Zoraida Córdova knocks it out of the park again. Bruja Born is infused with magic and suspense, connected by the fierce love of sisters. This book is more centered in our world than Labyrinth Lost, but loses none of the magic. I loved that it was from the perspective of a different sister than the first book and I'm excited to read from the third sister's perspective in the next book. Córdova is a gifted writer and her books are automatic reads.

I wasn't able to read this because I wasn't aware that it was part of a series at the time.
Unfortunately, Netgalley doesn't allow you to not give feedback and not let it count against you (when it's a viable reason).
So I'm adding feedback to fix that.

Hopefully I'll be able to read this at some point! It was interesting enough to request right away, I was just brand new to Netgalley and learning the ropes. I think it needs to be a little more clear when a book is part of a series. It can be hard to tell!

I have been sleeping on Zoraida Cordova's books and have regrets. There are the hallmarks of all the things I like - magical realism, witches, family bonds, NYC. Why, oh, WHY did I wait so long to get myself into Brooklyn Brujas. As you may have gathered, Brooklyn Brujas is a series that basically follows one sister as she deals with a large issue relating to her magic. 

The first book, Labyrinth Lost follows middle sister Alejandra (Alex for short). She has this massive amount of power - she's considered this generation's enchantrix. Only, she does not want that power. So, using advice from this shady guy, Nova, she tries to do a ritual on her deathday to get rid of the power. Only it backfires and her family ends up trapped in the magical realm. OH and you would think Nova is the love interest. HE IS NOT. In fact, it's a girl, Rishi. And that was quite the wonderful addition to the story. Let me say that I was 100% here for that. Overall, an interesting look at expectations and how sometimes it is not a bad thing to lean into them. When Alex accepts who she is and leans into it, I think that things really started to go her way.

Then, the second book picks up kind of close to the end of Labyrinth Lost. Bruja Born follows the oldest sister, Lula. She has the power to heal. Anyways, she's on a bus ride to a game and there is an accident. Unfortunately, everyone dies, including her boyfriend. Lula ends up bringing him and a bunch of other people back to life. This is fine and dandy, only he's not the same. So, similar to Labyrinth Lost, Lula's power backfires. She's got to get her messed all cleaned up because these people are actually going around eating people -- kind of like zombies. I actually enjoyed Bruja Born a little bit more, maybe because I could relate to Lula in being the oldest. Also, I could relate in making some not so great choices out of love. OH and also, their dad is back which adds in a pretty important family dynamic. 

I am excited for the third book which I am guessing follows the youngest sister and it comes out 2020, according to goodreads. I think Cordova is a writer to watch and well, I am going to be checking out her Vicious Deep books sooner than later (apparently there is also a connection to the Brooklyn Brujas books in that series as well).

Unfortunately I am unable to use this in the classroom due to it's content. However it was an enjoyable,exciting read.

*An advanced reader ebook copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

First, I loved the world building. I love that Córdova has created a magical system and hidden world of magic in the heart of Brooklyn that draws on a variety of Latin American traditions and beliefs. She melds together into something beautiful and unique. If you’re tired on vaguely medieval Western European fantasy this is a breath of fresh air. Moreover, the magic is not merely a swish-and-flick of a wand and poof there’s a floating feather. Instead the magic ties directly in with religious belief in the Deos and every magic spell has a consequence. Moreover, there was some development in the book about how the brujas navigate living in a city with other magical beings and the witch hunters.

I loved Lula’s character growth. I might have been skeptical at first because I can’t identify with beautiful popular girls, however by the end of the book I had so much respect for her and can’t wait to see her in the next book.

I loved the family bonds and love displayed throughout the book. While the sisters and the family as while has faced a number of tragedies and trauma, the depth of love and solidarity is wonderful. Too often books rely on the orphan with magical abilities trope, which I love don’t get me wrong, but it is nice to see an Latino family portrayed with love, strength, and resilience.

The books ends with a bit of a cliffhanger with the presumption that Rose’s powers will be the subject of the next book, which I am eagerly anticipating!

I would recommend this to fans of young adult fantasy if you’re looking for an original urban fantasy with great representation!

One Sentence Synopsis: Sequel flips the script and puts Lula Mortiz, the healer, is dangerous and impossible situations when she tries to defy Death.

