Like several other readers, I had a hard time getting into this book. I usually like YA fantasy and had no expectations as I had not read the author's previous book but will give them a try. I know that this will be popular among our teen customers.

This was such a weird book. I did enjoy the word play that the author engaged with Spanish throughout the narrative, the nomenclature of people, things, and places. However, everything felt so nebulous and shifting that I never really got ahold of anything as I read. Lucha also had an enormous amount of really unclear aha moments. Mejia created an immersive atmosphere though, so immersive that it obscured pretty much everything else.

I started out liking this book, but then as it went on, I found my feelings toward the book changing. It started to feel too big in scope for one 16-year-old girl. And I felt that she was given no agency, no free will. She was just reacting to the situations she found herself in.

And then the conversations in the book started to discuss fate and free will directly and how important it was for Lucha to make a choice. The theme that had been beneath the surface was suddenly all the book seemed to be about. And I felt like I was being beaten over the head by the theme and told over and over that Lucha had a choice and that what happened was because of the choice she made.

But was it? Did she really have a choice? I'd argue not. She's the Chosen One. Sure, she's shown that she could have a happy life and let another Chosen One come in the future. But could she do that? Truly? So although she felt like she made a choice, I don't think she truly had a choice at all. And the book's insistence on her making a choice felt strained beyond belief.

Dark YA fantasy about the difference between our choices and our fate. Protagonist Lucha lives in a city plagued by a dangerous drug, Olvida, which gives its users a feeling of blissful forgetting. Lucha's own mother is addicted to the drug, and this has left Lucha in a position where she often has to take care of her younger sister, Lis. As their situation becomes more and more dire, a mysterious figure offers Lucha a chance to destroy Olvida once and for all. To save her sister, and her people, from this drug, Lucha will have to enter the Night Forest and come to terms with the gifts she's been blessed with. She has the power to save the world... or destroy it.

The magic of Lucha of the Night Forest is quite interesting. It was especially creepy to envision during its first few appearances. Mushrooms can be terrifying. I really enjoyed the lore surrounding the goddess and the flashbacks to her past.
Lucha's care for her sister was clear, though I wish we could have seen more of their interactions. I could take or leave the romance element; it didn't really add anything for me and didn't feel that developed. The message about choice vs fate is a compelling one, and the setting was fully realized and immersive. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel overall.

First, thank you to the publishers and to NetGalley for an eArc in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Okay, I loved this book! I really enjoyed the setting, the characters, the monsters, the magic, and even how smarmy and evil the antagonistic characters were. The stakes felt real and high enough for the plot of the book; it gave the characters something tangible to work toward in the same way a big bad evil guy in D&D does--sure, it sounds very difficult, but it's achievable. I think that was a good balance in this novel, at least to me.

There were parts nearer to the middle where it became a little hard to get through because at that point things felt repetitive. Then that one twist hit, and boom, I was back again as if I'd never hit any mid-book slog! I really thought the last handful of chapters were a sweet wrap up to the book itself.

Relatedly, this book could have used more pages. I know, I know, longer books aren't always the answer, but honestly there's so much I wish could have been more developed. The romance between the two characters, Paz and our titular Lucha, seemed so quick and mostly driven on lust. We don't get a lot of time developing the -feelings- part of that. There are some other things that I'd wanted more time on--more creatures, more magic, more forest, more fungi! But it is what it is, and I still think what it is is pretty good.

This is one book I'm going to buy to reread again and to add it to my bookshelf!

4.5/5, rounded up

We Set the Dark on Fire is one of my favorite sapphic YA books, and while the sequel kind of let me down, I still enjoyed it and looked forward to Tehlor Kay Mejia's future work.

Lucha of the Night Forest starts off so strong. Mejia creates a richly-imagined society run by cruel, exploitative leaders who have enabled drug abuse to overrun the community. It is a deep and thoughtful commentary on real-world issues presented with a lot of heart.

