The Island of Forgotten Gods: Chapters 16–20

by Victor Piñeiro
Nico and his cousins Kira and Nessi go to Puerto Rico to spend the summer with their Abuela Luciana. While enjoying the island's beauty, they encounter fantastic characters, ancient gods, and a monster that could be the infamous chupacabra.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–8, Chapters 9–15, Chapters 16–20, Chapters 21–30, Chapters 31–Epilogue
15 words 6 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. torrential
    pouring in abundance
    Instantly, clouds invaded the skies, and within two seconds a torrential rain began falling.
  2. distraction
    drawing someone's attention away from something
    “Come on. We got our distraction; let’s use it!” she said as she sprinted back up the alley and through the labyrinth of streets.
  3. labyrinth
    complex system of paths in which it is easy to get lost
    “Come on. We got our distraction; let’s use it!” she said as she sprinted back up the alley and through the labyrinth of streets.
  4. labored
    requiring or showing effort
    We followed as best we could, my breathing too labored to tell her to stop.
  5. exude
    make apparent by one's mood or behavior
    If I’d seen her picture in a book, I would’ve thought she was a Boricua witch—a bruja. But the vibes she was exuding were the clear opposite.
  6. amble
    walk leisurely
    “Guava sticks?” Kira ambled over to her. “That sounds delicious, honestly. I didn’t think you could cut guava into sticks. Do you have some?..."
  7. sanity
    normal or sound powers of mind
    To live in a normal universe days ago and have it punctured by the existence of witches, monsters, and weather-controlling superheroes was enough to make anyone question their sanity.
  8. divulge
    make known to the public information previously kept secret
    Kira opened her mouth, clearly ready to divulge every detail of our shadowbeast adventures.
  9. palatable
    acceptable to the taste or mind
    Abuela digested my slight lie and seemed to find it palatable.
  10. stasis
    inactivity resulting from a balance between opposing forces
    At this point stasis was death—if we sat still too long, our thoughts went to the demon or the cult, and then things got dark and sinister.
  11. sinister
    threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
    At this point stasis was death—if we sat still too long, our thoughts went to the demon or the cult, and then things got dark and sinister.
  12. paraphernalia
    equipment consisting of miscellaneous articles
    I hung the poster board on a corkboard in her garage, which had a mess of tools and random paraphernalia that looked like it hadn’t been touched in twenty years at least.
  13. ratchet
    move by degrees in one direction only
    “Okay, guys,” I said loudly, trying to ratchet the tension down a notch or three.
  14. limbo
    the state of being disregarded or forgotten
    “We’re tourists wherever we go,” Nessi said almost to herself.
    “More like we exist in some weird Latino limbo.”
  15. crone
    an ugly, evil-looking old woman
    Limping down the sidewalk in front of Abuela’s house, the hunched crone let her presence be felt.
Created on Fri May 15 20:29:04 EDT 2026 (updated Mon Jul 13 16:24:30 EDT 2026)

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