Why You Should Be Reading: The sequel to Labyrinth Lost switches perspective and gives Lula Mortiz the stage. After returning from “hell” and finding out about her sisters Encantrix powers, she feels suffocated. She’s not at home in herself, her room, her house, and in the relationships with the people around her. Her one respite from all this meets an end that challenges how far Lulu and her sister, the one who sent her to “hell”, are willing to do to fix things/put them right.

The messed up part is that it’ll never be alright. And part of the journey of this book is Lulu and the reader understanding this. Life is unpredictable and it’s what we make out of the lemons we’re handed that makes the difference.

Cordova understands that and I think that’s why she went with Lula’s perspective for this. Hell, I think she’s been waiting for it since Labyrinth Lost came out. And that makes it even better because it shows that she’s been planning and building this world for a long and with plenty of stories to come.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Witches, Urban Fantasy, Latina, POC Lead

Other Books by Zoraida Cordova: Labyrinth Lost, Luck on the LIne, The Vicious Deep

Learn more about the author HERE.

Buy Bruja Born HERE.

Add Bruja Born to your Goodreads HERE.

Cover

While I hate mid series cover changes, I love this new cover! The colors and the simplicity really speak to me. I would love to some day getting a boxed set for this series, but I'll wait until all the books are published. Wouldn't want another cover change ;)

This is a love story. At least, it was, before my sister sent me to hell.
Plot

The story picks up after the events of Labyrinth Lost and we get to see the impact and consequences those events had on the Mortiz family. Labyrinth Lost focused on Alex, this time around we get to read Lula's story. Because the synopsis gives away quite some story from the beginning, it took me a little while to get into the book. I was waiting for something new to happen, but as soon as that did it was a very fast paced, action filled ride through the world of the Brujas.

I wasn't expecting the turns this story took. It deals with some heavy topics, and does it in an important and inspiring manner. Lula grew a lot as a character and that gives us a beautiful story. While I really enjoyed the book, I never 'believed' in the love between Lula and Maks so to say. They seemed like a cute couple from what we saw in Labyrinth Lost but for me it never became clear as to why they were in love. It is clear Lula loves Maks so much, but it felt like it could've been any other guy instead of this precise person.

There is a lot of loss and grief in this book. But it also has a lot of familial, and unconditional love. It was wonderful reading about the three sisters, Lula, Alex, and Rose and see them come to terms with all that happened in Labyrinth Lost but also what happened in Bruja Born. I also loved the diversity in this own voices, Latinx fantasy.

Characters

Lula is the main character in this one, it took me a while to fall for her. But in the end she was a great heroine and I think she showed such character growth. Lula needs to learn to love herself the way she is, the way her outside has become. This is such an important message for teenage girls, and I loved that it was included. Lula also need to make some really tough choices but in the end she did wonderfully. In contrast to Labyrinth Lost, we didn't really have a villain, the problem happing was due to Lula's choices and that was quite refreshing.

We get to meet some interesting new characters and of course we see a lot of Alex and Rose. I especially loved reading about Rose and am so excited for her story. The sisters are amazing together and possibly the best aspect about these books. We also get to see more of Nova and that wasn't exactly what I was expecting. It was interesting to see him in a different light and I can't wait to read more.

“Magic transforms you. Magic changes you. Magic saves you. I want to still believe in all those things.”
World Building 

The world got expanded a lot in this sequel! While we got to travel to an actual other world in the first book, Bruja Born enriches the world 'as we know it' so much. I loved reading more about the Bruja culture and all the supernatural that was going on. Hopefully we'll get even more of that in the next book. As I said in my previous review, Zoraida has a way with words that makes everything come to life.

A highly enjoyable read, and one that is pretty underrated I think. There aren't nearly enough people talking about this diverse fantasy series, I hope more will pick up these books. Can't wait for the next book after that epilogue!

I really liked this book. I thought it was a great sequel. I was a bit surprised that the story focused on a different sister. This one focused on Lula instead of Alex and I think I liked her better. She is still recovering from things that happened to her in the first book and Alex obviously feels a lot of guilt for that. She has her boyfriend Macks to rely on and when he dies in a bus crash, she is willing to do anything to save him. She makes a lot of mistakes to do it and she has to suffer the wrath of her sisters and The Thorne Hill Alliance. I loved her growth throughout this book though and I also LOVED her relationship with her sisters. I knew how the thing with Macks would end. That much was predictable. But there was so much anguish in the meantime and so many twists and turns. The book was filled with action. Her relationship with her sisters was awesome because they gave her grief for her mistakes, but they still had her back ALWAYS. It was awesome to see. The book had a pretty great ending too that set up the next book in the series. Fingers crossed it focuses on the third sister, Rose, this time.

