Hello Readers!

Are you ready for another mythic fantasy adventure?

I hope so, because today I’m reviewing Maya and the Rising Dark (Maya and the Rising Dark #1) by Rena Barron.

All right, let’s see how this read went!

Blurb

Twelve-year-old Maya’s search for her missing father puts her at the center of a battle between our world, the Orishas, and the mysterious and sinister Dark world.

Twelve-year-old Maya is the only one in her South Side Chicago neighborhood who witnesses weird occurrences like werehyenas stalking the streets at night and a scary man made of shadows plaguing her dreams. Her friends try to find an explanation—perhaps a ghost uprising or a lunchroom experiment gone awry. But to Maya, it sounds like something from one of Papa’s stories or her favorite comics.

When Papa goes missing, Maya is thrust into a world both strange and familiar as she uncovers the truth. Her father is the guardian of the veil between our world and the Dark—where an army led by the Lord of Shadows, the man from Maya’s nightmares, awaits. Maya herself is a godling, half orisha and half human, and her neighborhood is a safe haven. But now that the veil is failing, the Lord of Shadows is determined to destroy the human world and it’s up to Maya to stop him. She just hopes she can do it in time to attend Comic-Con before summer’s over.

GoodReads

Amazon

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The Review

Wow, what a fun mythical fantasy book!

In this novel, we follow twelve-year old Maya. Her father has a strange job that forces him to leave at random, and when she follows him one night she learns that there is much more to her world than she could’ve ever imagined. She is the daughter of a god, but her father’s disappearance soon after propels her on a journey of self-discovery, magic, and the dark world beyond the veil of her own.

I loved the mythology of this book. Gods are called orisha and their children are godlings. The big bad are the inhabitants of a parallel dimension called The Dark, and over a millennia they have been trying to find a way into the human world to wreak havoc and destruction.

Every chapter was fast paced and filled with action and magic. There wasn’t a dull moment, and I was glued to my seat as I blazed through the pages. The writing was well executed and easy to follow, and the characters were great too.

Maya is curious, headstrong, and will do anything for her friends and family. Her best friends Eli and Frankie were kind and supportive, but had their own unique personalities that kept the dialogue and interactions interesting.

The only dealbreaker I can see with this book is that is does have a bit more violence than the standard middle grade read, but if you or your younger reader can stomach that I think they’ll love this book. Highly recommend!

That’s A Wrap!

Well that’s it for this book review. I hope you enjoyed it!

Have you read this book? Are there other similar books you’ve read that you simply have to gush about? Feel free to leave a comment. I’d love to start a conversation!

Have a great day!

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