Come for the historical fiction, stay for the magical realism. A good debut book that could use a little finesse, but absolutely a new author to watch. The first half of the book seemed to drag, but then picked up in the last half. The characters were well thought out but lacked something I just can't put my finger on.

I made it 40% of the way through this book, but I don't know that I'll finish. The dialogue is rife with 20s era slang, and rather than immersing me in the setting, I constantly have to stop and try to figure out what the words mean. It's a fine line with historical fiction (especially for an era where it's easy enough to simply pick up a book written then), For me, at least, the author's stylistic choices were not successful. and the story is not compelling enough to override that (I was hoping for more magic). However, I'm well aware this is largely a matter of personal preference. It's not a poorly written book and I hope it finds its audience.

Summary: We follow Luna/Rose in her endeavour to own an illegal jazz club set in the 1920s. She must skirt monsters, gangsters, and businessmen which despise her and her culturally diverse staff. She has a passion, a dream, and she is bound to make it work through it all.

Review: Although, rule one is to not talk about jazz club, we must. I really enjoyed the time this story was set in and I liked Luna/Rose's character and her drive. What I did not like so much was the lack of motive for what these gangsters and businessmen were doing except for it being racially driven. It could've been much deeper and more personal than this motive. Alot of it was just surface level and there was very little risk factor which made me want to keep reading The book. Overall my score for this book is 3.75/5.

Extended Breakdown:
Story: 3/5
Characters: 2.5/5
Setting: 4/5

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"Boardwalk Empire meets The Vanishing Half with a touch of earth magic in this sexy and action-packed historical fantasy set in the luminous Golden Twenties from debut author Desideria Mesa, where a part-time reporter and club owner takes on crooked city councilmen, mysterious and deadly mobsters, and society's deeply rooted sexism and racism, all while keeping her true identity and magical abilities hidden - inspired by an ancient Mexican folktale.

Yo soy quien soy. I am who I am.

Luna - or depending on who's asking, Rose - is the white-passing daughter of an immigrant mother who has seen what happens to people from her culture. This world is prejudicial, and she must hide her identity in pursuit of owning an illegal jazz club. Using her cunning powers, Rose negotiates with dangerous criminals as she climbs up Kansas City’s bootlegging ladder. Luna, however, runs the risk of losing everything if the crooked city councilmen and ruthless mobsters discover her ties to an immigrant boxcar community that secretly houses witches. Last thing she wants is to put her entire family in danger.

But this bruja with ever-growing magical abilities can never resist a good fight. With her new identity, Rose, an unabashed flapper, defies societal expectations all the while struggling to keep her true self and witchcraft in check. However, the harder she tries to avoid scrutiny, the more her efforts eventually capture unwanted attention. Soon, she finds herself surrounded by greed and every brand of bigotry - from local gangsters who want a piece of the action and businessmen who hate her diverse staff to the Ku Klux Klan and Al Capone. Will her earth magic be enough to save her friends and family? As much as she hates to admit it, she may need to learn to have faith in others - and learning to trust may prove to be her biggest ambition yet."

On this past season of Charmed there was an episode involving a magic night club in the 1920s, "The Sisterhood of the Travelling Sandwich," which made me want all the magic and all the 20s nightclubs, which means I was desperate for this book. Desperate I say!

While the concept was interesting and I really wanted to love this, I couldn`t, I got bored and couldn't keep my interest in the story

Thank you NetGalley for a chance to read Bindle Punk Bruja.

I loved the idea of this story and the 1920’s setting. I also really enjoyed the independent witchy MC. I sometimes had a hard time with the pacing of the story (somewhat slow) and the dialogue that was heavy on the conversation side. However, I think anyone who appreciates a feminist story with a side of magic would like this.

I really wanted to like this book more, it really drew me in with the idea. But the story took far too long to go anywhere and took a lot of effort to stick with it.