This book doesn't blow the reader away, but it s fantastic follow up to the first in the series. The magic system and the familial connections really kept me intrigued.

I love Cordova's ability to seamlessly integrate diverse characters. Her books are a fresh read and I can't wait for her next one. Really enjoy her world building as well.

it took me a while to actually finish this book. I just wasn't ready to read something that started off with such a negative beginning and event happening. It took an unexpected twist that I'm not entirely sure I liked or not but the character development was great.

As much as I tried to love this book, I didn't. It had everything I usually love: romance, flawed characters, zombies, diversity, and family relationships. But there was just a disconnect between the book and me. Lula really wasn't nearly as strong of a voice as I was needing and I struggled to connect with her. I know grief makes us do stupid things, but I was just really annoyed with the fact that she kept making the same mistakes over and over again. I thought she would've started growing as a person and a Bruja much earlier on in the book. Characters aren't perfect, but you can only make the same mistake so many times before it's just annoying.

I had been hearing so much about this book, but I missed the fact that this was a sequel — oops. Now I have to pick up the first one to fully get the story!

This is the second in the Brooklyn Brujas series, which deals with the fallout of the dark volatile and life-changing events of Labyrinth Lost (the first book in the series). Lula spends the majority of the time trying to control a bellyful of anger and taking her lack of control out on her loved ones. She resents her sister for putting her in danger and for destroying her physical appearance.

When you're equipped with more power than you can handle the danger is not being able to control it or possibly using it for the wrong reasons. As a witch one of the golden rules is what you put out into the universe you get back tenfold, especially when it is something negative. I think trying to intervene in life or death scenarios fits into this category. Lula doesn't hesitate to use her power to take back what Death has already claimed, which sets a series of dangerous events in motion.

Córdova likes to explore the emotional and physical limitations and boundaries of magic. What happens when you break the written and unwritten rules? Does Lula really feel as if she is above the rules and immune from the possible consequences of breaking them. There is also a focus on the tight relationship between the sisters, and why they are willing to risk their lives to satisfy the selfish needs of their sister.

The Brooklyn Brujas has a lot of potential, especially when it comes to the sisters developing their skills and powers, so it will be interesting to see where the author takes the series. Brujas aren't a common feature in urban fantasy, there tends to be an overall focus on bog-standard witches. This allows for a more in-depth look at the cultural meaning and myths surrounding them.

What I really want to know is whether something else other than fate or the auto-schedule of Death happened on that bus. Was it just a coincidence that Lula was in the middle of an emotional upheaval? Just putting that out there into the universe.

Librarian: We probably won't be ordering this one, Not because it isn't good, but because we don't have the first one. I might try to get the first one added to the order, but without one, we won't get two.
Reader: I picked this one up because eI absolutely adored Labyrinth Lost, and I hoped Bruja Born would be similar. In this it exceeded my expectations. The plot line was a lot deeper than the last book, and the world felt more detailed. I will say that it felt more like a companion novel then a sequel, but that probably had more to do with the perspective shift then the content.

I hadn't read the first book in this series, so was a tad lost at the beginning. Despite being the second in a series, the opening of BRUJA BORN could have used a bit more exposition to seat the reader more firmly in the milieu. I eventually did get somewhat into the story, The world building was good, the bruja-mythology intriguing, but characterization seemed somewhat lack as did true emotional content. This mostly seemed like teenagers ignoring their elders and repeatedly doing things they shouldn't have been doing—and not getting the fact that they were repeatedly digging themselves in deeper. The characters suffered a constant cycle of injuries, healings, and more injuries.

Another great step into the world the author has created but with different stakes and goals. An excellent read

RECEIVED FROM NETGALLEY

4.5/5

HOLY SHIT THIS BOOK. I looooooved this book. Loved it more than the first. Zoraida Cordova I need the third book ASAP, in my hands. It will be even better if I got the ARC of this one too. More in-depth review can be found on The Nerd Daily website and Netgalley reviews 3 video (to come).

