Review: Bruja Born, by Zoraida Cordova

Bruja Born, by Zoraida Cordova

Recorded Books - 2018
Fantasy, Paranormal, YA
Brooklyn Brujas - Book 2
Audiobook
Narrated by Maria Liatis
8 Hours, 19 Minutes

The Mortiz sisters return in the second book of the Brooklyn Bruja series. A series steeped in rich Latin American Folklore.  

If you want a reminder of the first book, you can read my review of Labyrinth Lost HERE.

In the months following the events that occurred in Los Lagos, Lulu struggles to recover. She just cannot seem to regain her emotional footing.

On the way to a school sporting event, there is a catastrophic accident involving the school's bus, carrying among the  many others, Lula and her boyfriend Maks. Almost everyone on that bus was killed or seriously injured in the accident. 

Lula, though badly injured, wakes in the hospital to find that Maks is in ICU and death seems imminent. Lula, unable to let Maks go, performs a canto to take him back from death's tentative grip . Again, like in the first book, the spell goes wrong. Shortly after performing the canto, she discovers that the bodies of the dead that were involved in the crash, have gone missing from the morgue.  Her spell has gone awry and she has created a group of zombie-like creatures known as casi muertos. 

I enjoyed to story, but  not overwhelmingly so. 

It seemed to follow the same formula as the first book - spoiled sister bruja ignores the rules and tries to have things her way, putting the entire family in jeopardy when their spell goes wrong. Not a bad formula at first, but as a sequel it seems a tiny bit redundant. Of course after the events of the first book, it seems a little more reckless of Lula and makes her less likable because of it.  The one aspect that I felt seemed a little "forced" in the firsts book, I am happy to say felt much more organic in this one.  

I really do enjoy the Latin American folklore woven into the series story. That richness of culture makes the series enjoyable

Narration was provided by Maria Liatis.  At first I was a little disappointed to find that this book was not narrated by Almarie Guerra as was the first - but then it became clear that this book was being told by Lula's point of view - not Alex's, so it made sense to have a different narrator. Liatis performed with a clear, pleasant voice, good tone and cadence, and was able to portray the emotions relevant  to the events of the story. 

I have enjoyed the two books available so far in the series.  The third book in the series - Wayward witch is expected August 2020. 

Happy Reading,

Christine

Review: Dreamland: A Magical Ghost Story, by Nick Clausen

Dreamland: A Magical Ghost Story, by Nick Clausen

Independent* - 2019
Fiction - YA/Paranormal
E-book
160 Pages

- I received this digital Review copy courtesy of the author - Nick Clausen, in exchange of an honest review. This does not influence the following opinions which are my own.

    
* Nick Clausen is an author from Denmark who has traditionally published books in his native language of Danish. He is currently working on translating his works into English. 

Dreamland is an entertaining tale that satisfied my craving for ghost story. Despite being a short story, Clausen was able to create an eerie atmosphere to send a shudder down your spine. 

Twelve year old Louie lives alone with his mother. His father died when he was still a baby ,and it has been just the two of them since. His dreams had always been vivid, but lately they have been different. His dreams have become more like chapters in a book, continuing from one night to the next. He is also sleeping more and more, and becoming harder to wake. 

In his dreams he there is a man who seems to know him well. Very well. He tells Louie that he is Louie's father. Soon, the influence of this man is causing problems for Louie in his real life, and Louie is struggling to wake from his dreams. There is something sinister going on and Louie realizes too late that his dreams might actually be nightmares.

This story packs a lot into a short read.  While the book has a definite creep factor, there are other, deeper themes as well.  The grieving single mother, a boy who never really knew his father trying to make sense of his own place in the world without him. The ability of a child to miss something they never even really had, and the never ending love of parents. 

A ghastly good read. 

Happy Reading,

Christine