A review by leahbrarian
Pahua and the Soul Stealer by Lori M. Lee

4.0

Continuing in the popular mythology-adventure vein, young readers looking for more in the genre will enjoy this new entry, and will be pulled into stories and traditions of Hmong culture which many might never have encountered before. Although there are plenty of detours and stumbling blocks along the way and sometimes the story felt a little overstuffed, Lee’s writing carries things along and includes touches of humor (real question: does someone at the imprint write the chapter titles for all the books? They have a particularly unified tone even when the rest of the stories differ), and Pahua, Zhong, and Miv work well as a trio. The themes of loneliness, imagination, and family were strongly portrayed, the final twist was suitably shocking and well-grounded, and readers will be eager to dive back into Pahua’s next adventure. Recommend to those who have enjoyed past Rick Riordan Presents titles as well as The Last Shadow Warrior by Sam Subity.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC.