‘Pahua and the Soul Stealer’ by Lori M. Lee: Blog Tour Review about Hmong Gods, Shaman-Warriors and Family (+US Giveaway)

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I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the PAHUA AND THE SOUL STEALER by Lori M. Lee Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

• Title: Pahua and the Soul Stealer
• Author: Lori M. Lee
• Publisher: Rick Riordan Presents
• Pub. date: 7 September 2021
• Series: standalone
• Formats: Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook
• Page count: 320
• Source: Rockstar Book Tours
• Genres: middle-grade, fantasy, action & adventure, #ownvoices

Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents Lori M. Lee’s middle grade debut about a lonely Hmong girl who discovers she’s a powerful shaman warrior in this fantasy inspired by Southeast Asian mythology.

Pahua Moua has a bit of a reputation for being a weirdo. A lonely eleven-year-old Hmong girl with the unique ability to see spirits, she spends her summer days babysitting her little brother and playing with her best friend, a cat spirit no one else can see.

One day Pahua accidentally untethers an angry spirit from the haunted bridge in her neighborhood–whoops. When her brother suddenly falls sick and can’t be awoken, Pahua fears that the bridge spirit has stolen his soul. She returns to the scene of the crime with her aunt’s old shaman tools, hoping to confront the spirit and demand her brother’s return. Instead, she summons a demon.

Thankfully, a warrior shaman with a bit of an attitude problem shows up at the last minute and saves her butt. With the help of this guide, Pahua will have to find her way through the spirit worlds and rescue her brother’s soul before it’s too late. Little does she know she’ll have her own discoveries to make along the way. . . .

With its unforgettable characters, unique nature-based magic system, breathtaking twists and reveals, and climactic boss battle, this story based on Hmong oral tradition offers everything a fantasy lover could want.

Content warning: bullying, non-graphic fighting scenes (with swords and axes), physical injuries

I haven’t read any of Lori M. Lee’s works yet but as soon as I saw her middle-grade fantasy inspired by Hmong mythology along with Rick Riordan, I just knew I had to pick up this too-good-to-be-true book! I went into this book with only a surface knowledge of the Hmong culture, their history and their people, so I was excited about the new universe I’ll be stepping into with a fantasy like Pahua and the Soul Stealer!

Pahua Moua has always seen all kinds of spirits for as long as she can remember, but not everyone knows that. When her father leaves them, Pahua’s mother moves them away from the prying eyes of the aunties of their Hmong community to Merdel, where Pahua ends up being the only Asian kid in her grade. But Pahua is okay with that because she has her baby brother Matt and her best friend, who is also a cat spirit, Miv to keep her company.

One day, Pahua does something she usually avoids: she approaches an angry human spirit tethered to a bridge and accidently sets her free. The next day Matt falls into a coma and Pahua has the sinking feeling that the bridge spirit is involved. Intent on setting things right, Pahua grabs her mom’s old shaman tools and attempts to save her brother but instead summons demons instead.

Luckily for Pahua, shaman warrior-in-training Zhong turns up and saves her butt, but they realise two unsettling truths as well: one, Matt’s spirit was taken hostage by the bridge spirit and two, someone is sending their scary minions after Pahua for some reason. Soon, Pahua, Zhong and Miv and thrust into a quest that takes them across realms while forming surprising bonds of friendship.

Pahua and the Soul Stealer had a whole cast of great characters! I loved the all-Hmong cast, including the spiritfolk and all the other amazing creatures Pahua and her gang met along the way.

Pahua was a great protagonist! She starts out as the lonely immigrant kid of a single mother who works most hours of the day, but she really stands out in her growth and compassion throughout the story. I also found it easy to relate to her experiences of being the eldest child of a single parent, and the way her feelings were portrayed were incredibly touching. I loved her love towards her brother Matt as well as her relationships with her friends, which were wholesome and showed an emphasis on teamwork, growth and love.

Even Zhong and Miv get their own times to shine in the story, and I found it so nice to see them sharing the spotlight with Pahua. I think it was so powerful that they got to grow and shine alongside Pahua because that’s what friendships are really meant to be!

I was pleasantly surprised by all the plot twists this story threw at me! Usually I don’t expect really shocking or twisty turns in a middle-grade story, but Pahua really went for it! And I think it was so well done!

The overall flow of the story was great and I loved the length of the chapters. In retrospect, there was a lot that took place in throughout the whole storyline but it felt like a breeze reading through it! I think kids will really feel the fast-paced excitement of books like Percy Jackson when reading Pahua and the Soul Stealer.

I loved how the author kept the writing simple without hurting the plot! The writing was so smooth and the wording was so easy to understand that I am sure kids would have no problem making their way through action-packed quest.

I found the glossary of Hmong words and their pronunciations a fun and really useful addition to the book because there is so much that I did not know about their culture (duh!). I kept flipping to the glossary because I wanted to get the pronunciations right and I realised this is actually pretty useful to kids interested in their Hmong vocabulary too! I am pretty bad at my own mother tongue, Sinhalese, and Pahua mentions how her pronunciation needs work, so I thought “Duh! This is a great idea to get Hmong kids to develop more of an interest too!” Now, of course, I really need someone to adapt Sri Lankan myth and legends into a Rick Riordan-style fantasy!

I honestly had no idea about the richness of the Hmong culture and their myths until I read Pahua! The author does an awesome job of adapting the spiritfolk, the different realms and the gods into the modern world, but also in making them more relatable to the children of this age by giving them fun quirks.

On a whole, the world-building was stunning and creative. By the time I finished reading Pahua, I was left wanting to know more about this world and everything the reader has not been made privy to yet. The creatures were stunning, the shaman lore was absolutely intriguing and the spiritfolk gave me such Studio Ghibli vibes!

Amongst all the adventure and mishaps that Pahua and the gang face on their journey, Pahua deals with some really important themes about family, growing up and being yourself.

Having grown up with a single parent for almost half my life, I think the way the author tackled that was really tactful, accurate and beautiful. There were moments that Pahua grew up with that I couldn’t help relating to, and I wished a younger me would have gotten the chance to read this book.

I also really enjoyed the way friendship was portrayed here because I feel that the author wonderfully conveyed the importance of quality over quantity of friendships. Pahua and Zhong start off with totally opposite personalities, so the way they come together to understand each other and grow a strong bond really drives home such a wonderful message.

Pahua’s journey to believing in herself and being her authentic self is gradual but I definitely saw it happening. I thought it was positively inspiring and her values something that more kids should emulate and grow.

Pahua and the Soul Stealer is definitely my favourite middle-grade read of this year so far, with its wonderful Hmong representation and the beautiful way friendships and family are given centre stage. Pahua has something for everyone in it, from adventure and fantasy to growing up and being yourself.

3 winners will win a finished copy of PAHUA AND THE SOUL STEALER, US Only.

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Lori M. Lee is the author of speculative novels and short stories. Her books include PAHUA AND THE SOUL STEALER (Disney/Rick Riordan Presents), FOREST OF SOULS and the sequel BROKEN WEB (Page Street), and more. She’s also a contributor to the anthologies A THOUSAND BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS and COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES. She considers herself a unicorn fan, enjoys marathoning TV shows, and loves to write about magic, manipulation, and family.

Photo credit PrettyGeeky Photography.

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