOT found in the house), and now he lives in a foster home. ...he also manages to manifest horns on the same night that he hides under his hoodie until they go away.
He's really worried about his parents, and in the midst of being a middle schooler, he also has grown feathers all over his body randomly. In a desperate attempt to cover them up, he ventures to the lost and found and finds the ugliest giant sweater, but wears it to hide the feathers. A few school bullies find him and start, well, bullying him, but enter Violet; a plucky young woman with dreams of being a journalist comes to his aid. She helps him out, asks about the locket he's wearing (which was given to him in the duration of the whole house burned down ordeal), which has a series of complicated locks on it. Violet manages to open them to find a map hidden inside the locket, and soon Charlie and Violet are off on an adventure to figure out where the map leads and why is he covered in feathers.
During their adventure, their lives only get stranger as Charlie realizes that the myths his grandmother (abuela) raised him on may actually be more true than fiction. Charlie is swept up into a war between the land of the living and the land of the dead, and Violet is adamantly along for the ride.
That's enough summary.
I really loved both the characters of Charlie and Violet. They felt wonderfully realistic as they're swept into all of these instances of finding mythical creatures in their own back yard (so to speak). This is definitely the start of a series, and I would be curious to read more, except...
A lot of the war between the land of the living and the dead seems too far from home. Yes, Charlie and Violet came across a few creatures they had to outsmart to get away safely, but it doesn't really feel like there's an actual war going on. It feels more like a lot of isolated incidences rather than one big battle, and they kind of explain it, like why that is, but I don't really like the explanation. I think there could have been more discussions about the differences between the land of the living (our world) and the land of the dead. I know we're probably going to see more about this as the book series progresses, but I think it would have gone a long way to set up more in book 1.
A lot of the environment and world building were sufficient, but there was nothing that really wowed me even as Charlie or Violet were wowed while walking into certain places.There were a few too many details that were glossed over, and again, because this is book 1, we'll probably get a better idea for it in book 2.
I think there were also a few too many mythical creatures introduced in this book, especially if you're unfamiliar with the myths. There were a handful that had really good impressions and stood out, but when you haphazardly introduce many of them all in one go, it can get a little confusing as to what mythical creature looks like what and why they're either scary/important/powerful. I think the book could have given some more cushioning details around the myths every time they appeared.
I did like the book a lot overall, but I needed more concrete details at this stage to continue to book 2. Even the ending of the book felt a bit forced rather than something that could more easily transition into book 2. It also kind of read like a popcorn book; a book that you rush through the pages a little too fast as you're shoveling popcorn into your mouth because the action really pushes you through the plot. There were a few breather scenes between the action, but it wasn't enough.
...I really did like this book, but I don't think I'll continue on to book 2.
Happy reading!
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