I wanted to love this book, the premise had me hooked in and excited to pick it up, however I just could not connect and be drawn in the way I hoped. I really struggled to get thru the story. I did love that the author has folk lore mixed in but something is definitely missing. The chargers were off, the conversations were weird and didn’t feel natural at all. While reading I tried wracking my brain to pin point what exactly was causing the disconnect and I can’t say it’s one thing I think it’s a culmination and over all just not a title for me. Due to my inability to truly engage with the book I can’t say I’d recommend, I think maybe if it had been more fleshed out and not felt so rushed and odd maybe that would’ve helped but even then not sure.

The Lotus Flower Champion is an interesting tale rooted in Asian folklore and mythology. When Alaia and her family go on a trip to Thailand, it's supposed to be a life-changing trip, especially since her mother's cancer has been diagnosed as terminal. When the booked yacht trip goes awry, and they end up stranded on a deserted island, they quickly realize that the myths and legends are true and start to fight to survive them.

This is a wonderfully rich middle grades read that develops itself around the mythology of Thailand, an areas whose rich storytelling I was not knowledgeable about before I began reading. As a mature reader, this was good simple read with a wonderful story and values that I would love more young people to have access to. I found the use of OCD representation to be something that makes this seemingly simple and easy to read book something greater and which can spark marvelous conversations and develop an empathetic awareness for the personal lives of others.

For my slightly jaded and cynical mature self this was a three star read, but inner innocent and younger self says four stars...so I'll her rate this one 😂

I love the recent increase of books drawing on Asian mythology, and this is another great example. Enjoyed exploring Thai mythology in this book, as well as OCD rep.

So I requested this book for my daughter to read. She is in the YA reading age and she has OCD. So I thought this would be a great book with representation for her to connect with, validated and some what safe.

Her thoughts after getting less than 1/2 way into the book. She said that the pacing on the story was off like it disconnected or its flow wasn’t there. She also found herself pretty tense and stressed while reading it. She didn’t know if it was the plot or the main character but for her it wasn’t a good fit.

Love seeing OCD represented in books I hope more and more do it. It’s such a controlling and strong thing that someone has to fight every single moment of the day. It’s not just a clean tidy room it can be very detrimental to one’s mental health as well as impacting one’s life.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

A touching YA contemporary fantasy. As the end of her mother's life nears, Alaia and her parents take one last trip together, to Thailand. Things quickly turn, however, when Alaia, her mother, and several other passengers on a boat tour wind up stranded on a small deserted island... And then the magic starts. It seems that on this island, Thai folklore comes to life, and someone is looking to use it for their own means. Alaia has a lot to overcome if she hopes to escape this nightmare.

This was a sweet little story. I really enjoyed all the Thai legends that were included. I had never heard of any of these stories before, and loved seeing them brought to life. I also love the representation. Alaia has OCD, and the descriptions of her struggles on the island felt true to me. It's easy to relate to her emotionally. She's a young woman, soon to lose the person most important to her, and she's working to find her own strength. Which she definitely does. The plot twists are a bit predictable, but it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I loved this book it is a YA book and if you like YA you will love this. I can’t wait for the next book.

This was a rough book for me. As a young teen, I might have enjoyed it. The story was decent but the characters were horrible.

The good about this book were the stories! I know this was the main point of the book but I just wish there was more. It's honestly the only reason I kept reading. I also thought the OCD rep was phenomenal. The phrase "everyone has a little OCD" does get thrown around a lot - but it's definitely not a life altering condition like it is for some people. Really diving into Alaia's symptoms and her responses to them were very well portrayed.

The bad about this book was the characters. They were all horrible and just didn't feel natural. Their interactions all felt stiff and forced... Even though they were forced on an island together. The dialogue felt choppy and just not well executed.

Overall, The Lotus Flower Champion by Pintip Dunn and Love Dunn was okay. This is definitely meant for a younger crowd as the characters did not resonate with me at all. However, the stories and the OCD rep definitely made it worth reading the whole way through. I highly recommend this book for a younger crowd and not an older YA/Adult.

I’m not sure how I feel about this one.
On the one hand it was a lovely story with a unique plot and descriptive world building. The characters had depth and I was able to connect with them at times, but there were some parts that felt really slow and I did almost lose interest. I wasn’t ready to give up on the characters and their story tho which is what pushed me to continue. It was a very sweet story and ultimately an enjoyable read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for give me an advanced copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

Amé esta historia! Confieso que al comienzo me dio un poco de miedo leerla en inglés porque es fantasía, y por lo general los libros de fantasía incluyen un lenguaje y términos propios un poco más complejos de entender si eres de nivel avanzado en el idioma. Y, adicional a eso, esta historia tiene de base varios cuentos tradicionales Tailandeses, mitos de su cultura y palabras asociadas a ellos. Peeeero, aun con eso y todo, la sinopsis de la historia y mi instinto coincidieron en que me podía gustar bastante. Entonces la curiosidad también hizo lo suyo y pues, me lancé a leer.

