I read the first book in that series & thought it was okay, but it didn't grab me enough to look for the sequels. Your sketch of Kiya makes it sound worth picking up again just for her.

And I've always had a fondness for Stephen King's parental characters, even though a lot of them are terrible people. He's very skilled at showing how loving a child deeply & fiercely doesn't necessarily make you a good parent. (Wendy Torrance, though!)