A review by johanna_b
Charlie Hernández & the League of Shadows, Volume 1 by Ryan Calejo

4.0

Charlie Hernandez grew up listening to his abuela's stories which spanned Hispanic and Latin mythology from all over the Spanish-speaking world. He thought that they were solely myths until one day he starts to change. First he sprouts horns on the top of his head, then he has an extreme breakout of feathers all over his arms. But these changes are only the beginning. Soon, Charlie and his friend Violet are swept up into a world full of myths-turned reality and a war that could ruin them both.

This was a really fun read! It started off a little slow but halfway through it started to pick up steam and ended with a plot-twist I never could have guessed! At first I thought it was kind of weird that

Spoiler

Charlie hadn't recognized his parents as dolls before because he had lived in the same house as them and passed by them so many times, but I guess it's true that you tend to ignore the things that you aren't expecting.

It was really fun getting to know more about Hispanic/Latino mythology, most of which I'd never heard of before! I also loved how the Spanish language flowed though the book and even though some of the characters only spoke English, the Spanish was still present and it was cool to see it as such a normal part of the dialogue.

As I mentioned above it took a little while for me to get into the story but it picked up once we were introduced to La Liga and the conclusion was excellent! Lots of action but with some things left unresolved to set us up for book two which I hope to read when I get a chance. I would definitely recommend this to any Percy Jackson fans, especially Hispanic or Latino readers as well as anyone looking to explore this mythology in a fun way! Happy Reading :)