Great take on this story. I really enjoyed it and will gift it to a few friends to share the story. I gave it four stars thank you

“The promise of a greater future without the barriers of corruption carried them forward, though the price of assimilation would steal away at my own identity, my heritage just a whisper on the breezes like the old folklore that we tell.”

Sadly this didn’t work for me. While it includes great discussion on gender norms and stereotypes, discrimination and the abuse suffered by immigrants, and even the showcases the darker underbelly of the gilded age, I found this to be a bit too drawn out. The MC, Rose / Luna just didn’t feel as interesting to me, at times being all over the place and not in a good way. The romance element didn’t feel especially present or memorable, which would be fine, but ate up some plot time unnecessarily.

The family dynamics and aspect was captivating when it was on the page, but it was often overshadowed or taken over by the gangsters plot line. I also wanted much more on the magic system which seemed to be used when it was convenient. Ultimately it just felt like too many plot devices and side plots to come together. I think by removing at least one of the plots, if not a few, here could have been so much more on Luna’s immigrant background and family, her identity struggles and passing as white, and even the gender norms and disadvantages she experiences.

Mesa gives us the historical fiction of the 1920’s rendition of life for a Mexican immigrant.

Luna Rose Alvarado Lane, born to a Mexican mother and White father in 1920’s Kansas City, Missouri. Because of this biracial mix, Luna Rose is identified, as “Passing” Which means that she looks like she is white and can pass for a white woman.

Luna Rose also has a secret though, she is a Bruja. Since Luna is able to pass for white, she must guard this secret with her life to protect herself and her family.
If anyone were to find out the truth about her, she and her family could be killed.
Since Luna is able to “Pass” she takes on the identity of Rose Lane, reporter by day and club owner of the “River Rose” by night. Where she has her half brother Javier bartending so they can be together.

Rose has to deal with the typical social dilemmas of being a woman owning a business. From homophobia, sexism, bigotry, racism, and the mob threatening her to top it all off.

Mesa has Rose come full circle with the realization that her actual “Passing” has caused a divide. This divide has caused a huge rift in her familial and authentical Mexican heritage. Just because you have changed your name to portray a European and you look European, does not make you European deep down inside.

Lunas ability to come into her true magic, are amazingly done. Mesa showing how Luna was stunting her own growth was very poignant.

Mesa’s research of the 1920’s was quite extensive, due to the verbiage used within the story. She makes sure you have enough imagery to follow Luna Roses emotions perfectly.

The last half of the book is where the book actually goes from slow burn, to fast paced.

Mesa has absolutely impeccable word building that flows seamlessly within this time period she portrays.
Her artistic scenes are impressive for the period as well because she leaves you imaging exactly what the “River Rose” would look like.
You can imagine a smokey room, filled with a jazz band playing, flapper dresses.
Skies the limit within your imagination on this one.

Mesa’s characters are absolutely loveable, especially Heck!
Javier is what a brother should be, Margaret is sweet, even though her husband is a jerk. Gio is just in love. Then we have side characters such as Penny, which get overshadowed, and you wonder why?

I could actually go into things that made me go “HMMM!!”

Ex: The KKK, (Reaching much?)

However! Mesa has made a memorable book with memorable characters.

A time period that will not be forgotten.

A female character that will not be forgotten anytime soon.

For a first novel, Mesa has done a fantastic performance.

I am positive this will not be the last time we hear this authors name.

Well done, Mesa!

PERFECTO!

Thank you NetGalley, Desideria Mesa and Avon Harper Voyager/Harper Voyager for this free eARC. My opinions are strictly of my own volition.

In Bindle Punk Bruja, the debut historical fantasy from Desidera Mesa, Luna Rose Alvarado Lane is the white-passing daughter of Mexican immigrants trying to carve out a place for herself in the underworld of 1920s Kansas City. Oh, she's also a bruja, a native Mexican earth witch who has inherited the ability to read the emotions of others and bend then to her will with a kiss.

This book and I got off to a rough start. The intense use of 20s slang right off the bat made this book legitimately hard to read for the first few pages until I was able to switch my brain over to the mode that processes dialectic writing. Once I got into it though, I was thoroughly entertained by this read. The character relationships are complex and shifting throughout the book in a way that makes you need to keep turning the pages.

