An interesting story, liked the characters but the plot towards the end could have been built differently, personally it seemed like the pacing of the book changed and the ending seemed out of nowhere, but otherwise this is an enjoyable read.

So many people comparing this to Alice in Wonderland and I can see why. You've got the girl falling into a magic hole/portal to another land that's filled with crazy creatures and fantasy galore and she's on a mission to her family and home. That is the only similarity though - the rest is completely new and refreshing.

A story about brujas (witches) in Brooklyn - it's filled with Latin flair and all things magic. I loved the idea of having a Deathday, but Alex is not ready for hers and because of that she gets herself and her family into a world of trouble. She's stuggling with who she is and is not ready to accept her magic (little does her family know she's already come into her magic well before her Deathday and that is what scares her - she's afraid of it).

Alex causes her family to be taken to Los Lagos, an underworld eerily similar in idea to Wonderland, but much more terrifying and creepy. She needs to rescue them to show how sorry she was for running away from her magic. She gets help from Nova, "a boy made of light" and Rishi, her best friend. This trio has quite an adventure in Los Lagos and they each learn something along the way - Alex finds out she is an Encantrix and she can handle more then she imagined, Nova sees the world in a new light (see what I did there?) and starts to allow people into his life and Rishi teaches us that nothing is worth hiding from.

I loved reading about the Deos (the Gods) that the brujas pray to and honour. They are a big part of the culture and religion. They are also a big help to Alex during her journey to save her family. She doesn't realize how much family means to her until they are taken - her sisters Lula and Rose, her mother and her extended family.

I also really enjoyed that it had characters of different cultures, sexuality and it mashed it all up with magic! It's written in a way that makes the culture and sexuality topics non-issues - as in, it just was there, easy to accept and move on, like the "no big deal" it should be. Love is love is love, right?! The parts in the book about acceptance come from the magic and not gender, sex, culture and I adored that about this book.

I'm truly looking forward to more of the Brooklyn Brujas series and seeing just what happens to this trio after their adventure in the deepest, darkest magical place in Latin magical lore.

The author included a section at the end of this book that explains how she came up with the magical aspects of the book and she explains that she inspired by a lot of elements from different Latin lore to create this book - a mixture of old world and new from Latin America. She writes about Deathday, Death Masks and the Deos. It was great to read these author notes after finishing the book - I think it added more to the experience.

"I would follow you into the darkest dark."


Anyone know that show You Gotta Eat Here? Well, inspired by John - You Gotta Read This!

When the bruja meets her dead, she will welcome them. She will open her heart and know her true potential. —The Deathday, Book of Cantos

In less than two weeks, Alex will turn 16 years old. Alex belongs to a Latino family of powerful witches known as brujas/brujos. Their magic develops at puberty but so far all attempts to reveal her bruja powers have failed. Now, as she turns 16, Alex’s family plans the Deathday ceremony that all brujas are given at that age. Her family will gather in ceremony to wake the spirits of her ancestors, and Alex will receive their blessings, allowing her magic to grow and reach its full potential. Without the blessings, bad things can happen.

But Alex has been keeping a dark secret from her family and she has no intention of becoming a bruja. At the Deathday ceremony, as her dead ancestors are summoned, Alex performs a spell to rid herself of her bruja powers. The spell turns disastrous and her whole family vanishes. Now Alex must find a way to bring them back.

In the company of the young and mysterious brujo, Nova Santiago, Alex travels to another realm known as Los Lagos. Los Lagos is the land of in-between. Alex will need to confront a creature that lives at the heart of the land known as the Devourer. The Devourer feeds off of the Tree of Souls, collecting its power throughout the month and then turning it to raw energy at the eclipse. Alex will find her family at the Tree of Souls but she must do so before the next eclipse.

As Alex and Nova traverse the evils of Los Lagos, they learn that their powers are stronger when used together. But Alex isn’t quite sure who Nova really is and whether he can be trusted.

