Tuesday, May 18, 2021

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Bruja Born by Zoraida Córdova

 





Bruja Born is the second book in Zoraida Córdova's young adult fantasy Brooklyn Brujas series, after Labyrinth Lost (Review Here).  This series features a trio of sisters from a family and underground community of Brujas (Spanish for Witches), each with their own sets of powers and a penchant for trouble.  The first book featured the middle girl, Alex, in a portal fantasy adventure to the magical realm of Los Lagos, a realm to which Alex had accidentally banished her entire family.  Alex had to rescue her family from seemingly days/weeks of imprisonment by an evil monster that had taken over Los Lagos, and the result was a really enjoyable fantasy story that combined a plot that follows a very classic portal fantasy script improved by a different cultural inspiration - Latin American/Ecuadorian Culture - and a non-het focused romantic subplot. 


Bruja Born shifts the focus to the oldest sister, Lula, an 18 year old girl with the magical power of healing, who used to love life and her magic....but has come out of her imprisonment with what is essentially PTSD and no one she feels she can really talk to about the whole situation.  And so when her boyfriend and most of her friends die in a bus crash, she attempts in desperation, haunted by having nothing else, to bring him back...to devastating results.  It's a much much less conventional narrative than the first book in the series - and urban fantasy instead of portal fantasy - and it mostly works really really well, as Lula has to get over her own trauma to make the realization that she actually does want to keep on living, and that there is a future for her to build off of.  Again, it's not perfect but it's still a strong YA fantasy that has me already reserving book 3 from the library.  

Note that while each book in this trilogy is kind of stand alone, this book builds upon book 1 significantly such that you will be lost if you start here, so don't really try.   

Note2: I read this in audiobook, and while the reader is different than the reader of book 1, she's still very good.  Recommended in that format.

Spoilers for book 1 below, but they don't matter much. ---------------------------------------------------Plot Summary-------------------------------------------------------
It's been six months since Lula Mortiz was accidentally banished and imprisoned in the realm of Los Lagos by her Encantrix sister Alex.  Before that happened, Lula loved life - she loved her magic and its power of healing, she loved her friends and family, and most of all she loved her boyfriend Maks, even if Maks had no idea of her powers as a Bruja.  But since then, Lula has been unable to shake her nightmares and feelings of her imprisonment, unable to have fun in crowds with her school friends, and ashamed to ever show the real scars on her face to even the boy she loves.  Worst of all, she finds that Maks is growing more and more distant.....to the point where he even tells her that he's breaking up with her right before their bus ride to their last soccer game.  

And then the bus crashes in a horrible accident.  Lula barely survives the crash, aided by her mother and sisters' magical healing, but Maks and the rest of the school soccer team and cheerleaders are in critical condition and almost certain to die.  Desperate not to lose the one person tethering her to life, Lula convinces her sisters, especially Alex with all her power, to help her try a healing canto she spotted in their family's Book of Cantos to try to save him...but when she does, she sees the goddess of death herself, Lady de la Muerte, who accuses her of betraying them all....and it still doesn't seem to work as Maks still dies.  

Except Maks' body, and that of the rest of the team, disappears.  And people begin to start dying around Brooklyn, killed by unknown assailants that rip out her heart.  And Lula finds Maks wandering around with bloody clothes, with little memory of what happened, and begins to suspect the magic did work after all....and may have gone horribly horribly wrong.  
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Bruja Born switches the book's perspective to Lula, who in book 1 was portrayed as the bubbly older sister with healing powers, who was in love with life, her own magic, and everything.  Sure she may have been a little superficial, but she was glowing with love and extremely happy, and so even as she made Alex grumble - both she and the reader couldn't help but care for her.  But while Alex got a happy ending out of that book, it still meant Lula spent weeks imprisoned by a monstrous evil bruja, and Bruja Born makes clear that Lula is still suffering the effects.  

Like a lot of urban fantasy books, it seems the magical world of Brujas - and the greater magical world of New York, which expands here to include magical creatures under a government known as the Thornhill Alliance* as well as human hunters of the supernatural - lacks therapists, and so Lula is forced to cope with her trauma on her own, with only the support of her family (one of whom caused the trauma, even if unwittingly).  And so Córdova masterfully portrays Lula as a girl truly suffering, desperate to hold on to any ties to her past life like Maks at all costs, unable to properly grieve after everything she suffered and seemingly has to hold in.  It's a very sad portrayal at the start, and only becomes more tragic as events spiral out of control with Lula and Maks after the accident.  

*The Thornhill Alliance apparently comes from an earlier book series by Córdova, but I haven't read that series and no prior knowledge is needed to enjoy this book.*

And the plot Córdova puts Lula through is very different than the one from the first book.  Whereas that book was a portal fantasy, this book is an urban fantasy set in Brooklyn/New York City (mentions of the correct subway lines were really appreciated by this New York native) that turns into an almost horror novel (Zombie Apocalypse!).  So Lula has to deal with not just fantasy creatures from another world, but other Brujas with various opinions about their family, Nova's deadly poisoner grandmother, and other magical creatures in New York as she and the sisters attempt to solve the disaster that Lula has inadvertently released.  Lula's recovery from trauma and heartbreak doesn't have as simple an answer as Alex's having to accept herself, and so her plot is a bit more complicated and less predictable and lacks the clear antagonist that book 1 had.  And this works really well for the most part, as the new characters are mainly very interesting and Lula's struggle is really easy to both understand and relate to from beginning till end.  

There are a few missteps still.  The book does have some predictable elements - you know from the midway point how things have to end, even if you don't know quite how it's going to get there.  And there is a repetitive trend midway through of Lula running from seeming safety only to find herself in trouble and needing rescue which gets a little old and only seems to prolong things a bit.  More of an annoyance is the book introducing a last act alternative romantic option for Lula that doesn't really work, with the character not getting enough page-time to really switch from enemy-to-lover as he's basically designed to (well, without any loving, given that this is a PG YA novel).  And the book's attempt to make Lula pay consequences for her actions uses a trope I really hate to be honest because of how easy it is to ignore in the future.  

Still, those complaints don't take away from what is still a strong second installment, dealing with serious issues really well, with a great protagonist and side characters to go with it.  I'm fully bought in to this series and have already reserved book 3 from the library, with the hope of finishing this series soon (Sadly book 3 is not in audiobook).  It's still a lot of fun as it deals with a Latin-Am-inspired world and real life issues all at once, and I definitely recommend it.

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