First, the usual disclaimer. I received a free eARC of this novel from the publisher via Netgaller.com in exchange for my honest review. This review will contain spoilers because in this house we do not fear a spoiler, nay we seek them out willingly with a brave heart and a curious mind!

Rating: 3.75/4

Let's start with the cover. 100%, the cover of this book is what initially lured me in. So much so that I failed to realize that it was a sequel, and had to get my hands on book one so that I could read it! I love everything about this cover. The clean geometric lines, the blue and gold colour scheme and the moth at the centre of it all really speaks to me. Oh, and the phases of the moon, because I love me some phases of the moon worked into art.

I enjoyed this story much more than the first book. With Labyrinth Lost, I felt like I was always wanting more from the story- something was just off and lacking. I enjoyed it, but I didn't -love- it. This book improved in leaps and bound, in my opinion.

Confession. I hated Lula in Labyrinth Lost. In Bruja Born, I hated her less, but I also felt like her character got the "protagonist scrub", that some of her difficult behaviour and sharper edges were filed down for palatability when the spotlight was turned on to her. I wanted to see her really bond with Alex, express her forgiveness and understanding, but instead it felt like she forced Alex to help her by manipulating Alex' guilt, and still felt like her endangering the world was justified, and that Alex's was not. There was a bit of a turn around on those thoughts, but they really didn't have a satisfying scene together hashing it out.

The plot of this one felt more immediate and faster paced, and I was a big fan that the Deos were more present in this one, that their stories and myths were delved into. I love me a magic system that is divine in origin, and this didn't disappoint.

Alex was still in a weird place for me. The romance between her in Rishi felt odd in book one, and this book didn't do it any favours by shunting Rishi off to Fort Lauderdale (I think? She had almost zero screen time and was only ever mentioned in barest passing). The number one complaint I have with these books is that while the idea and characters are great in concept, the execution can be a little weak and thin, especially the relationships between all the characters, romantic, friendship and familial. Everything stays on the surface, and the book surfaces for it. We barely see Rishi and Alex as friends at the begining, so when they develop a romance it seems sort of dropped out of the blue, considering the book up until that point explored Alex's romantic curiosity and complicated alliance with Nova almost exclusively.

Bruja Born continues that trend, by popping Rishi on a plane out of Brooklyn and dropping Nova back into Alex's orbit. They barely interact, just mostly circle each other, clearly both feeling some complicated things about each other, but never really having a good moment to figure anything out between them. Then Nova starts spending time with the youngest sister Rosie, and book three warning bells are going off in my head.

The plot in Book 2 revolves around Lula being unable to let go of her love for Maks, her longtime boyfriend, both relationship wise, and then letting him pass on in death. She wrangles first her sisters and Nova into things, and then half the magical community of Brooklyn when they accidentally kick off a Casimuerto apocalypse. Oops. Teenagers in love, am I right? Always starting world ending events instead of doing their homework and helping out around the house.

Lula and Maks' relationship ends before we can see any of it, as he breaks up with her immediately. This makes the emotional side of the rest of the book fall flat when it needs to be a pillar for the plot to stand on. How can we understand Lula's drastic decisions to save and hold on to this love no matter the cost, when all we are shown is this jerk breaking up with her for struggling and not being as bubbly and outgoing as she used to be while acknowledging he knows she is going through some heavy stuff? I'm glad he stays definitively dead in the end, good riddance to his garbage personality.

The magic seems better flushed out in this one, and I'm very, very hyped to explore Rose's in the next book. Her newly discovered power really speaks to me, and hands down, she is my favourite Mortiz sister. It's not even a contest. Please don't let her character drasticaly change in the next book!

All in all, they are fun books, with magic, and teen drama, and a world that is expanding out and becoming more interesting. Love the addition of Thorne Hill Alliance characters and the Knights of Lavant being in this book. I hope to see more of them in later books. It's an enjoyable quick read, but it's missing that something special to truly make it one of my favourites that I will come to again and again. If witches, supernatural creatures and magical realism are your thing, give this series a try.

I thought the plot was great. The magic system is very well developed and I love that we have Latino families heading our set of main characters. Cordova did an amazing job as always with the magic and gods and everything.

My main complaint is that I didn't hear or feel much difference in Lulas voice from Alex in book 1. I regularly forgot I was reading from Lulas pov until Alex would be mentioned.

I love that family always prevails in these stories. I can't wait for more with the Kingdom of Adas