Bruja Born by Zoraida Cordova is available from Sourcebooks Fire on June 5, 2018.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book was everything I was hoping for and more! Lula Mortiz is a high school senior on her way to the big game with her boyfriend when her world turns upside down. After a horrific bus crash that kills all of her friends and nearly herself and boyfriend Maks, Lula uses her magic in ways that can only lead to devastating consequences. With the help of her magical sisters, Lula must use all of her strength to save her city, her family, and herself.

This book was amazing! Lula and her sisters are strong, intelligent, and brave young women who use their wits and combined magical history to save their family and right the terrible wrongs created by a moment of weakness. The nonstop action combined with Lula’s heartache over Maks and worry for her family’s safety creates a compelling and exciting story. This hit all the right notes-witches, not-quite-zombies, vampires, hunters and family drama. Such an amazing story and I really hope there is a book three!

4.5 Stars

Once again I had the luxury of going into the second installment of this series with little to no expectations except for a 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 the 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 will maybe 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.

I really, really, really, really liked Labyrinth Lost, but I loved Bruja Born and Lula so freaking hard, even though I probably should like Alex more by all accounts (don't get me wrong, I adore Alex and she was fantastic in this, but for whatever reason, Lula falls into that Sirius Black like category and I am enchanted). I am super psyched (pun intended) for Rose's story coming up.

I loved this book so much.

I had read and loved <i>Labyrinth Lost</i> a couple of years ago and couldn't wait to fall back into the world of the Brujas. This book did not disappoint. <i>Bruja Born</i> picks up not too long after the events of the first book, but focuses on one of the other Mortiz sisters, Lula.

On her way to a school event, there is a terrible crash. In trying to save someone that she loves, Lula makes the decision to disobey the high council, the Deos, and Death herself. And if we learned anything from Practical Magic, trying to resurrect the dead usually doesn't turn out well.

This book gave me some Practical Magic feels, which is a thing that I really loved. I couldn't put the book down because I had to keep going and had to know what was going to happen next. I think I liked this book even more than I liked the first one (and I liked that one a lot).

When it comes out, read it. Love it.