Paola Santiago and the River of Tears (Paola Santiago #1)

Space-obsessed 12-year-old Paola Santiago and her two best friends, Emma and Dante, know the rule: Stay away from the river. It's all they've heard since a schoolmate of theirs drowned a year ago. Pao is embarrassed to admit that she has been told to stay away for even longer than that, because her mother is constantly warning her about La Llorona, the wailing ghost woman who wanders the banks of the Gila at night, looking for young people to drag into its murky depths.
Hating her mother's humiliating superstitions and knowing that she and her friends would never venture into the water, Pao organizes a meet-up to test out her new telescope near the Gila, since it's the best stargazing spot. But when Emma never arrives and Pao sees a shadowy figure in the reeds, it seems like maybe her mom was right. . . .
Pao has always relied on hard science to make sense of the world, but to find her friend she will have to enter the world of her nightmares, which includes unnatural mist, mind-bending monsters, and relentless spirits controlled by a terrifying force that defies both logic and legend.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Rick Riordan Presents for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. Quotes are taken from an unfinished version and may differ from the final product.

I’ve been looking forward to this book pretty much since it was announced, because, one, Rick Riordan Presents as an imprint is hitting it out of the park with these releases and, two, La Llorona was a part of my childhood, and yes to all the Mexican folklore in this.

Paola Santiago and the River of Tears is a harrowing adventure into a dark world full of myth and superstition, where a young girl learns to find her light.

This was a fun adventure that took a little while to get started, but once I was in, I was in. That much was as expected. What I didn’t expect was how much heart this story had. Oof, it got me directly in the feels several times, and the last 25% especially were such an emotional roller coaster. I can’t wait for the second book now, based on some secrets this book teases!

Paola Santiago is a girl who believes firmly in science and logic … and who is about to have everything she thought she knew tested.

First, I thought it was so refreshing for a female protagonist to so unabashedly love science. To the point where she loves algae and her best friend, who happens to be a boy, hates when she talks about algae because it’s gross. Which is totally fair. Algae is gross, but hey, if that’s your thing, you rock it, girl.

Paola’s arc was so wonderfully partly because she doesn’t just believe in science, but she believes in it to the detriment of everything that doesn’t cleanly and logically fit into her world view.

You know, like her mother’s superstitions and folklore, which annoy her to no end, because she thinks her mother is holding her back by falling into some Mexican stereotype. One that Paola doesn’t want to be a part of.

This arc was so wonderfully done, because Paola starts off slightly insufferable. There were definitely times in the first half of the book when I wanted to shake her for … well, acting like a 12-year-old. The nerve! xD

The real beauty of Paola’s arc is that she not only grows a little more mature by the end, but she accepts that she’s not always going to have such maturity, because she’s 12, and it’s okay to be 12.

Honestly, this was such a fresh, wonderful take on it, and I loved it. It’s something I tell my own middle grade reader all the time when she makes poor choices and then feels bad about it. It’s okay to young and not always make the best choices. What Paola really showcases is that you can learn from these and turn it around later, even if you’re not always perfect in the moment.

This book is chock full of Mexican culture, from some Spanish phrases to la chancla (it’s not quite what you think, I promise), and monsters right out of Mexican folklore.

Not gonna lie, I saw that this dealt with La Llorona and immediately decided this book would be mine, so this wasn’t exactly a prize. Still, I very much enjoyed it. I know some Mexican folklore, but not nearly as much as I thought, apparently? Because I was surprised by additions more often than I should have been, so I refuse to tell you anything about the folklore itself so you can discover it as you go, too.

In case you couldn’t tell from the La Llorona mention, some of this folklore can get downright dark and creepy.

I mean, you’ve got a woman who drowned her children and is now lamenting it in death as the figurehead of this book. Not exactly screaming roses and sunshine here. The book itself was definitely uplifting and had a positive message, but I’d be remiss in not saying that it delves into some pretty ugly things.

The way some of these creatures are described, too! It’s just *chef’s kiss*. The stakes in this were so high, because I could totally buy the challenges they were having. Mexican folklore is not for the faint of heart, guys. They ain’t playing.

It takes a little while for this book to really get going, but once it does, it’s a wild ride full of adventure and feels!

I feel like we’ve come to expect adventure from a Rick Riordan Presents book at this point, but there’s nothing better than the feels naturally blindsiding you in the middle of a life-threatening romp for the sake of humanity, am I right?

Little Paola is dealing with a lot of big emotions, from racism to a father who abandoned her and her mother, to racism, to her first major crush. It’s a lot for anyone.

It’s not even only Paola’s feelings in this, because the antagonist has some pretty big feelings, too, which was really nice to see. Scary, murdery, and mostly bad for humanity feelings, but big feelings, nonetheless.

I loved the strong friends vibe in this book, and how Paola is grappling with it maybe becoming something more.

First crushes are always fun for this age group, I think, and boy does that take me back. I can so relate to Paola’s struggle, because I too had a crush on my best friend … and I married him. So … totally crossing my fingers for you, chica. You go science him into submission.

Paola struggles with a lot of age-appropriate things, like how to handle a first crush, if the feeling is mutual, and even jealousy. It’s hard when friendship dynamics change, no matter what the reason is.

I liked the fact that the budding maybe-romance was present and treated realistically but didn’t dominate the book. Who wants romance in my Mexican monster book? Blergh. But Paola’s experience was so sweet and so entirely pre-teen that I couldn’t help but love it. Nothing is officially “settled” in this book, which I thought was a great way to approach it, because relationships are hard, especially at that age, and this one’s just beginning. Also, the banter between these two? On. Point. Twelve year old’s got some snark. Who would’ve guessed?

The major themes in this book are forgiveness and understanding, and it made for such a beautiful read.

I’m not even sure I can impress upon you just how much I absolutely LOVED this aspect of the book. I may have teared up a little bit. Just a little. I probably had something in my eye is all. *sniff*

I actually don’t want to say too much about this theme, because it was so well done that you really just need to discover it. Needless to say, there’s a lot of forgiveness to go around.

My favorite thing (probably because I’m biased) has to be the dynamic between Paola and her mother, which is where the understanding comes in. Because while Paola’s mother always believed in the folklore, Paola turned her nose up at it, and it was a real point of contention between them. Guess what? Well, I’ll let Gothel explain it:

As a mother myself, I enjoyed the empathy Paola gained and the realization that maaaaybe she doesn’t know quite everything? Not yet, anyway. It’s a work in progress. Also, now she can have the best of both worlds: science and folklore. Huzzah! Kid’s obviously going places.