An Encantadora’s Guide to Legends and Lies coming September 15th, 2026 from Quill Tree Books; 227 pages
Content Warning: Criminality, poisoning, injury
About the Author: “Sarah J. Mendonca is a Portuguese American author of magical books about misfits finding their own way in the world. Raised on her father’s bedtime stories, Sarah started writing about monsters at age eight and hasn’t stopped since. You can find her haunting dark forests, lurking in bookshops, or buried underneath her enormous tea collection. Her book, An Encantadora’s Guide to Monstros and Magic, has received numerous honors including Indies Introduce and Indie Next Kids’ selection, a Kirkus starred review and Publisher’s Weekly starred review, among others. Visit her at sarahjmendonca.com” (Bio from author’s Goodreads profile).
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Rosa Coelho has held only one dream since her pai disappeared—become a good enough Encantadora to find out why he never came back. After she and her friends successfully steal a horse-drawn wagon full of tea leaves and disguises, she can finally reach for that dream. But with a powerful artifact stolen from the Ministry crushing her city, and her friends’ lives on the line, Rosa is torn between protecting the people she loves and becoming good enough for her pai. Together with her friends and a long lost relative, she enters the Sol Games, with the doors of a 300-year-old library the only thing standing between her and living up to her pai. The city of Sol is filled with lies, secrets, and dangerous monstros, and the only way for Rosa and her friends to survive is to find out what lies they hear from others, what lies they tell themselves, and what secret is entombed deep in the heart of the city of Sol.
I don’t have enough words to praise this book properly. To start, the world-building is stellar, no two cities feel the same. The story took me from a walled city of knowledge by the sea to a city with a populace dressing colorfully while starving. The usage of Portuguese is culturally enriching, gorgeous, and functional in immersing the reader. Despite having a large cast, each character is given their own personality and background details—chapter one felt like I was living character backstory without realizing it. With the large cast comes a lot of probing and teasing, so if you enjoy silliness or witty banter between characters or watch a lot of Marvel movies, you’ll love this book’s cast. At first, I was disappointed by the action scenes because, compared to the one in the first chapter, the tension did not feel as effective and the banter of the cast took over what should’ve been a life-threatening scenario—but the tension of this book shines best during puzzle scenes. That said, the cast’s banter taking me out of fight scenes was disheartening, and I found errors in logic like the group making plans for a trap they already had a simpler solution for. I would not be disheartened if it were not for the fact this book is genuinely well crafted otherwise, with a message about overcoming generational trauma and pressures every person should read.
An Encantadora’s Guide to Legends and Lies releases on September 15th, 2026.
Pine Reads Review would like to thank NetGalley and Quill Tree Books for sending us an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change before final publication.
Julia Smith, Pine Reads Review Writer & Editor