A review by dandelionsteph
Paola Santiago and the Forest of Nightmares, by Tehlor Kay Mejia
4.0
I don't know how to feel about Emma coming out to her parents in between books. On one hand, this sort of thing is common in real life, and this is a story about a girl trying to reconnect with her long-lost father in a dangerous fantasy action-adventure context, not some kind of LGBTQ+ coming-of-age story, exactly. It's also possible making Emma LGBTQ+, and specifically an enthusiastic local-level teen activist, gave her more of a personality than just being pretty, White and financially well-off, which were big traits of hers in the previous book. It is good that Emma has an expanded role here (though still a pretty minor one). On the other hand...it did feel like an abrupt, as-you-know sort of detail, almost as if I was missing a chapter that was getting referenced the first time it was brought up. Perhaps, as a compromise to emphasize Paola and her concerns and adventure but reduce the abrupt feeling, the book could have started immediately following Paola helping Emma.
I also don't know how to feel concerning Paola's father surviving after the spirit-splitting. I believe her father said, or heavily implied, he didn't expect to survive the process, and, at first, the characters and the narrative suggest he is dead. He lives, though, and with his return, Paola's mother's new boyfriend is out of the picture. On one hand, it is nice that she gets to connect with her dad. On the other hand, it feels just a tad too sweet and implausible. I don't have the book on hand now, so I could be wrong, but I'm not sure if there were lasting physical side effects from her father's experiences, such as being tired all the time and sickly. If there was, perhaps it could be a good compromise in tone and plausibility.
I also don't know how to feel concerning Paola's father surviving after the spirit-splitting. I believe her father said, or heavily implied, he didn't expect to survive the process, and, at first, the characters and the narrative suggest he is dead. He lives, though, and with his return, Paola's mother's new boyfriend is out of the picture. On one hand, it is nice that she gets to connect with her dad. On the other hand, it feels just a tad too sweet and implausible. I don't have the book on hand now, so I could be wrong, but I'm not sure if there were lasting physical side effects from her father's experiences, such as being tired all the time and sickly. If there was, perhaps it could be a good compromise in tone and plausibility.