Rea and the Blood of the Nectar by Payal Doshi

The pacing of the book was a little slow for me and didn’t always engage. Enough of the world was revealed where you have a good grasp, but there is enough there to discover in subsequent books. When we get to the fantasy world it is described in a way that you can see all of the beautiful colors, smell the town and flower. This is one of my favorite themes in middle grade novels and I felt overall that this was executed well. Watching her gradually overcome her insecurities was great to see. She was never a weak character but her strength masked a lot of insecurity. Rea initially is a tad bit unlikable and a little “woah is me.” As we progress through the narrative, we get to see Rea grow as a person and discover her self worth.

What I enjoyed most about Rea was her personal journey. Set in India with peeps of Indian tradition, this is a pretty solid debut and start to series. This leads her on an adventure where Rea learns family secrets, what friendship is, and that she might not be the as forgettable as she believes. Her patience and understanding of Rea and the way she tackles Rea’s tantrums were great! She practically had more patience with Rea than anyone else, myself included.When Rea has a fight with her brother on their 12th birthday and he goes missing, she decides she’s going to do whatever it takes to save her brother. I loved Rea’s friends though! My absolute favourite character here was Leela, Rea’s friend from Darjeeling who gets roped into this mission. I don’t feel strongly about Rea’s family yet since a good bit of the book is of Rea and her friends on their quest, but I find them complex and layered from their past experiences, so I’m hoping there will be more direct interactions with them in the next book. However, she really grows through her friendships and experiences, becoming more loving, selfless and powerful in a way that is very satisfying to me as the reader. Her uneasy family dynamics explains a lot of it, but I found it a bit frustrating at times. She was initially what I would call a brat she has this habit of blaming others for everything that goes wrong, and she had this annoying lack of trust in almost anyone. Initially, I found it a teensy bit hard to actually like Rea and by the end of the book, I think I understood her a lot better and I sort of wanted her to work on herself like she did throughout this book.

Rea and the Blood of the Nectar by Payal Doshi