TW: homophobia, racism, xenophobia, sexual harassment, sexism, police brutality, religious bigotry.

It is the 1920s, a part0time reporter and club owner is just trying to navigate a world of criminals, sexism, racism, and magic. Luna Rose is a mixed heritage Latina who is passing as white in order to move up the ladder in the underground jazz club.bootlegging industry. Luna lives separate lives: Luna Alvarado- the daughter of an immigrant Mexican and a bruja and Rose Lane- an editor at the local newspaper by day and the manager of The River Rose jazz club by night. Rose wants to open her own nightclub at the height of the prohibition era but in order to do that she has to trust in her roots, her family, and her friends. The story starts off slow and despite the book being 300+ pages I dont really get to know the characters that well. I love that this book deals with LGBTQ characters and storylines but this book was a bit of an emotionally taxing read for me. The book deals with racism and sexism and so many other issues that minorities and identities in that time period have to deal with. So while this one wasn’t for me, I definitely think it could work for someone else. It had a pretty neat magic system and I would definitely recommend it for fans of the 1920s with a touch of magic.

*Thanks Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager, Harper Voyager for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

4/5 I just gotta say I really enjoyed this.
The first half was a little slow but the second half really had me. Especially the last few chapters I loved them.

The characters I really enjoyed.
Gio, Heck, Margret, Luna, Javier loved them all.
Gio and Javi are def my favs.

I like that it’s based In the 1920’s.

A bruja who is a reporter in the day and a club owner at night. She ends up having to deal with mobsters. It’s her story and I think it she had a lot of development which I enjoyed seeing.

i thought it was really good!! there were definitely some little things that kinda ticked me off (the pacing, mostly) but overall i thought it was a pretty good book!!

I really wanted to love this book, especially with a cover this beautiful!! The story felt like it dragged for most of the book and I often found myself asking, "where exactly are we going with all of this?". Instead of being on Luna's side, I often found myself on her brother's side, however, as the story progressed, I did understand her stance on things...sometimes. It was a really immersive experience but I felt it really lacked any oomph.

Bindle Punk Bruja is an atmospheric witchy novel filled with beautiful Mexican folklore.

I thoroughly enjoyed following Luna through the seedy streets of Kansas City in the 1920s as she works to establish herself and her business while taking on sexism and racism. I loved the atmosphere and ambiance Mesa wove throughout the story and was mesmerized by the folklore elements.

I recommend this for anyone who loves 1920s historical fiction, strong female witches, and those who want to learn more about Mexican folklore.

Thank you to Harper Voyager and Edelweiss for the review copy!

2.5 stars
I'll start with the positive things I have to say about it. I am also Mexican, so I appreciated being able to see Rose/Luna and her family, although I would have liked to see a little more of their dynamic. The prose is great and really atmospheric.
This book is about racism and sexism and how this has affected the main character and those around her while trying to make a living and be successful. Its a story that follows minorities and identities in a difficult time period and difficult circumstances. The magic is interesting and complex, so that was fine too.

Now, my main problem with this book was the characters. I'm sorry, but I didn't love the main character. I like what she represents and the general idea of ​​her, but as a character I just don't. I'm not going to deny that she's a strong and powerful character, but I still feel pretty indifferent about her otherwise,She barely does anything, all the problems and conflicts are conveniently solved by other people, which later creates another conflict and then again is solved by someone else and it's just a vicious circle that gets boring after a few times, it's incredibly convenient for the plot. and except for a few occasions this is a recurring theme. It's a 400 page book and in my opinion we barely get to know the characters, there's not enough backstory to care about them. The relationships that are formed are incredibly rushed and happen in a short amount of time, these relationships expand and grow throughout the book, but the beginning felt really rushed.

There are a lot of colloquialisms from the 1920s and the way the dialogues are written makes it sometimes difficult to read if you don't already know them.

