Book Review: “Labyrinth Lost” (Brooklyn Brujas #1) by Zoraida Córdova
“Labyrinth Lost” (Brooklyn Brujas #1) by Zoraida Córdova (2016)
Genre: Fantasy, YA, Fiction
Page Length: 336 pages (electronic review copy)
Synopsis:
Nothing says Happy Birthday like summoning the spirits of your dead relatives.
I fall to my knees. Shattered glass, melted candles and the outline of scorched feathers are all that surround me. Every single person who was in my house – my entire family — is gone.
Alex is a bruja, the most powerful witch in a generation…and she hates magic. At her Deathday celebration, Alex performs a spell to rid herself of her power. But it backfires. Her whole family vanishes into thin air, leaving her alone with Nova, a brujo boy she can’t trust. A boy whose intentions are as dark as the strange markings on his skin.
The only way to get her family back is to travel with Nova to Los Lagos, a land in-between, as dark as Limbo and as strange as Wonderland…
Beautiful Creatures meets Daughter of Smoke and Bone with an infusion of Latin American tradition in this highly original fantasy adventure. (description from Goodreads)
Review:
Labyrinth Lost is a wonderful YA book with a combination of magic, fantasy, and folklore. Our narrator of the story is Alex, a girl from a family of brujas (witches) who wishes she had a normal life instead of the one she’s destined for. Alex is a bit of a loner at school and besides having a close bond with her mother and sisters, she doesn’t have too many friends besides Rishi who she has to hide her magic powers from.
Alex continually pushes down her feelings of guilt and tries to fight her destiny. On her Deathday celebration she tries to get rid of her powers and accidentally sends her family into Los Lagos where she must rescue them from The Devourer.
The Latino folklore and fantasy aspect, on top of the fabulous cover art, is what attracted me to pick up this novel. I hadn’t read many stories similar to this and I loved leaning about various aspects of the culture (storytelling, methods, rituals, etc.) that I was unfamiliar with.
The story moves quickly, but I like the steady pace it builds up as you read the book. You think you know what might happen next as you are reading along, but a lot of the action and supernatural occurrences take readers by surprise. While Los Lagos is a mystical place full of beauty, it’s also a very dangerous one. There are many traps, treacherous magic, lost souls who wander the realm, and terrifying creatures. These factors kept me hooked into the story and I couldn’t put the book down!
Even though this novel is a journey through a magical time and place, it’s also a coming of age/self-discovery story which makes it relatable to its readers. Alex has to learn that she needs to stop fighting her own powers and accept the gifts that she has been given as well as a strong support system.Will she become more confident in herself and through the obstacles she faces or will she succumb to her weaknesses?
I really enjoyed the magic aspects of this book and I appreciate all of the detailed world building Cordova puts into to this novel to make the story such an entertaining experience for readers. When you read the book it makes you feel as if you are traveling with Alex as she defeats the evil creatures of Los Lagos while growing into a stronger, more confident person! I also liked that majority of the characters are POCs and that it has LGBT characters!
Final Verdict:
An enlightening story about family and believing in yourself. I cannot wait to see what happens next in this series!
I highly recommend this book for readers who enjoy fantasy or folklore stories!
FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Fabulous review! I’m super excited to read it. I adore books where I learn more about other cultures and customs. I’m actually trying to get my sister-in-law to read this with me as she is of Mexican heritage and would probably love a book that explored Latino culture.
Thanks Amanda, I really appreciate it. 🙂 I hope you enjoy the novel when you read it. Reading this book made me realize I hadn’t read too many books that explore Latino culture so now I’m on the lookout for similar reads.
I cannot waaaaaaaaait to read this book! My lovely podcast partner went to a reading/signing for it the other day, and she said the author’s a dear (which is what I’ve always suspected from following her on Twitter) and that the book sounds wonderful to her too. So yay! I’m so glad this book is out, after I’ve been anticipating it for months! Let’s hope my library gets it in quickly.
I hope it comes to your library soon, it’s a fun novel! I hope that you enjoy it when you read it. So lucky that your podcast partner got to meet her, I always like meeting authors!
I pre-ordered the hardcover plus a cool complimentary map and it still haven’t arrived! I’m dying here because I want to read this book so desperately. Thanks for this fabulous reviews. I have read so many of them from bloggers, which is very encouraging because it means people are noticing. I hope it becomes a big success. I can’t wait to read it, take pretty pictures of it, and rave about it all over Twitter. 🙂
Yea! Hope it comes in mail soon! And thanks 🙂 I had never heard of Cordova before this book was released so I’m excited to read more of her work.
The more I read reviews about this book, the more excited I get. I am overjoyed at the representation in this book and I am happy to hear from you it was a fast paced and engaging read! Labyrinth Lost has shot up to the top of my tbr list!
Yay! I hope you get to read it soon. I’m already ready for the next book and Labyrinth Lost was just released lol.