Review—Bruja Born by Zoraida Córdova

I’m going to make this as spoiler-free for both Bruja Born AND labyrinth lost as possible…but if you haven’t read labyrinth lost yet, do it!!

In Labyrinth Lost, we met Alexandra Mortiz, a reluctant bruja who comes to understand herself, her family, and her power. We also met her sisters, Lula and Rose. The three girls together, the Mortiz sisters, are “[m]agical BAMFs with powers gifted by the Deos,” their gods. 

In Bruja Born, Lula narrates, showing us another side of Alex and Rose, providing a more complete picture of the Mortiz family, their extended family, and coven. 

Lula, a healer, is scarred—emotionally and physically—by what she endured in Labyrinth Lost, and Alex, burdened by guilt, is doing everything she can to restore herself, her sisters, and her family to what they were before she discovered she is an Encantrix. 

Lula’s biggest reprieve and comfort is her boyfriend Maks, but a bush crash rips him—and all of her classmates—away from her. But as a bruja healer, she has the ability to circumvent fate, so Lula tries to cheat Death. But Death does not like to be cheated, and trying to bend the wills of the Deos is more problematic than Lula and her sisters could have ever imagined. 

Bruja Born follows the Mortiz family—and the enigmatic outcast Nova—as they try to both restore comfort to Lula, but also restore balance to their world. 

But, as Lula discovers, “no matter how hard we pray or how much we believe, the gods abandon us to ourselves, to the whims of others…Because life is a series of inexplicable accidents and we don’t get to choose the good or the bad.”

Zoraida Cordova reveals the world of the Mortiz sisters—and their magic—to us in a story we all know so well: the story of love, and loss, and what we all wish we could sacrifice to have those we love with us again. But, as they battle the wills of the Deos and their own wishes, the Mortiz girls learn one of the hardest lessons of all when it comes to grief. 

About the author:

Zoraida Córdova is the award-winning author of The Vicious Deep trilogy and the Brooklyn Brujas series. Her short fiction has appeared in the New York Times bestselling anthology, Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View, and Toil & Trouble: 16 Tales of Women and Witchcraft. She is a New Yorker at heart and is currently working on her next novel. Send her a tweet @Zlikeinzorro.

 

Jacket Copy:

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…