Lucha, our main character, is a teenager doing her best, trying to provide for her sister and her drug-addicted mother, making the bargains she has to make in order to survive. The opening of this book is a lush and complicated upper-YA fantasy with the promise of difficult relationships and important themes.

Lucha's deal with a devil of sorts, Salvador, and her growing attraction to a girl named Paz, as well as her relationship with her little sister Lis, promise to weave together into exactly the story I wanted this book to be.

And then our characters head into the forest, and nothing interesting happens for the rest of the book.

I wish I were exaggerating. I wish that I had cared about anything that happened in the forest or anything that came after, but I did not. There were some interesting ideas in the mix, certainly, but I kept feeling like the heart of the story had been abandoned and Lucha and co were just sort of fucking around for the rest of it. Even the final confrontation was anti-climactic because it felt like we were so disconnected from the real stakes of the world.

Anyway, I'd give most of this book a solid two stars, but the opening and its potential is so strong and so brilliant that I am giving it three.

Content warnings: violence including sexual violence, misogyny, drug use/abuse

This story is intense and deals with some pretty heavy themes in a really readable way. Lucha's connection to nature, her sister, and her own fragile heart was so compelling to read about.

Has a great storyline but it fell flat a couple times and just seemed to drag on. It also took me longer than usual to even get into the book which I never did fully get into it.

dnf at around 50%

i was so excited for this, it made me so sad that i didnt enjoy it at all, to the point i actually had to dnf it, unfortunately. i dont know if it was just me not being in the mood for fantasy at the time, but i think it was more so to do with the book itself.

some things i liked: how strong the mc was! i was also enjoying seeing the relationship shed started to form with paz. i think thats about it, as far as i can remember.

now onto the things i did not like, which are sadly a fair bit more compared to the things i did: i know i said i liked how strong lucha was but i also couldnt help but feel like she was presenting herself as this super strong character when she actually wasnt, like she was just constantly pitying herself and talking about (to the readers) just how strong she was to be able to get through it. im going to be completely honest, i did not understand a *lot* of this world. just as i felt like i was starting to understand something in the story, something else was said about that particular thing and confused me even more. i remember not being able to distinguish two (three?) of the names in the story but now i dont even remember their names, let alone what they meant.

id been so excited for this ever since the deal announcement was made, so i really wanted to give it a fair try but it was just turning into a hate read as i tried to skim through more and more pages, just to see if maybe id change my mind and start enjoying it, but unfortunately that was quite far from the actual case, so i ended up dnfing it.

i dont give dnfs star ratings but since its required to on netgalley, ive decided to give it a 2 on here.

I found Lucha to be a heroine forged by the environment around her and her choices--a morally grey character imo. Lucha of the Night Forest was a well developed story, with a world dipped in chaos and evil forces at play, characters that fight through the motions set by their choices and their survival. The perfect standalone--Tehlor Kay Mejia has created a masterpiece.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to have access to this book, I loved it!

This was an absolutely fantastic standalone and another knockout from Mejia. I loved Lucha, her love for her sister, her desire to see her loved ones safe, but most of all her anger. Mejia does not shy away from how angry Lucha is at her world, and it was honestly refreshing. I cannot recommend this one enough.

I'll be honest, I'm struggling to write a summary for this book, so I'm just going to say it follows Lucha, her sister Lis, and their ally/friend Paz, as they try to escape their dangerous city and save their mother from the drug Olivdado. Lucha makes a bargain with El Sediento to free her city and family, and things escalate from there.

I am so disappointed because I wanted to enjoy this book so badly but it just did not work for me. I'm not sure how but both the plot and storyline felt like they were too much but also not enough for a standalone fantasy, and the ending left me incredibly unsatisfied. I didn't find the world-building to be particularly well done and there were a lot of things in the beginning that just didn't make sense to me and were not explained very well. Everything just felt incredibly surface level to me - the characters, the connection between them all, the relationships - felt one-dimensional and rushed particularly the romance. I felt like there was no time for me as the reader to build a connection with these characters either. Everything just felt very rushed - for example, there's a scene where Lucha is imprisoned for apparently months but is only talked about for around 2 paragraphs. I feel like this story had a lot of potential, and maybe would have been more enjoyable if everything wasn't crammed into one book; I could definitely see this being a solid duology that allows the world and the characters to expand so much more than they did. This one wasn't for me, but that cover is still absolutely stunning.

