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A review by starryeyedenigma
Rea and the Blood of the Nectar by Payal Doshi
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
3.5
I was ecstatic to read this own voice middle grade fantasy, set in, **drumroll please** our very own Darjeeling in India!! It was a pleasant surprise to read about the adventures of a twelve year old Indian girl, who goes on a quest to save/find her twin brother, who talks in Indian colloquialisms, plays cricket, eats Indian food such as laddoos and thukpas (made my mouth water) and celebrates diwali :)
The plot and the adventure which starts from the streets of Darjeeling and takes us to the magical realm of Astranthia, felt fresh and yet warmly familiar.
I enjoyed the riddles and challenges Rea has to figure out and the scary creatures she needs to defeat in order to finish her quest. The story has some very likeable characters such as Leela, Xeranther, and Flula. Queen Razya as the antagonist was quite a treat too and not your typical easy to hate kind of villain.
There were also references to other subjects such as favoritism of the male child which happens quite commonly in India. I did feel like there were a lot of unanswered questions and I wanted to know more of Rea's past. But I think that will be revealed in the later installments of the series, considering this is just the first book :)
All in all, a fun, fast paced, own voices Indian rep middle grade fantasy book, that I enjoyed reading.
The plot and the adventure which starts from the streets of Darjeeling and takes us to the magical realm of Astranthia, felt fresh and yet warmly familiar.
I enjoyed the riddles and challenges Rea has to figure out and the scary creatures she needs to defeat in order to finish her quest. The story has some very likeable characters such as Leela, Xeranther, and Flula. Queen Razya as the antagonist was quite a treat too and not your typical easy to hate kind of villain.
There were also references to other subjects such as favoritism of the male child which happens quite commonly in India. I did feel like there were a lot of unanswered questions and I wanted to know more of Rea's past. But I think that will be revealed in the later installments of the series, considering this is just the first book :)
All in all, a fun, fast paced, own voices Indian rep middle grade fantasy book, that I enjoyed reading.