The Other Side of Water by Erika Espinoza
"She had seen a lost boy, plain and simple. Not just 'I'm lost in this place' sort of way. But something about the look in his eyes told her that he might have lost his way within himself."
Year Read: 2020
Rating: 3/5
About: After his mother's death in a car accident, Zeke is sent to live with a father he barely knows in Illinois. Chicago couldn't be more different from the Arizona desert or further from his Mexica heritage, and he struggles under the weight of his grief and his father's expectations. After a particularly nasty fight, Zeke flees to the lake to calm down, but something extraordinary happens. The water takes him to a world connected to Earth, where a snake-like race called the Gyrazu are attempting to overtake the magic-guarding Menewa. It turns out that Zeke has a power of his own, and it may be the key to saving his new friends. I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at CamCat Publishing. Trigger warnings: parent death (off-page), severe injury, abduction, explosions, violence, blood, grief.
Thoughts: This is a fun, adventurous fantasy novel, and I'm happy I had a chance to read it. It may fall closer to the middle grade/younger YA end of the spectrum, and there doesn't seem to be anything too difficult about the language or the concepts for readers just starting to venture into YA. Espinoza has created a fantasy world loosely based on Anasazi culture with a cool, almost symbiotic connection to our Earth. This only starts to develop toward the end of the novel, which can happen with first books in a series, but I still wish we'd gotten a little more of the world-building here. It seems like an interesting magic system that Zeke and Naya are only just starting to discover.
I had some trouble connecting with the characters, and I think part of that is a tell rather than show writing style. We're told often that Zeke is rebellious and Naya acts before she thinks, but it's harder to see those things in action. The action of the novel is actually one of its weaker points, and it seemed like there was a lot of characters running around, hiding, and generally not having a plan, which doesn't lend itself to a strong plot or particularly vivid scenes. It takes them a while to find their footing, though I found the pacing in the second half of the novel better than in the first, when things finally start moving along. (It also needs another round of grammar checks, but I can overlook that on small press books.) Nothing is really resolved in this book, leaving a lot open for the rest of the series. I likely won't continue with it, but I wouldn't discourage anyone from picking it up if it sounds interesting.