I didn't want to spend a lot of time talking about this because I don't think that's the main focus of the book, as it's mostly about marginalized communities like Latinx and Black, but this also includes the LGBTQ+ community and it’s important for me to talk about it. There are some queer characters that are really important to the story, I'm going to talk about one in particular right now. I'm not going to say his name because that’s a spoiler, although it's pretty clear from the start. He was just the stereotypical gay best friend for most of this book, we don't get much context or history about his character and that makes it seem like he's just there for the main character's sake. There is a scene near the end of the book where he has some interaction with Rose (trying to be vague here) but I can't tell you how humiliating and awful reading this was for me, it didn't need to be included. After this situation happens, it is immediately forgiven and forgotten within the next chapter, I didn't like the way the main character responded to what happened. We know the historical context of being an LGBTQ+ person and the nuances and difficulties about it even more so in the 1920s, this character is dealing with internalized homophobia from the very beginning. There are also several instances of making the main character seem superior just by “understanding” these characters, while the queer characters deal with this internalized homophobia and trauma and get no more help than her saying it's okay you’re like this. People usually do this when it does not affect them, showing acceptance is the bare minimum. Again, this is the 1920s so acceptance is already a big thing but if you’re writing progressive and supportive characters I feel like it should have been talked more about this issues and others similar. Despite the fact that the ending for them is happy as far as it goes, I think that many layers were missing in the exploration not only of these characters, but of the others as well.

As I mentioned, the book's prose is great, although I found the story and character construction to be lacking. It went on forever and there weren't enough good characters to make me want to keep reading.

Again, maybe not a bad book, it wasn't for me and I didn't really enjoy my time reading it, it was very hard for me to read it because of the negative emotions it caused me.

Bindle Punk Bruja by Desideria Mesa originally caught my eye due to the cool cover and intriguing title.

This book was a rel slow starter for me, I liked the story but the excessive, pervasive use of 20's slang with no glossary was extremely tedious and frutrating.
There was also a lot of untranslated Spanish in this book, which if you're reading on Kindle is not a big issue, just highlight and translate. It would have annoyed me more had I been reading a physical paper copy.

The book really picks up in the last 1/3 as Rose/Luna the MC comes into her powers.
There is a lot of talk about prejudice, etc., but some of it requires a real suspension of reality view point, as I don't think what happens could actually take place in the 20's. I just don't believe there were that many "open-minded" folks in that era.

The author does a nice job of weaving in a few real-life characters, although they do come off much nicer than in real life.

All in all, this was an OK book, and it could be MUCH improved by the addition of a 20's slang glossary, and some translations.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an ARC in exchange for my honest review

Bindle Punk Bruja

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I ended up loving this story! The beginning was a little slow, setting up the storyline, introducing the characters, and becoming immersed in the 1920s Prohibition Era mindset.

The story started slowly, but at around 30or so %, the plot began to thicken and we learn that everyone’s got skeletons in their closets.
One of my biggest griefs with historical fiction reads, is they so often do NOT write in the vernacular that was popular at the time. That is not the case with this book! The author used witty, era-appropriate colloquialisms and dialogue. It made for an easier time immersing myself in the story setting.

I love how the author touched on huge social and political issues that are unfortunately still alive and well today, but did so in such a way that invoked genuine emotion.

I truly fell in love with each character and their struggles and successes: Heck’s charisma and hopeless romanticism, Javi’s brotherly love and familial loyalty, Gio’s mystery, Margaret may be my favorite character of all—having to hide her beliefs of progressivism amidst an unaccepting society during Women’s suffrage. And finally, Rose learning to accept herself for exactly who she is.

If you are a fan of Peaky Blinders and/or Burlesque, this is the book for you. Altogether, it’s a wonderfully written tale of feminism, self-discovery, and learning to have a little faith in yourself.

This is an awesome book with an original premise that draws on fascinating Mexican folklore. I really enjoyed Desideria Mesa's writing style. Many of Luna's experiences resonated with me. I highly recommend this book!