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adanisan's review against another edition
adventurous
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.0
Maybe I wasn't in the right headspace for a dystopian fantasy or I just had high expectations going in, but it felt like too much story was being packed into this one novel at the cost of developing characters or any of the story lines. Several elements intrigued me, but at many climactic points I was left surprised by how we got there and then quickly left. I might try this again later, but I definitely want to read more by this author!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Abandonment, and Drug use
cavtasticreader's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This a a fantastic epic fantasy!! I was hooked from the first page. The character arc of Lucha is top notch. It reminds me of This Poison Heart in all the best ways. The action based plot kept me on the edge of my seat wanting Lucha to make the right choices.
In a world ruled by corruption, greed, and drugs that let people forget anything that is causing them grief. Lucha just wants to save her sister no matter what it takes even if that means making a deal with El Sediento the master of death who’s suppose to be just legend. This journey through that defines that destiny is just the culmination of the choices a person they make.
In a world ruled by corruption, greed, and drugs that let people forget anything that is causing them grief. Lucha just wants to save her sister no matter what it takes even if that means making a deal with El Sediento the master of death who’s suppose to be just legend. This journey through that defines that destiny is just the culmination of the choices a person they make.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Abandonment, Addiction, and Drug abuse
Minor: Rape
zohannah's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Abandonment, Drug abuse, Trafficking, and Drug use
Moderate: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
drbex's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction
citrus_seasalt's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
From the first chapter of this story, I was hooked. Lucha herself is a compelling character, as painfully believable as she can be as an unbelievably magically strong girl in a fantasy setting. The bond between her and her sister was strong, although I wished in the beginning I could see more of the two interacting outside of Lucha needing to tend to her needs or keep her barely out of harms way. At times, I was physically sick from the subject matter on-page, but the concepts of the setting and the deliciously evil character of El Sediento made this difficult to put down. Seriously, he stayed consistently scary until the last quarter, and I liked how his manipulation of the main character tied into the book’s themes about human nature, desperation, and forgiveness. The first third of the novel is easily it’s strongest, establishing the harshness of Lucha’s world while providing a kind of resilience that wasn’t entirely hopeful but had some very interesting religious-adjacent undertones about bravery. (Particularly in a few lines, it seemed to establish Lucha as a kind of legend within her own world. Very interesting writing choice.)
The pacing was a little messy after that first escape: There was too much time spent in the forest for my liking, and the romance with Paz didn’t have enough chemistry for it to really stick. There was a sweet moment with them that I liked, but I think that was it? Paz was also a strange choice of a love interest, she’s unmistakably sketchy for most of the plot. Does that make her kindness to Lucha and her sister more multi-faceted..? Don’t know. (There were a couple times where, more than anything, she seemed like a liability to keep around.)
Anyhow. And thenthe gods were introduced as characters and not just a way of worldbuilding, and the story got lost on me. Sure, it added to Lucha being this religious character/legend within her world, which didn’t come out of nowhere and I already predicted would be the case based on the first third’s writing, but it took away from the bite of there being a slightly more realistic fantasy setting to discuss the tough subject matter. Perhaps that’s just a personal preference of mine, though, I’m not one for stories involving gods when it’s a plot twist. “House Of Salt And Sorrows” was an example of the same trope but instead of it taking away from slight commentary it was the horror. Also, Lucha had a sudden power upgrade that really bugged me. But I liked the ending, it was appropriately bittersweet.
Regardless of me giving this book a rating below 4 stars, that’s due to my gripes with it and not my personal enjoyment. I still think of it from time to time, and I still loved some parts of it. I generally liked the tension and the atmosphere, and honestly, Latine fantasy is one of my favorite genres so I was guaranteed to like this anyhow. I can see someone picking up this book and totally loving it, I’m just not one of those people.
The pacing was a little messy after that first escape: There was too much time spent in the forest for my liking, and the romance with Paz didn’t have enough chemistry for it to really stick. There was a sweet moment with them that I liked, but I think that was it? Paz was also a strange choice of a love interest, she’s unmistakably sketchy for most of the plot. Does that make her kindness to Lucha and her sister more multi-faceted..? Don’t know. (There were a couple times where, more than anything, she seemed like a liability to keep around.)
Anyhow. And then
Regardless of me giving this book a rating below 4 stars, that’s due to my gripes with it and not my personal enjoyment. I still think of it from time to time, and I still loved some parts of it. I generally liked the tension and the atmosphere, and honestly, Latine fantasy is one of my favorite genres so I was guaranteed to like this anyhow. I can see someone picking up this book and totally loving it, I’m just not one of those people.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, and Confinement
Moderate: Trafficking and Sexual harassment
hobbithopeful's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
A dark and often tense fantasy about a young girl willing to bargain anything to save her sister, but the cost is far higher than she ever could have imagined.
Lucha just wants to protect her sister and survive, and she has been forced into a role where she has to kill awful monsters just to put food on the table. Her choices and desperation felt so real and raw. As much as she feels bitterness to what she has had to become, she would never truly leave. The way girls are treated in the town was very hard to swallow. Constant name calling and the threat of violence hangs over all of them, and I almost wished she had burned it all to the ground.
