I want to apologize for the delay in sending this. I have been struggling with health issues, and I had also hoped that with more time this book would "click" for me as I struggled to get into it. Below is my feedback.

I was enthralled with the idea of this book largely because it said it was based in magical realism. I haven't read much magical realism, but I wanted to see it executed in a middle grade novel, with a portal fantasy and family bonds and...

It doesn't matter what I wanted. I didn't get it.

This book has the same problem I had with the podcast Welcome To Night Vale. There's nothing to ground the reader in the space the book is creating. There's no normal. Everything is weird and magical and uncanny. Nature spirits that only Lola can see carry things around just to prove they're real. The children's sandbox glows and produces items that shouldn't be there. A bird flies around exploding into feathers and reforming every time someone sneezes. Even Mom's soup has magical healing properties. If this was billed as fantasy, maybe I wouldn't be bothered by all of this. But it was pitched as having roots in magical realism. I haven't read much magical realism, but I know it has to have some reality in it. It's in the name.

I really wanted to finish this book. I wanted to get through it. But as more and more bizarrely fantastical things were thrown at me, I started resenting the book for it. For lying to me about what it is. For expecting me to go along with anything and everything it put in front of me and not question it, even though it hadn't done the work of building a setting and world for it. For having Lola blissfully progress through that world and treat it as though it perfectly normal.

But the straw that broke it for me was right before I'm guessing Lola went to the other world. For a moment, Lola thinks that if not for recent events, she wouldn't believe in another world. And I lost it. I wanted to scream at her, "Your sandbox glows. Your flowers change color and pattern with the stories told by your invisible nature spirit friends. Your brother was raised partly by a vanilla-scented ghost. And the woman who told you about the other world did it by showing you magical images through her window, while her friend stirred her tea with a spoon that was invisible because everything she touches turns invisible. But another world is just too much???" It was a slap in the face. Not only had the book not done the work of building up a believable world with all these fantastical elements, it undermined the work it *had* done by then suggesting that the heroine who lived with all this magic somehow had a skeptical bone left anywhere in her body. I didn't believe it. I don't believe it. That was an insult to me as a reader. I couldn't get past it.

I wanted to finish this book, to give it a full chance, but I just can't. Not after that. I resent the book too much. Maybe it's better for kids. I don't know. But a story that's good for children should be good for adults too, as they say, and this isn't good for me. I wish it was. The images are charming and beautiful and the writing is good. But lines were crossed that snapped my suspension of disbelief like so many twigs and I just can't do it.

A beautiful and enchanting middle-grade novel about incredible sibling bonds and magic, this should be a top new release beginning this Fall and a perfect read to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage month.

Thank you to Knopf Books and NetGalley for the eARC!

This is a gorgeous, magical, adventurous story of grief, love, hope, and the bonds between family. I won't lie, I struggled a bit with the first half of the book as there was a lot of world-building and some pacing problems, but the second half of the book really picked up. This story was beautiful and I'm so glad I stuck with it; I was in absolute tears by the end. The portrayals of grief in this story and the overall message of finding the strength and hope to let go were written perfectly for younger readers, and I think this is a worthy addition to any collection. Perfect for kids who usually read contemporary fiction but are wanting to dip their toes into fantasy!

A fantastical/magical realism middle grade adventure involving a girl traveling with interesting companions to magical hidden realms. I found some parts a bit slow and meandering but I think kids will enjoy it. The twist at the end got me!

Beautiful, heartbreaking story of a magical home and family in Mexico City. The folklore and magical characters in this delightful novel are a great way to introduce kids to other cultures or for representation of their own. This is a heartfelt family fantasy from the beginning to the very emotional ending.

This is a touching sweet story about a little girl and her magical adventure discovering the secret of circle of life. This book is destined to be a children's classic. I loved everything about it.

This book started off as a cute fantasy, but the twist at the end where the author wasn't afraid to have dark things happen transformed this lighthearted quest story into a heartbreaking, but uplifting tale.

A mysterious disease is killing the plants in Lola's family's garden. Then the disease spreads to Lola's brother. A magical creature takes Lola into a strange and marvelous world to search for a cure.

Sometimes hard things happen in life, and kids aren't immune to that. I enjoyed that a book about dealing with hard situations was a fantasy novel instead of realistic fiction. I prefer fantasy novels as a genre, and there must be children who feel that same way.

Advance copy read on NetGalley.