This was beautifully illustrated. The story itself was really emotional and showed so much love and grief. Lia is fortunate to have a bad ass support system to help her while she navigates her emotions and her powers. Her hair… I cannot with how beautiful it is! Ten points for the Catholics being the bad guys 🤣🏆

We follow Athalia as she came into power in the beginning of the story. The whole plot is exciting and gripping from the get go. Athalia is the last bruja and also the last one to keep the knowledge and power that has been passed down for generations. She is oblivious to what having that power really means as she tries to live a normal life with her abuela and working in a museum but all that changed when she is faced with an unexpected circumstance. An unusual meeting with a priest forced her to see why the church is hell bent on eliminating the bruja community and what it means for her. Athalia is forced to step into her role before learning the ropes.

I love the pacing of the story and it kept me engaged the whole time. I love Athalia’s character development as she began to understand what it really means for her to be the last bruja and this comes with many heart breaking moments as she deals with her grief and hardships but I am glad that she came out stronger than she believed.

I loved the whole plot but I did find the ending a little too rushed and convenient but I hope there will be a sequel! Thank you NetGalley and Oni Press for the arc.

While this was a bit confusing to start with, I ultimately ended up enjoying it thanks to the magic and the wonderful artwork!

Unfortunately, this one archived before I had a chance to download and read it. I will be reading it once it's published instead.

A wonderfully illustrated graphic novel that manages to be heartfelt, well-paced, and emotive. This was a real winner for me.

This was a 10 out of 10 start. It was a long enough for you to get some of the characters, but also short enough to keep you hooked for more. The pacing in this book was spot on and I absolutely adore the main character. She is powerful brave willing to do anything for her family and I relate to a lot of things in the main character. I think the plot twists were unexpected and I definitely would recommend not reading the blurb or anything for going to the book as it will surprise you and keep you hooked

The artwork for this graphic novel is beautiful but I was disappointed to see that my attention drifted off and I got a little confused about what was going on. I would definitely revisit it but the only thing that has really stuck with me is that it was stunning to look at.

This story was pretty surprising to me. From start to finish I wasn't sure where it was going, which was great, until it wasn't. Towards the middle my interest started to fizzle, the more I felt like the characters only have surface appearance and not much development or growth. -- Sort of just there for side characters and filler.
Aside from that, the art was so incredibly beautiful. I wish I really enjoyed this more than I did.

**Thank you to Oni Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.**

A great graphic series. The art style works well with the story. It's full of magic and family. I am excited to see where this story goes. This is going to be a great addition to our library cannot wait for it to come out.

The story really surprised me in a good way. The plot is really interesting. The types and styles of magic displayed are incredible. The characters are charming so it's easy to like them. When they talk about Mexico it's like a hug to the heart. I would like to read more about this story

Season of the Bruja is a beautifully illustrated graphic novel following an energetic witch, her unusual grandmother, and her collection of not all the way human friends. I loved all the bright colors used to make this story pop. And the magic system and quirky familiars are just the kind of things I love in my fantasy reads.

Thank you for this ARC.
Writing ****
Art ***
Colors ****
Lettering *****
Cover ****

The story was alright. I'm not likely to remember it.

The artist did a good job, making good use of space and panel placement. She could of used more gutter placement but she had several full frame drawings. my favorite two full panel artwork, being pages 87 and 98.

Dialog and thought balloons, good lettering, easy to see and read. There was some spanish with no translation. We needed captions for that information.

2.5
I was excited to read it, but when the time came, to be honest my interest fizzled out fast, some parts of the story were not that well interwoven, so the plot was a bit chaotic and somewhat predictable. However, the secondary characters (the friends of the main character)

Beautiful art style, confusing story.
Season of the Bruja follows three magical friends (a bruja, chupacabra and werewolf) who work in a paranormal museum to protect their powers and stories from fading into history. The premise seemed simplistic and fun, so I was surprised to find myself really lost throughout the entire story.

From the very first page, we are thrown into the middle of a fight scene, where the magic system and scope of fantastical creatures already becomes a bit confusing. From then on, more and more magic was piled on in a way that never quite clicked to me. The high-fantasy lover in me can usually scrape by with assumptions to fill the gaps, but my boredom took over halfway through this graphic novel. My dwindling interest never heightened, though I did enjoy a lot of the character designs and visuals! The villains and demons in particular were really cool. Overall though, this wasn’t for me!

Season of the Bruja is an SFF graphic novel about Althalia, a Latinx woman learning to use her gifts and battle threats from the past.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for this eARC. I really liked this! The opening scene plunges you straight into an exorcism and is a great starting point. The book discusses colonialism and scenes of police brutality which can be quite upsetting. The characters are so lovely, I loved the character designs and I loved the friendship/family bond they had with each other, that was done so beautifully.

I really liked the art style and the colour palette. And I really love the extra character art at the end of the book. The lush colours really added to the story, it was great. I think this was a good start to a series, but I can’t wait to read more of Althalia’s story!!

I also enjoyed reading the author and illustrator’s notes at the end too. It really made me feel more connected with them and I liked learning about their own personal experiences in relation to this story.

