Rea and the Blood of the Nectar by Payal Doshi

Rea is a brilliant character and the oh-so-real heroine we all need. Otherwise, they may not make it out of Astranthia alive.įull of heart-pounding moments and bursting with creativity, Payal Doshi’s debut is an unforgettable, magical adventure. With time running out and the odds stacked against them, Rea and her friends must uncover long-buried secrets and face a ruthless enemy if they want to save Rohan and the land of Astranthia. They discover that Rohan has been captured to complete a magical rite and that Rea herself has magic…except, she has no clue how to use it.

Following clues from the fortune-teller, Rea and her friend Leela accidentally end up portaling into the otherworldly realm of Astranthia, a land full of strange inhabitants like paries, serpent-lilies, and banshees. With Rohan nowhere to be found, her Amma acting like he’s gone forever, and her grandmother behaving strangely, Rea has no choice but to turn to the practically ancient fortune-teller in their small town of Darjeeling, India. But when she sneaks out to do just that at the midnight match, Rohan doesn’t make it home. On her twelfth birthday, all Rea Chettri wants is to beat her twin brother Rohan in a cricket match. “‘The time is upon us now for our history to be rewritten.’” Rea and the Blood of the Nectar, the first book in The Chronicles of Astranthia series is her debut middle grade novel.” (Bio taken from the author’s website.)įind Payal Doshi on the following platforms: She loves the smell of old, yellowed books. When she isn’t writing or spending time with her family, you can find her nose deep in a book with a cup of coffee or daydreaming of fantasy realms to send her characters off into. She was born and raised in Mumbai, India, and currently resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her husband and two-year-old daughter. Having lived in the UK and US, she noticed a lack of Indian protagonists in global children’s fiction and one day wrote the opening paragraph to what would become her first children’s novel. Rea and the Blood of the Nectar by Payal DoshiĬoming Jfrom Mango and Marigold Press 350 pagesĬontent Warnings: Blood, attempted suicide, death of a loved one, violence, some intense action scenes, murderĪbout the Author: “Payal Doshi has a Masters in Creative Writing (Fiction) from The New School, New York.