Labyrinth Lost is a young adult fantasy with definite tones of Beautiful Creatures. It says so in the blurb and that couldn’t be more accurate. It is full of the usual teenage angst that accompanies that time of life when you are trying to figure who you are and how you will fit into the world around you. But this book does have a few new things to offer. The characters are drawn from a diverse pallet, with multi-racial characters and a gentle look at bisexuality as Alex comes to realize that she is attracted to Nova, yet she is also attracted to her female friend Rishi. The author also draws from both Latino and Spanish Caribbean influences by incorporating aspects of the Day of the Dead and Santeria. So there’s a little something for everyone to identify with here making it a very contemporary take in the young adult world.

I want to thank the publisher (Sourcebooks Fire) for providing me with the ARC through NetGalley for an honest review.

This novel was the kind of book that I started with the intent to only read the first few pages and get a feel of it, and ended up, three hours and 7 chapters later (at 6am none the less), grudgingly putting it down in order to get some sleep, all the while thinking about the story!
It was the kind of book that kept me up in my sleepless nights, for the sole reason that you just CAN'T put it down so easily!
Every time I vowed that I will read on more chapter, or even a few more pages, I would find myself addicted and unable to stop!

So much is happening, and when you think things are going to get a little more steady for our dear bruja protagonist, BAM, new plot twists and challenges arise!

But, let's take things one at a time...
The story follows Alejandra, a young bruja (the Spanish/Mexican word for a witch, because our heroine is descented from these countries, as well as from Africa, and not from European witch bloodlines), who lives in Brooklyn, and all she wants is to become an ordinary girl!

Right from the first chapter, the first line actually ("The second time I saw my dead Aunt Rosaria, she was dancing") the book introduces us to the many mysteries that surround Alex and her powers.
Mysteries like her Aunt Rosaria's death, her father's disappearance, the constant guilty feelings of Alex, who blames herself regarding that fact, as well as her powers, which are supposed to have been manifested, although our heroine keeps that a secret from her mother and her two sisters.

Alejandra is a shy, introverted girl, that only has one friend, Rishi, from whom, of course, she withholds the fact she is actually a bruja, even if the whole school regards her as strange and unusual (not in a good way, though).

After an incident which involved her best and only friend, Alex is forced to act on her powers, a fact that, of course, can't be kept a secret.
Soon, she learns that her power is unlike that of her mother and older sister Lula's (who are healers) and her younger sister Rose's (who is able to speak with the dead and foresee what's coming).
On the contrary, she is far more special and unique than she could have ever imagined!

She continues wishing that she can get rid of her powers though, a thought that only gets greater after her meeting with Nova, a charming young brujo.

At her Deathday (the ceremony in which young brujas and brujos get a blessing from all of their blood relatives - alive or not), she decides to act on it, and instead cast an enchantment with which she hopes to be relieved of her power.

But, when she acts on that urge, all hell breaks loose. Literally!

In order to protect Alejandra, her whole family (both the living and the dead, at that) stands in front of her and gets sucked into another dimension, a dark one, where souls of dead people usually end up!

Now, Alejandra needs to create a portal and travel to that dimension (Los Lagos), in order to free her family.
Only Nova can help her do that, who asks for a fat payment in order to guide her.

From that point on, the story gets more and more adventurous, with Alex and Nova facing many difficulties, seeing new, dangerous places while the travel through Los Lagos, and meet people that could either harm them, or help them reach their goal and face The Devourer, the dark being, former bruja, who is after Alex's powers.

I loved all the side characters, with each and every one of them having their own unique personality, from the heroine's family and friends to the beings they encountered on this epic journey!

There was also a love triangle, which believe it or not, was half GLBT, a fact that amazed me, as this was the first time I encountered it in a book!

I had a preference regarding whom the heroine should end up with, a fact that had to do more with Alex's actual feelings, than my own preferences.
But, then, my whole world collapsed along with Alex's, as the events unfolded in such a quick way that had me devouring the book 'till the not-so-early hours of the day, in order to find out exactly what is going on, and how things came to this, and, most importantly, why?!