Rep - Latinx (Althalia); Own Voices (Latinx - Aaron); POC (Dana; Althalia); Queer (Sara)

TWs/CWs - Colonialism; Death of a loved one; Demons; Police Brutality; Racism

A beautiful graphic novel about family, magic, culture, and destiny.

Althalia is the last of the Brujas in her line, she is being taught by her Abuela the ways of her ancestors. When her Abuela and her are being hunted by a secret society trying to end them, Althalia is left on her own to learn and fight for her powers.

The art style in this one was stunning, the culture, the family dynamic, and the rich history was a delight to read.

** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Copy received through Netgalley

~

Season of the Bruja, Vol. 1
by Aaron Duran, Sara Soler, Deron Bennett
★★★★☆
128 Pages
Content Warning: grief, loss
Themes: magic, demons, witches, shapeshifters, corrupt priests, religion vs magic


Season of the Bruja is a graphic novel with a lot of potential. The artwork on the cover is a perfect example of what you'll find inside, as every page is just as gorgeous. The colours, the magical feel of the art on every page, is exactly the vibe you would expect of a story about the magical Bruja.

The story itself was...interesting. I hesitate over that, because I found the main character, Lia, to be an odd choice. On one hand, she's got a struggle to face and is the perfect character for a journey arc. But, on the other hand, she's often selfish, single-minded to the point of being reckless, flighty, and doesn't hesitate to lie, cheat, be cruel or betray even her friends to get what she wants. This made it really hard to connect to her, as a central character. While I did feel a smidgen of sympathy for losing her grandmother, and because she was an untrained bruja without the tools to properly survive her magic, I just didn't feel like she was a well rounded character or someone I would root for. She was too willing to hurt her friends and innocents, to bend the rules of her powers, to get what she wanted, no matter the cost.

The story was, however, packed full of plot. For 136 pages, there were a lot of nuances and twists and turns in the plot, but it sometimes felt disjointed. There were parts where the worldbuilding needed work, because the flow or background of certain plot aspects weren't fully fleshed out enough for me to follow without confusion. For example, the blurb tells us that her besties are a real-life Chupacabra and a were-coyote, but that is *never* actually said or even suggested in the book itself, and that would have been helpful to know and understand. I honestly spent half the book thinking one character was a demon and the other a werewolf.

I was a bit disappointed that the big trial with the priest/church mentioned in the blurb was...just that. A priest sent by the church to eliminate the last of the bruja. There was no real depth or mystery to their involvement. It all felt a bit cliched, to see this delusional priest willing to do anything the church asked of him, and a fanatical elder priest not warning him of the corruption they were involved with.

There were also a few preachy moments that dulled the importance of what was actually being discussed. Such as when Lia is in the museum, ranting about how their history was stolen for them and then showcased in a museum for them. Which is true of a lot of museums and minorities, but the way it was done was more preachy than actually making a valid point about it or even doing something to help change that status quo. And the weird aspect of a corrupt cop stopping her randomly at the museum for what felt like racial profiling was a strange decision. I get that it's a real thing in the world – but, again, the execution meant it was just another cliched moment over too soon rather than making a meaningful impact that it had the opportunity to make.

Despite those faults, I did enjoy the overall story, but it won't be something that I follow into further volumes. I didn't like Lia as a character, or the way valid moments of tackling modern political issues was swept over without real effort, leaving them to be cliched soundbites rather than having any weight. While the story as interesting and start, it wasn't well executed, despite the gorgeous artwork and clever, original concept.

I'd call this a 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.
The art style of this graphic is beautiful and was one of things that drew me in. The story is also very interesting and filled with characters that I would love to get to know, which is a shame because they all feel very surface level right now. This is mostly due to the story feeling a little rushed; It rarely let up, which is good in terms of action, but there was little down time for character exploration. Overall, this was a very fun read.

The art and the characters are very easy to love, but the plot was so stereotypical and easy to guess that Season of the Bruja struggled to keep my attention despite how much I wanted to love it.

The cover is stunning and the art and colors do not disappoint. If for nothing else you pick up this novel for its vibrant colors and beautiful cover, you will not be disappointed.

I love the diversity and the cultures that can be found in graphic novels. There have been more and more diverse cultures added to the glorious illustrated world and it's been an honor to read and review them. This graphic novel does go in and out of Spanish at times, but the context clues help the reader know what is being conveyed (it even touches on the subject of knowing/speaking Spanish in a multi-generational household.

The scene unfolds with three friends trying to save a little boy who is possessed by a demon: a bruja, a were-coyote and a chupacabra. Demons aren't the only powerful dark forces at work in this novel. Can Althalia gain enough knowledge about her past and magic from her abuela before it's too late? Will she survive as the last bruja or will the church finally vanquish all brujas from the world?

What I love: most of us experience that feeling when we would give anything/sacrifice anything to get a loved one back (if even for a little bit) and this graphic novel tackles this sentiment powerfully. I also love that the illustrator is Spanish and tells about her journey as an artist drawing her own culture as the villain of the story and what the meant to them. I think there needs to be more of this in the world: it sparks conversations. I also love the alebrijes: they are gorgeous and vibrant.