Parents' Guide to Lucha of the Night Forest

Fans of dystopian worlds with strong female characters will be drawn to Lucha's tale, but with so much focus on the main character, the storytelling suffers. Lucha is almost an orphan at 16 with an absent, drug-addicted mother, no father, and a sister to take care of. Most of her city is addicted to Olvida, and it's a bleak existence. Lucha fights for everything she has and makes a bargain with a cruel spirit that she regrets. She meets a mysterious woman she doesn't trust but is attracted to, her sister runs away and needs rescuing, she's starved in a prison and escapes to the forest, she develops powers over the nature, and learns more about Almudena, the earth goddess, and those who worship her. While these are all exciting plot developments, each moment of forward momentum butts up against Lucha's constantly relayed conflicted thoughts, distrust, and confusion.

Lucha's confusion is often contagious. Readers won't understand the threat Salvador poses until really late in the book. It's easy to assume Lucha doesn't trust him because she trusts no one, just as she doesn't trust Paz even though she has strong feelings for her. Lucha's powers are also confusing; how she gains and loses them, but may still have them somewhere inside her -- it's all very unclear beyond the fact that they get supercharged from her dealings with immortals. Again, part of the confusion is that the description of anything outside of Lucha's close perspective lacks focus. It's a shame, because the author's broad imagination, if properly grounded in vivid descriptions and careful plotting, would supercharge this powerful story.