Thank you so much to NetGalley for the eARC!

The art of this book is absolutely beautiful and I thought what I could gather of the plot was really interesting and had great potential. However, I unfortunately had a few issues with the book. The main two for me were lack of clarity and lack of personal connection with the characters. While there was some character development as the book progressed, it was still the kind of book where despite being a short graphic novel that I would normally finish in one sitting, this took me at least 3 sittings to finish. I just didn't feel that connection to the characters especially in the first half or so of it, and despite the fast pace, it just didn't pull me in. Additionally, in terms of the lack of clarity, I just felt that there were a lot of plot lines that weren't fully pieced together for me and because of that it wasn't as impactful.

However, overall I did enjoy this book and it was a beautiful read. I also really liked getting to see story lines about witches from other cultures as obviously witchcraft has been a part of many many different cultures in various forms but often it is only shown in a very specific European way.

First thing, the positives: beautiful art style and the colors really stood out to me. The characters are interesting but some of their motivations and background aren’t really explained. The magic system is interested but also not fully explained. Would be really interesting to learn more about it.

First of all, thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me an eArc.

The title as well as the cover made me very curious for this graphic novel, I love all things witchy and love anything brujx, so I had to ask for a copy of it!

I loved the artstyle and the colorpallete used for the scenes, some of them looked very magical.
However I must say that the plot couldn‘t really catch me, I definitely expected something else.
More brujx culture and more brujxs in general.

But it was still an enjoyable read!

Season of the Bruja follows Althalia, a bruja apprentice who faces threats from the past. From a young age, Althalia knew that the day will come when she will be the last bruja, tasked to keep the power and the stories of her ancestors from fading into history.

The story is great, it’s adventurous but also emotional, it has a smart and strong protagonist, very supportive friends and family (abuela is definitely my favorite), a quest and villains that make you keep reading to find out more.

I really liked that it discussed about heritage, colonialism and erasure of culture.

The pace is fast and maybe a bit too fast in my opinion, the story is more plot driven than character driven and there is a diverse cast of lovable characters which I absolutely loved.

Overall, I really liked this graphic novel. I must also add that the art is amazing! 🙌🏻

I received this as an eARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley and Oni Press.

Althalia "Lia" Cabrera is a bruja; one with immense power... but albeit a bit untrained.

With her job at a paranormal museum and her friends Dana (a werecoyote) and Chuey (a real-life Chupacabra), and her abuela, Lia spends her time honing her magical gifts and stopping magical threats... like demons. When a strange encounter at a museum with a priest leaves her world turned upside-down, Lia must work to find her abuela and face down a centuries-old threat that seeks to destroy the last bruja. Althalia grapples with the cultural trauma of the past and the present ramifications of colonialism which take the form of a real and dangerous institution that seeks to finish what they started hundreds of years ago.

With an engaging narrative and beautiful artwork, Season of the Bruja, quickly captures one's attention with its brightly color palette and humorous dialogue. As it is the first volume, it provides a modest background to the world Durán and Solar are building but I think it does a decent job setting things up for the broader story. This YA fantasy comic pulls the reader in immediately and provides a clear plot that has the potential to be further developed in future volumes. I personally found the premise and the characters to be very diverting and look forward to finding out what happens next.

Thank you to Netgalley and Oni Press for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The drawings are absolutely beautiful and the choice of colors really stood out to me, I think it gave the right feel and it worked perfectly with this type of story.
Unfortunately some parts were really confusing, I felt like I was missing some vital infos and I couldn't quite put them togheter to better understand what was happening. The characters are scarcely introduced and the magic system isn't really explained, I kinda felt like I was thrown in the middle of a story having missed the first chapters. The plot still sounds very promising and I hope they'll explain more in the next volumes.

ARC received from publisher.
This was such a good story! You start out straight into the action but it’s not difficult to figure out what’s happening. It does help if you know a little bit of Spanish, but it’s really easy to look up if you don’t know any. The story is set up for follow ups and I can’t wait to read more about this unique group of friends/found family and their adventures. The art is absolutely stunning and bring the characters to life. Can’t wait to read more!

This comic certainly does not waste any time getting started.

The pace of this comic starts at full speed and does not slow down. The art style, illustration, and characters made me want so much more and I am looking forward to future volumes.

I will say because of the fast pace, there were moments I was a little lost, but I feel with future volumes answers will be waiting… am I excited to get them.

The MC is pushed in a quest she never asked for, and I felt my heart wrenching with her.

I am hoping to see more on the villains- I am very interested in their motives and where they come from. So far I absolutely love the priest and cannot wait until we find out more about him, how he became involved, his motives…

A fun, witchy, whirlwind of an adventure with beautiful, colorful art. I’m ready for more already!

