Life and Death

Leyendas #1

by Selenia Paz

When Natalia’s younger brother disappears while on a visit to Mexico, Natalia is certain that La Llorona, the mythical Weeping Woman, has taken him. Her friend Miguel agrees to accompany her back to Mexico in the hopes that it will help him deal with the recent death of his grandfather. But as they embark on a journey to search for the creature that has taken Natalia’s brother, it becomes apparent that the spirits Miguel had brushed aside as mere legend are very real... and they have a dark connection to his family.

Genres: Middle Grade, Fantasy

First published October 24, 2017

About the author

Selenia Paz loves to write stories containing elements of mystery and of the supernatural. When not writing, she loves to read and run with her dogs. She received her Master of Library Science degree from Texas Woman’s University in 2010, and has been a librarian ever since. Her short story “Broken English” was the Honor winner of Lee & Low Publishing’s New Voices Award.

Reviews

[callistanagirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book in a giveaway by the publisher, which I'm really grateful for.

First of all, I'd definitely classify this as a middle grade book (even though the main characters are 14? But they felt younger). I haven't read a lot of MG since I transitioned to YA years ago, but I've started finding my way back to MG occasionally, and I thought this was a great one!

Like I already mentioned, I felt like the main characters were younger than 14, and maybe that's partially because on the cover they don't look older than 10. I did like both main characters though, both the kids and the other ones. The only thing that frustrated me a bit was that everything was just so... black and white? The people on the good side couldn't do anything bad, and the people on the bad side couldn't do anything good.

All in all, this was a quick and fun read though, and I really enjoyed getting a glimpse of the Mexican legends. A younger reader would probably love this book. I've also already started the next book in the series, and it seems like that one will be really good too!

[Simone · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining, fairly dark fantasy story for 4th+, steeped in Mexican folklore. While I love the cover, I do wonder why the kids on the front look about 8 when they're supposed to be young teens.