Maya and the godlings must return to the sinister world of The Dark to retrieve the one thing keeping the veil between the worlds from crumbling: her father’s soul.
– GoodReads
My Review
What can I even begin to say? Spawn and I loved this one just as much as the first, in fact, I may have loved it even more. This sequel picks up about where we left off. It’s the start of a new school year for Maya, Frankie, and Eli. They have been acknowledged for saving Maya’s father from the Dark but they’re still children who broke the rules.
It’s clearly frustrating for the three to be treated like they don’t know any better when they chose to act when the council didn’t, but, there are other things to worry about. Homework, and even more trouble brewing. Despite them rescuing her father’s soul, Maya and her dad are racing to close tears in the veils like never before. Something isn’t right, and her father looks ill.
Finally it’s revealed that Eleggua’s soul was left in the Dark and without it, Maya’s father will die.
Of course this means the council needs to debate more, but, Maya’s father doesn’t have the time for them to wait for help. Once more it’s up to Maya and her friends to go into the Dark and rescue her Father, though this time they leave to retrieve his soul.
There’s a lot more time spent in the Dark and exploring it as a world in this book which I really enjoyed a lot. We also get new characters and some great little twists in the plot that the spawn and I didn’t see coming but we certainly enjoyed them!
Barron always does perfectly on her pacing and her MG writing style is so much on point that it’s difficult to want to put the book down. Each chapter propels you to the next.
We get to see more magic, more of those who live in the Dark and we’re given a view of those in the Dark that we haven’t had before. Not everyone wants a war with Maya’s world, many are just trying to live their day to day lives.
Truly loved this book and seeing Maya, Frankie, and Eli grow; not just in terms of character development but powers as well. Admittedly Eli is my favorite, he always makes me laugh and spawn has a tough time picking from the three, she loves them all.
Fantastic read, I’m part of Rena Barron’s street team so I’ll be screaming about this book a lot in the next couple of weeks as it’s closing on release day. (Next Tuesday, 09/21/21 for those of you who are curious!)
5/5 Cups of coffee from spawn and I! Thanks so much to the publisher, NetGalley, and the author for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!
**P.S.: Don’t forget I still have some lovely DiverseUrShelf Boxes left that contain Maya and the Rising Dark!**
LINK IS HERE
The Caffeinated Reader 
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