A 3.5 for me. I enjoyed the premise and want to know more about the world. The narrative wasn’t afraid to drop us into the action, but in some parts I wish we could have paused to really explore what was happening in this universe. Loving the Latinx-coded characters and the exploration into themes of destiny and free will.

The ending also feels like it suddenly happened and then it was over. And I wish we had more insight into the romance between the two mains. Overall a good time.

This story had a such a unique magic system, so much so that I was left wanting more. A lot more.

As a whole, I enjoyed reading this novel, but when I look at the details I realize a lot is missing.

There are parts that could've, well rather should have, been explored more. Lucha's time in prison is acknowledged, but that's all we get. What was the point of mentioning it? More insight was needed to add richness to the story.

This novel feels like it is for the younger YA crowd, and I am happy this exist for them, but the premise is SO GOOD, and the characters are so well developed that this would've flourished as an older YA story that was either longer, or at least two books.

Lucha of the Night Forrest is a story that features forgotten magic, dark forces, dangerous bargains, and a queer romance. Lucha will do anything to save her sister even if she has to encounter mysterious acolytes, scorned gods, a drug that makes you forget, and a dangerous forrest.

Lucha is a pretty fast paced story that follows Lucha and her will to do anything for her sister.

This is a unique world with a promising synopsis. However, I really struggled with this story because it felt very forgettable and discombobulated. I felt very confused most of the time.

Lucha of the Night Forrest lacks in character development since it felt like the characters were one dimensional and shallow.

If the story was more developed with the characters and the plot more fleshed out, then it would have been way more amazing.

I did enjoy the romance in this story and the family bonds for Lucha to do what she did for her sister. I loved the exploration of friendships and all relationships in general in this book.

I think it was just overall okay.

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.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. While the premise was interesting I didn’t connect with the characters or the story in a meaningful manner. Some books just aren’t for us, and that’s alright.

Continuing in my unexpected vein of queer BIPOC Poison Ivy characters, this wasn’t quite as good as the books by Bayron that I just read. I feel like the plot meandered quite a bit, the characters weren’t as relatable, and there were a lot of choices the main character made that didn’t make sense in context. Also, she was far too trusting after being shown people’s true colors over and over. I did like the fact that I finished reading this book on Cinco de Mayo, as the entire story and characters are based in a Spanish-speaking country and revolve heavily around the Spanish language. I honestly just wish it had been better written like her first two books that I’ve read.

This is a book I’m not a hundred percent sure how I feel about it. I really liked the themes and I enjoy Tehlor’s writing style, but sometimes this felt like So Much. Lucha is trying to survive in an area without resources and with a mother dealing with addiction. All Lucha wants is to destroy the drug that has destroyed her family and the place she resides, but without power or resources she’s stuck in too many ways, and also trying to keep her younger sister safe as possible. I think in a lot of ways this is a messy story and shows very nuanced dynamic between Lucha and Lis. I also really found the mythology and world building fascinating, and overall I am glad I read this. And the ending, while not a romantic HFN/HEA kinda deal, is still hopeful and shows a lot of continued themes of making difficult choices to create the world you believe in. I’d definitely recommend this book, and I look forward to more from Tehlor, but also in some ways I feel conflicted on this story.

I’ve used this phrase in book reviews before, but this book was decidedly average. I just never really connected with the storytelling and the characters. I stopped reading during the final fight and went to correct student’s spreadsheets. I just never felt like I needed to figure out what was happening. The romance was insta love and I never really felt the relationships build along on the way, especially with the revels that occurred for one of the characters. The worldbuilding was lovely but the use of gender was a bit binary. All in all, average and I would be interested with more by this author but would want more character development and relationships.