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A review by phyrre
Pahua and the Soul Stealer by Lori M. Lee
5.0
You can read my full review on my blog, The Bookwyrm's Den, here.
Many thanks to Rick Riordan Presents and Rockstar Book Tours for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
Overview
I’m back with yet another Rick Riordan Presents books! I utterly could not wait for this one (though I say that a lot when it comes to RRP). Pahua was a bit more special, though, because I’ve previously read Lori M. Lee’s Forest of Souls, which I absolutely loved. So of course I was eager to check out her middle grade!
Pahua and the Soul Stealer is a foray into the world of Hmong mythology, featuring diverse characters, strong females, sibling bonds, and an utterly irresistible (and gloriously sarcastic) cat demon sidekick.
And if that doesn’t convince you to read it, I don’t know what will. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ If you don’t do it for the adventure or the mythology or the hecka interesting Hmong stories, do it for the cat demon, okay?That is literally probably the only time you’ll ever hear someone say that. Unless your life is as . . . interesting . . . as mine . . . and then probably not.
I went in not quite knowing what to expect but trusting Lori M. Lee to just work her magic, and she did! This is easily one of my favorite Rick Riordan Presents series now, right up there with Tristan Strong.
My Thoughts
- Prepare yourself for a world filled with Hmong mythology and legends, curtesy of the latest Rick Riordan Presents by Lori M. Lee. If you haven’t read Lee’s other work, you obviously should. If you have, you sort of know what to expect when it comes to her fabulous world-building skills and the way she pulls readers straight into her books. I was utterly hooked from page one and immediately knew I was going to have a good time with this one.
Hmong mythology isn’t something I’m particularly familiar with. I’ll admit that I had to lean on the glossary here a lot also, because Hmong words aren’t even close to spelled phonetically. I thought Gaelic was bad when it came to just shoving sounds into random letter combinations, but then Hmong said, “Hold my naab vaam.” Lee does a fantastic job of trying to translate the sounds of a tonal language (please do look this up, because it’s fascinating) into something young readers can imitate, and I absolutely loved learning more about this language and culture!
Also, Hmong is a culture filled with stories, and Lee really brings that to life. All sorts of stories and myths are shared throughout the book, and I really enjoyed the emphasis on storytelling.
- Pahua is such a fun protagonist, because she’s obviously special (I mean, she can see spirits that others can’t!), but she’s also very much an outsider 11-year-old who lives in her own head a little too much. And if that’s not the most relatable thing ever, I’m not sure what is, okay? Pahua is the quintessential reluctant hero because not only does she not particularly want to be nor think of herself as a hero, she’s also not very good at being a hero. Not that she doesn’t have her strengths, of course, as do we all. However, she’s a teeeeensy bit hopeless. In an adorable way. She means well, though, and that’s what really matters.
- Did I mention that there’s also an incredibly sarcastic, very funny cat demon sidekick that mostly only Pahua can see? Boy does this cat snark, as any cat should. Miv takes the whole idea of an animal sidekick and kicks it up a notch. If you’ve read and loved Nevernight by Jay Kristoff, Miv very much reminds me of a cleaner, less violent, more wholesome version of Mr. Kindly. Which is high praise, considering how much I utterly adore that cat.
Miv isn’t without his secrets, of course. Needless to say, he’s an enigmatic entity that has, for some reason, attached itself to Pahua from a young age and follows her on her adventures. Why would an ancient, immortal being do that? Well, who’s to say for sure, really? Cats are curious creatures.
- Pahua’s adventure takes her (and the reader) to the Spirit Realm—an afterlife that is probably nothing like you ever imagined, and inhabited by all sorts of characters—some good, some bad, and some just larger than life. I love the Spirit Realm. I said it. It’s dangerous and sexy and filled with elephants (you’ll get it when you read the book, because elephants are spirit guardians, but honestly, who wouldn’t want an afterlife filled with elephants?!). There are also quite a few interesting characters that Pahua and her friends meet along the way. Not all are particularly nice, but they do tend to crack me up, which I loved! In their own ways, of course.
- Also, because I just couldn’t choose from all the fantastic quotes in this book (I have so many flags in it for quotes that narrowing it down to just these took some effort), I decided to leave you with just one more quote from our favorite cat demon sidekick. You know, because Miv is really the only “adult” that gets to go on this adventure, and I feel like he speaks for a lot of the adults that may also be reading this book. Really, he says what we’re all thinking. Bless him for that.