I really liked this book. I think the second half of it really had me drawn into the story, once they reach the forest I feel like it really picks up and you know where it's going. The writing style and prose along with the beautiful imagery had to be some of my favorite parts of the book. I almost felt like I was going to look around and see thick forestry, or mushrooms everywhere.
The message about power corrupting, such as in the organized religion and even with the Kings was very well done. It showed that no matter who you are, once you start choosing who to save and protect you're no better then the bad guys.
A lot of messages about mothers and children, as well as choosing your fate and not having a destiny. (I do wonder if I would have picked this book up if I had known how much the mother/child theme was in this)
There was a lot to this story, there probably wasn't ever more then a few pages before a conflict would occur, I would have liked to see more relationship progression between Paz and Lucha. I also wish we had seen more of Alán, or at least his history with Lucha. I feel like there would have been more of an emotional payoff that way. I also felt like there were almost some story threads that got dropped? I almost thought the story was going to lead into protecting the environment and saving the town, but it went in a different direction. I also really thought there was going to be more about getting rid of the drug and corruption, but that didn't happen either. It almost felt like a lot happened but not a lot got resolved.
These are all minor complaints because I loved the story, so I can't really be too bad about the direction it took.
My biggest issue with the story is there are NO TRIGGER/CONTENT WARNINGS. This was incredibly frustrating to me, as this is a new release and I truly don't see any reason for there not be any in this day and age. And y'all this book goes to some dark places, so please be kind to yourself. (There are topics alluding to sexual assault, drug use, trafficking, misogyny and worse)
I will definitely read more by the author. If you are a fan of dark fantasy books this is perfect for you!
Lucha just wants to protect her sister and survive, and she has been forced into a role where she has to kill awful monsters just to put food on the table. Her choices and desperation felt so real and raw. As much as she feels bitterness to what she has had to become, she would never truly leave. The way girls are treated in the town was very hard to swallow. Constant name calling and the threat of violence hangs over all of them, and I almost wished
I really liked this book. I think the second half of it really had me drawn into the story, once they reach the forest I feel like it really picks up and you know where it's going. The writing style and prose along with the beautiful imagery had to be some of my favorite parts of the book. I almost felt like I was going to look around and see thick forestry, or mushrooms everywhere.
The message about power corrupting, such as in the organized religion and even with the Kings was very well done. It showed that no matter who you are, once you start choosing who to save and protect you're no better then the bad guys.
A lot of messages about mothers and children, as well as choosing your fate and not having a destiny. (I do wonder if I would have picked this book up if I had known how much the mother/child theme was in this)
There was a lot to this story, there probably wasn't ever more then a few pages before a conflict would occur, I would have liked to see more relationship progression between Paz and Lucha. I also wish we had seen more of Alán, or at least his history with Lucha. I feel like there would have been more of an emotional payoff that way. I also felt like there were almost some story threads that got dropped? I almost thought the story was going to lead into protecting the environment and saving the town, but it went in a different direction. I also really thought there was going to be more about
These are all minor complaints because I loved the story, so I can't really be too bad about the direction it took.
My biggest issue with the story is there are NO TRIGGER/CONTENT WARNINGS. This was incredibly frustrating to me, as this is a new release and I truly don't see any reason for there not be any in this day and age. And y'all this book goes to some dark places, so please be kind to yourself. (There are topics alluding to sexual assault, drug use, trafficking, misogyny and worse)
I will definitely read more by the author. If you are a fan of dark fantasy books this is perfect for you!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Animal death, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Addiction
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Sexism, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Torture, Misogyny, and Sexual harassment
rebyreadsandwrites's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Kidnapping, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, and Murder
Minor: Sexual violence and Sexual harassment
tak_everlasting's review
too much time spent setting up for future books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Addiction, Murder, and Slavery
Moderate: Vomit and Sexual harassment
cboddie's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.25
8th & up
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault and Addiction
ezwolf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Lucha of the Night Forest caught my attention as a "fantasy about a girl who will do anything to protect her sister". I love stories about siblings going to great lengths to protect each other and the book does deliver on that.
I've spent a few days trying to find the right word to describe how this book felt to me and I have settled on that it's just kind of surface level in terms of world building and character development. At the start of the book I was very invested, but as I kept reading my interest lessened.
But this book is fast paced and a bit dark with a sapphic romance and I think a lot of other people will like this book more than I did.
Thank you to NetGalley for making this book available in exchange for an honest review!
I've spent a few days trying to find the right word to describe how this book felt to me and I have settled on that it's just kind of surface level in terms of world building and character development. At the start of the book I was very invested, but as I kept reading my interest lessened.
But this book is fast paced and a bit dark with a sapphic romance and I think a lot of other people will like this book more than I did.
Thank you to NetGalley for making this book available in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Murder, Violence, Blood, and Confinement
Moderate: Grief, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, and Addiction
Minor: Trafficking, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, and Classism