Buffy the Vampire Slayer but with Latina Brujas

Book Blurb from Chapters Indigo

Three sisters. One spell. Countless dead. Lula Mortiz feels like an outsider. Her sister’s newfound Encantrix powers have wounded her in ways that Lula’s bruja healing powers can’t fix, and she longs for the comfort her family once brought her. Thank the Deos for Maks, her sweet, steady boyfriend who sees the beauty within her and brings light to her life. Then a bus crash turns Lula’s world upside down. Her classmates are all dead, including Maks. But Lula was born to heal, to fix. She can bring Maks back, even if it means seeking help from her sisters and defying Death herself. But magic that defies the laws of the deos is dangerous. Unpredictable. And when the dust settles, Maks isn’t the only one who’s been brought back? 

Labyrinth Lost was more like Charmed with Latina brujas but this time around I got major Buffy feels. Complete with a monster of the week type style.

Once again I had the luxury of going into the second installment of this series with little to no expectations except for the need for more bruja mythology. And I was not disappointed.

In Labyrinth Lost, I was not super attached to Lula (I was a big Nova fan and grew to love Alex) so when I heard that the 2nd book would tell Lula’s story I had no base for what that story would look like. Hence the little to no expectations. I was surprised at how quickly the story pulled me in. Lula is definitely a teenager in love, therefore smart choices aren’t always made. It was occasionally frustrating but her actions were consistently rooted in immense pain which made it SO much more understandable and definitely realistic. If having magical bruja powers can be considered realistic.

Lula’s character turned out to be very complex and I had no problem tapping into her mental state. The story that unfolds is an interesting mix of an episode of Buffy/ The Strain. As for the world building, it definitely advanced from Labyrinth Lost but it is still vague in the sense that there is no definition to how many “species” exist in this world. Which maybe makes it strong world building? We’ve found out there are vampires and shapeshifters and given little information about how they fit into the world. Which is totally fine because at no point does it feel like it doesn’t fit in with the story, you are just kind of like okay, that’s another aspect that might be explored later. The continued exploration into bruja mythology was one of my favourite parts of this book. Definitely one of the reasons I mowed through this book in 3 hours. I couldn’t stop once I started, which is always a fantastic sign. The mythology is so strong and such an awesome base for the magical world Córdova has created.

And of course all the wonderful diversity from the first book is still there in the second. We get a lot less Rishi but that’s fine because it wasn’t Alex’s story this time. And my lovely tortured Nova was back in action. I was also chuffed to see Rose’s character come into her own and can’t wait to explore her point of view.

Would definitely recommend, especially to fans of Charmed or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I’m excited for the next installment, especially seems it looks like we may be diving back into the Faerie world.

Until next time,