Gorgeous art, a fierce female protagonist and a unique cast of characters are huge draws for SEASON OF THE BRUJA. Althalia's headstrong determination and commitment to cultural roots and bruja roots will appeal to many readers, especially young adults craving paranormal and magical action. Unfortunately, parts of the plot were hard to follow and motivations for the characters were unclear.

I am really looking forward to further volumes. As other reviewers mention, it’s a lot quickly, but the characters are impossible not to fall for and the art is stunning.

Seemingly, i felt quite pushed into this because as soon as i started it, i am already indulging in some intense exorcism work of some kind. It became a case of too much too quickly that i honestly had to check back if this was indeed the first volume. I loved the folklore to it, the beautiful illustrations and the gungho MC who really fights to protect herself and her family history/secret of brujas. Although overall it might seem a little too rushed, i feel in the end it kind of worked out building up to future volumes.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Season of the Bruja Vol. 1 is a YA fantasy graphic novel written by Aaron Duran and illustrated by Sara Soler.

Athalia Cabrera is one of the last brujas. She works at a paranormal museum with her were-coyote and chupacabra friends and takes care of her abuela who is training her to keep the knowledge of their ancestors alive. But an encounter with a priest of the Order of Hernan Cortez upends their lives. Athalia must quickly grow into the person she was destined to be unless the church destroys her first.

Season of the Bruja hurls you right into its world and it rarely ever stops to take a breath. It’s got a great hook complete with demonic possession and thematic statements on postcolonialism and religious oppression. And I grabbed hold of it and all its witches and Latin American lore and I never let go. The pacing’s great. There’s never a scene without action and, if there is, it takes the time to establish character relationships and expound on its worldbuilding.

It also pretty much ticked all the boxes that keep us looking forward to the next installments. Athalia is believably pushed into her impossible quest, we have villains who have long been plotting for this moment in time, and we have ancient gods around, watching, hinting at what’s to come. We also have a great trio of friends who are very easily lovable. Athalia herself is charming from the get-go. From the moment she’s introduced, we see her reckless nature. Someone strengthened by the company of her friends and family but also someone whose recklessness may get the better of her at some point.

The villains themselves, though, are slightly cartoonish and I do hope that they get more compelling. I’m not too bothered by them since we have more installments to go and, hopefully, they becoming even more threatening than they are now. And if I could nitpick a bit more I’d say that there are plot beats that were a little off. Something important happens outside of any scene and when you think about it, it’s hard to imagine how it played out. There’s also another beat that didn’t explain how the characters were able to accomplish a certain objective.

Volume 1 of ‘Season of the Bruja’ is an exciting launch point to a graphic novel series I am very much looking forward to (and I rarely read graphic novels). It didn’t take much for it to sink its teeth into me and take me along for a fun, witchy, fast-paced ride with a wonderful set of characters, a high-stakes mission, and lore that I can’t wait to learn more about. Some plot beats were off, but I still loved it in the end. Its themes in particular resonate a lot with me and I’m looking forward to how that could be integrated into not just the overall plotline but the magic system too.

A charming coming-to-age tale with magic and powerful familial bonds? Absolutely.

Season of the Bruja was captivating, but struggled with pacing a bit. We get thrown into the story without much exposition. While it was cute, I wish the characters had been fleshed out a little more. I'd love to read the rest of the series when it comes out!

Shoutout to the folks at NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As a young woman, I find it impossible to connect with some stories on a personal level. I know the publishing industry is dominated with white authors. It is my wish to tell tales BIPOC children can feel identified with.

Season of the Bruja is a graphic novel about young bruja Althalia. She must protect her abuela, face the many prejudices from the church, and make her mark in the world.

To say I enjoyed this book is an understatement. I have recently learned my love for graphic novels, and I have to say this was a very strong introduction to an upcoming series.

Read if you like bruja vibes and want to enjoy this fall season curled up with a cup of tea!

Season of the Bruja Vol. 1 is a graphic novel infused with Hispanic folklore and mythology placed in our current day, with an absolutely stunning art style - colorful, magical, and vividly detailed.

Althalia - Lia - is a bruja (witch) being taught about herself and her kind - her powers/knowledge - from her Abuela. The story begins with Lia and her friends performing a demon exorcism and saving a possessed boy, while striking somewhat of a deal with the demon.
Afterwards, after being scolded by her Abuela for putting herself in danger by performing the exorcism, Lia and Abuela visit a museum where a priest attacks them, and Abuela dies. Lia, driven by revenge, tries to bring her Abuela back while at the same time preparing for her future, in which she must stand alone as a bruja.