Disfruté demasiado leer la historia. Todo comienza muy tranquilo, con la protagonista y su familia de viaje por unas vacaciones soñadas en Tailandia. Sin embargo, en medio de un paseo en el mar, el barco tiene complicaciones y luego de evacuarlo en botes salvavidas, quedan 12 personas varadas en una isla paradisiaca pero desierta, sin comunicación con el exterior ni forma de salir de ahí.

Hasta ahí, según yo, todo normal aún. Lo loco comienza cuando estos sobrevivientes se dan cuenta de que esta isla no es normal, hay cierta magia escondida en ella. Y, además, {spoiler disponible en la reseña en goodreads}.

Estos sobrevivientes, deberán poco a poco comenzar a interactuar y conocerse. La protagonista deberá luchar con su mente y su OCD (TOC) que intenta dominarla en cada paso en una isla desconocida donde no hay nada bajo su control, ni si quiera el rápido deterioro en la salud de su madre, a quien quiere sacar de ahí a toda costa. Distintos caracteres, opiniones y edades deberán convivir y comenzar a trabajar como un equipo si quieren lograr salir de allí y regresar a sus hogares y familias.

En esta historia yo encontré un poco de todo, aventuras, emociones, romance (muy cute), magia, folclor, intriga, superación, acción, drama, traiciones, peleas y así podría seguir y seguir. Según yo, es muy completa. No podía dejar de imaginar que quedaría estupendo en una película.

En fin, una historia donde lo ancestral conoce a lo moderno. Una tierna historia escrita por madre e hija y con una bellísima relación madre-hija entre sus páginas.

Sinceramente lo recomiendo, creo que sería un estupendo regalo de navidad para adolescentes y jóvenes y quizá incluso niños.

Me encantaría que tuviera una segunda parte, si fuera el caso, la leería sin duda.

There was a lot of very interesting and intriguing elements portrayed in this book. I don't think I was ready for the adventured I was being taken on.

The story starts off like a normal fiction. At first I thought I was being taken on an exotic romantic adventure, but things quickly changed to a thriller mystery and then by the end a fantasy. Even though it was a strange change of events, It all worked really well together.

I loved Alaia and the growth her character goes on throughout the story. She has OCD and is struggling with her anxiety, but by the end of the book, she has learned how to use her OCD to her advantage. Its a wonderful progression.

Although there were some weird elements like to crocodile people and in the end, the story of the Lotus Champion that didn't really fit in with the rest of the story, I really loved reading this book. It was entertaining and kept me wondering what was going to happen next.

Another wonderful read from Dunn. Gave it 4 out of 5 stars.

Thank you netgalley and the publishers for letting me read this book. I really enjoyed this book, I was sceptical about this but I actually really enjoyed it in the end, it took me a few chapters to get into it but it wasn't uninteresting enough for me to DNF it and I am glad I carried on reading it . 4 stars

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

Thank you to the publisher for the Netgalley approval! Wow, this book is so fun. Right away I was intrigued by the mystery and I was excited for the adventure I would be taken on. Who can you trust? There are so many great twists and turns. This is exactly the kind of book I love! I loved the way different cultures were brought to the story. I also appreciated the way the author portrayed Alaina. I love when character's differences are added to a story. It's a great reminder that even those that are different, they can still be awesome.

This was such a good read I loved it and was completely hooked from the first page. Definitely recommend

The Lotus Flower Champion how do I cover this without giving anything away?
This is a Thai folktale-inspired story and I found that so interesting (and want to read more books like this.) I love the culture, the island, the mystery of it, and the emotions!
There is a character with OCD, Alaia who goes through a journey of learning about it and developing skills to handle it. Her mother is sick so they go on a family trip and end up in a magical adventure!
This is written by a mother and daughter, Pintip and Love Dunn and I love that! It makes the message of this book so much sweeter.

If you are looking for a magical YA adventure packed with mystery, culture, family, and emotions then you need to read this.

Marketed as Squid Games x Mythology I expected a lot of action and magic... it did deliver on a lot of aspects.

Plot-wise it is not a usual YA fantasy book, tons of wonderful concept mix and matching some unusual tropes. Word building though is something a little bit different as it absrobs all of these intricacies written through middle grade to YA language [which was actually more fun than it sounds]

It's a good starting book for those wanting to dip their toes to YA fantasy.

I had a very hard time connecting to the characters in this book and I found it had a slow start that had me struggling to keep interest. Several times I had to put it down and come back to it and push through.

I found it lacking in character development. It was more of a young teen book even though it was labeled as young adults. There wasn’t anything that was captivating me or made me want more.

I received this book via NetGalley and Entangled Publishing LLC Entangled Teen in exchange for an honest review.

This one was very hard for me to get into, it has a really slow start that I unfortunately was not able to get through. It was not what I expected, I wanted to give it a shot but it turned out to be a DNF for me.