Brooklyn Brujas #2

Bruja Born by Zoraida Cordova

Publication Date: June 5, 2018

Summary from NetGalley:

Lula must let go of the ghosts of her past to face the actual living dead of her present.

Lula Mortiz feels like an outsider. Her sister’s newfound Encantrix powers have wounded her in ways that Lula’s bruja healing powers can’t fix, and she longs for the comfort her family once brought her. Thank the Deos for Maks, her sweet, steady boyfriend who sees the beauty within her and brings light to her life. 

Then a bus crash turns Lula’s world upside down. Her classmates are all dead, including Maks. But Lula was born to heal, to fix. She can bring Maks back, even if it means seeking help from her sisters and defying Death herself. But magic that defies the laws of the deos is dangerous. Unpredictable. And when the dust settles, Maks isn’t the only one who’s been brought back…

ARC received from Sourcebooks Fire via Netgalley for an honest review.

Confession:

I really liked this second book in this series, but not quite as much as the first book.  The first book had Alex, Lula’s sister, as the main character, and I found that I connected better with her than with Lula.  Everything else that I loved about the first book was here in this second one though, so it is still a really good read.

Lula was a bit hard for me to connect to.  At first I just felt sorry for her, but she was also a bit whiney and self centered for me.   She has some lingering issues stemming from the first book, but didn’t want to deal with them or let her sister’s help her with them. Some of her decisions throughout the book also bothered me.  Yes it would be hard to lose someone you love, and if I had the power of healing like she does, I might want to do what she does, but really?  She does try hard to fix her mistakes but she does put a lot of people in danger in the process.

Maks also didn’t connect for me, nor their relationship.  Even before he became a casimuerto, I didn’t like him.  I did feel a bit sorry for him though, he was so lost through out most of the book, but by the end, I was done with him and didn’t feel much for him.

Except for not liking Lula and Maks very much the rest of the story was great.  I continue to enjoy the sister bond and all that that entails.  Rose, the younger sister, played an interesting role in this book I’m looking forward to a book from her perspective. The casimuertos were a very interesting take on the whole zombie world.  Lady de la Muerta was also a fascinating character and the lore we learned surrounding the other deos was rich and amazing.  The whole world that has been created has grown larger with witch hunters, vampires and others in the supernatural world making appearances.  I kind of missed that they didn’t go anywhere like they did in the first book, but the urban fantasy aspect of this book was good too.  I would have liked to have seen a bit more of Nova as well, he was one of my favorite characters from the first book, and although he is involved, I would have liked to seen more. 

The overall plot of this book was good.  Lula’s journey of self discovery and eventually acceptance of who she is was well done.  There were some plot points that I didn’t agree with and some I didn’t think were necessary, but it was overall a fast paced and had some awesome action sequences.   

If you liked the first book you will enjoy this one as well.  I don’t think it is necessary to read these in order, although it is helpful because there are references to events in the first book that would be hard to understand.