Many thanks to Rick Riordan Presents and Rockstar Book Tours for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
Overview
I’m back with yet another Rick Riordan Presents books! I utterly could not wait for this one (though I say that a lot when it comes to RRP). Pahua was a bit more special, though, because I’ve previously read Lori M. Lee’s Forest of Souls, which I absolutely loved. So of course I was eager to check out her middle grade!
Pahua and the Soul Stealer is a foray into the world of Hmong mythology, featuring diverse characters, strong females, sibling bonds, and an utterly irresistible (and gloriously sarcastic) cat demon sidekick.
And if that doesn’t convince you to read it, I don’t know what will. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ If you don’t do it for the adventure or the mythology or the hecka interesting Hmong stories, do it for the cat demon, okay?
I went in not quite knowing what to expect but trusting Lori M. Lee to just work her magic, and she did! This is easily one of my favorite Rick Riordan Presents series now, right up there with Tristan Strong.
My Thoughts
- Prepare yourself for a world filled with Hmong mythology and legends, curtesy of the latest Rick Riordan Presents by Lori M. Lee. If you haven’t read Lee’s other work, you obviously should. If you have, you sort of know what to expect when it comes to her fabulous world-building skills and the way she pulls readers straight into her books. I was utterly hooked from page one and immediately knew I was going to have a good time with this one.
Hmong mythology isn’t something I’m particularly familiar with. I’ll admit that I had to lean on the glossary here a lot also, because Hmong words aren’t even close to spelled phonetically. I thought Gaelic was bad when it came to just shoving sounds into random letter combinations, but then Hmong said, “Hold my naab vaam.” Lee does a fantastic job of trying to translate the sounds of a tonal language (please do look this up, because it’s fascinating) into something young readers can imitate, and I absolutely loved learning more about this language and culture!
Also, Hmong is a culture filled with stories, and Lee really brings that to life. All sorts of stories and myths are shared throughout the book, and I really enjoyed the emphasis on storytelling.
- Pahua is such a fun protagonist, because she’s obviously special (I mean, she can see spirits that others can’t!), but she’s also very much an outsider 11-year-old who lives in her own head a little too much. And if that’s not the most relatable thing ever, I’m not sure what is, okay? Pahua is the quintessential reluctant hero because not only does she not particularly want to be nor think of herself as a hero, she’s also not very good at being a hero. Not that she doesn’t have her strengths, of course, as do we all. However, she’s a teeeeensy bit hopeless. In an adorable way. She means well, though, and that’s what really matters.
- Did I mention that there’s also an incredibly sarcastic, very funny cat demon sidekick that mostly only Pahua can see? Boy does this cat snark, as any cat should. Miv takes the whole idea of an animal sidekick and kicks it up a notch. If you’ve read and loved Nevernight by Jay Kristoff, Miv very much reminds me of a cleaner, less violent, more wholesome version of Mr. Kindly. Which is high praise, considering how much I utterly adore that cat.
Miv isn’t without his secrets, of course. Needless to say, he’s an enigmatic entity that has, for some reason, attached itself to Pahua from a young age and follows her on her adventures. Why would an ancient, immortal being do that? Well, who’s to say for sure, really? Cats are curious creatures.
- Pahua’s adventure takes her (and the reader) to the Spirit Realm—an afterlife that is probably nothing like you ever imagined, and inhabited by all sorts of characters—some good, some bad, and some just larger than life. I love the Spirit Realm. I said it. It’s dangerous and sexy and filled with elephants (you’ll get it when you read the book, because elephants are spirit guardians, but honestly, who wouldn’t want an afterlife filled with elephants?!). There are also quite a few interesting characters that Pahua and her friends meet along the way. Not all are particularly nice, but they do tend to crack me up, which I loved! In their own ways, of course.
- Also, because I just couldn’t choose from all the fantastic quotes in this book (I have so many flags in it for quotes that narrowing it down to just these took some effort), I decided to leave you with just one more quote from our favorite cat demon sidekick. You know, because Miv is really the only “adult” that gets to go on this adventure, and I feel like he speaks for a lot of the adults that may also be reading this book. Really, he says what we’re all thinking. Bless him for that.