All in all, 5 stars for a book that I deeply loved and literally couldn't put down,
as it made me anxious about everything going on.

5 stars for a fast-paced adventure that will make you, too,
obsessed with this new series and its author,
and devastated that its sequel will be coming almost at the end of the year!

Interesting storyline. I really enjoyed this book. The characters were relatable and extremely developed. I enjoyed the references to Latin Americans and Magic. Such an amazing story! Would recommend!

It took me so long to get through this book. I found it very boring from the beginning and there was never a point where it grasped my interest. I found the main character extremely annoying and selfish. The other characters weren't interesting at all. The concept is very interesting. This type of supernatural being isn't really seen that much in books. The concept is a unique concept, but unfortunately it just wasn't for me. I give this book 1 out of 5 stars.

What an enchanting vast world! – 3.8 stars

I have to say I LOVE the cover of this book! I had a blast bookstagraming with this book!

I really, really, really liked this book. It was well written, the world was absolutely enchanting and THE PREMISE... oh yeah.. the premise.. Latin American witchcraft (brujeria/santeria) and BRUJAS [witches]!!!
Oh yeah, bring it on, all my girls the BRUJAS! I love brujas!

The BOLD statement in the blurb “ Beautiful Creatures meets Daughter of Smoke and Bone [DoSaB]'s ” is pretty close to be true.

Even though the writing is not quite yet that of Daughter of Smoke and Bone it's REALLY good. Naïve, poetic, and imaginative. Perfect for YA books. The imagery and the descriptions were indeed superb, and as good as DoSaB!

A map of Los Lagos would have been awesome, pleeeeeese Zoraida add it to next editions! :)

Alejandra, the main character, is thrown waaaaaay down the rabbit hole into this other dimension called Los Lagos ! The world is so vast that most of the story goes into building the world and then the plot and the characters are just secondary. The story and character arcs are driven by the world. Everything becomes about their journey through this world, much like Alice in wonderland. That's probably why it was a DNF the first time. I've never been a fan of wonderlands or neverlands.

I'm not a big fan of books where everything is subordinate to the world-building. If the world is going to drive the characters and story then there better extraordinary story and characters arcs to make up for it, like The Lunar Chronicles' [Don't miss the review of Cinder is coming up next week!].

Also, Los Lagos got a little crazy at times, like my bookstagram account: a bunch of creative images that didn't seem to fit a consistent theme.

So, that's why I didn't give it the 4 stars. Though the book was very well written and the I found the premise fascinating, I had a hard time fully relating to the characters and the story!!!

Alex comes from a long line of brujas, and dreads the day her hidden powers will develop. When her powers manifest, her family prepares a celebration, while Alex tries to figure out a way to escape the destiny that she believes caused her father to disapper. When her plans go awry, she finds herself in the dangerous magical world of Los Lagos, determined to save her family with the help of her best friend Rishi and the mysterious Nova, a dark sided brujo with secrets of his own.

LOVED LOVED LOVED THIS! Must read more from this author soon!

This is one of the best, most interesting books that I have read in a long time! The twists, subject matter, and characters all worked well together to make one heck of a fun novel! I'm anxiously awaiting the next book in the series!

Normally, I would never take this long to read a book, but during these last few months, I began volunteering and that took up a great deal of my time, so I deeply apologize for not having written my review for this book.

This was a very interesting read. I loved the fantasy and feel of the story. In fact, the fantasy was so alive in my mind, I would love to see this story turned into a movie. It would translate well. If you truly enjoy using your imagination and following the characters through the labyrinth, this is a story most definitely for you.

A gripping adventure with hints of the madness of Alice in Wonderland.

Despite the imaginative world building and fantasy setting of the in-between, the plot lacked a sense of urgency and most of the characters were tedious however the relationship between Alexa and Nova was tintallating.