While the plot may strike as 'common' (young person with powers, lost family, angered into almost losing control...) it was rich and well written with likable characters, strong friendships, and underlying real-world struggles. The animal familiars are super cute too, I just wish they would have been identified.

Le illustrazioni sono davvero stupende e caratterizzano bene i personaggi, ma la lettura è stata parecchio pesante perché la storia è buttata lì e sembra di essersi persx un libro prequel che spiegasse meglio il mondo, la storia, i personaggi. Insomma, un world-building praticamente assente, che gioca molto sulla tua immaginazione e la conoscenza pregressa della mitologia nativo sud-americana (o mid-americana). Sono comunque riuscita a finire la storia, un po' perplessa ma contenta dei bei disegni e la forte critica al colonialismo

A nice short graphic novel. I really liked the magic system and the references to the main character’s Aztec descent.
The graphic is also lovely and well made, the details are to die for.
On the other hand, I’ve found the plot and dialogues a little slow in some points of the story.
All in all, it’s good and I would recommend to read it, especially now that Halloween is coming!

With the increasing popularity of BIPOC books as well as movies, it's no wonder it's catching up on graphic novels too. The hype set the bar high when it comes to plot complexity and such. This is the first installment of the series and I had high expectations in terms of laying down the foundation for the next volume and showcasing strong characterizations. I am mildly disappointed.

First chapter in, I already had doubts if I will be expecting twists and turns. We have the typical rebel heroine who belongs to a family with the unique ability to mediate life and death. With the abrupt death of her abuelita, she was not able to compete her training. Now, she spent her grieving days trying to look for ways how to bring her abuelita back to life, ignoring her friends, manipulating the demons around her, feeling all too powerful and unstoppable m, got her abuelita for few days and end.

The religious concept of Opus Dei and Latin myth could have had catapulted this to an amazing plot but the build up fell flat with how predictable the characterizations were. Word building also dragged down the supposed excellent points of the story. Well who knows, Volume II might fare better

This is an interesting if not slightly overwhelming introduction to a series.
This graphic novel follows Althalia as she begins to learn how to hone her bruja powers. The art is absolutely gorgeous, and the characters and mystery are intriguing. The biggest issue I have with it is that the reader is just thrown into the plot and it takes a good half of the book to begin to understand what is going on. I was confused for a lot of it. However, the story is so fast-paced that I started to get it fairly quickly because I read this fairly quickly. And! I think that I could easily reread it to get a little more familiar with the story and the universe.
I'm really interested to see what happens in future volumes, and will definitely be picking those up when they are published. While this first installment makes you sit through a bit of confusion and rapid-fire worldbuilding, it has the potential to kick off a truly incredible series that offers up more and better representation for Latine youth the likes of which we haven't seen yet.

NOTE: Contains uninterpreted Spanish, and references to death, demons, demigods, evil religious priests, and the home of Lucifer.

Althalia and her two friends are supernatural.
She is of Aztec descent, and a witch of sorts; able to draw great power. But Althalia is impatient and takes shortcuts, causing trouble where study and practice would have produced safer, and much better results.

When we meet her, she is trying to save a boy possessed by a lesser demon--because his parents foolishly dabbled in things they didn't understand.

Dana, a werefox is a sister-figure and believes in Althalia. Chuey is lavender, furry on his face, walks like an up-right lizard with a long tail, and has a dragon-type ridge down his back. We don't know what Chuey is, but he is Dana's jeffe (boss), and by turning a ring on his finger, he appears to be a thin white man with glasses. Together they run a shop to support themselves.

Isadora is Althalia's Abuela (nana or grandmother), and has been teaching her to use her powers, and they live together. She works in an Aztec "curiosity" museum, which is sometimes required to house magical objects to keep them from the public. Isadora also has two familiars (both reportedly from stone), decorated in bright colors with intricate designs; a winged green frog named Gordo, and a blue & white winged cat called Loquita. (Sadly, neither are identified!)

An evil creepy priest accosts Althalia in the museum, and while guards arrest her (paid by the priest?) he kills Isadora and walks away. But wait! This isn't a spoiler! It's the reason for the remaining story about Althalia's willingness to descend to the dark side--sacrificing everything and everyone to ancient Aztecs--in an attempt to bring back her beloved Abuela!

4/5 Stars With additions I requested from the author/publisher (including creature ID's & translations), I would give this 5 stars. The illustrations are detailed and beautiful, in rich, deep colors! Some of the best I've seen!

Thanks to Oni Press and NetGalley for the temporary digital copy of this graphic novel; any reviews are voluntary and completely my own opinion.

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