I feel like someone told me about this book a while ago, but I cannot remember who or how long ago. I have a vague recollection of someone mentioning this book in the same conversation as something about Cemetery Boys, at least, so when I saw it I figured it was probably worth checking out!
The book follows Alex, the middle of three sisters and a bruja who has been actively supressing her magic because it terrifies her. She wants nothing to do with it, but once her family finds out that her magic has appeared, she uses her death day celebration as an opportunity to try and get rid of it. This plan backfires and she ends up having to go through the portal into Los Lagos, a sort of purgatory, to try and rescue her family with Nova, a brujo with a mysterious past, and Rishi, her crush with no connection to this world.
Now, I will admit that I may have had trouble with this book as I read it while I was sick with Covid, but I had trouble keeping track of things. I disagreed with which parts were interesting, and the things that it lingered on had me a little bored. I wasn’t sure what made Alex special or why only she was, and there is a lot of longing looks in the love subplot that were losing me when I wanted some more foundational information about what was happening.
There was also random animal murder? Apparently everyone is just okay with stabbing a parakeet.
The plot progressed pretty briskly, though, and some of the concepts were pretty interesting. I did like the world of Los Lagos, though I never fully understood it1 and enjoyed the overall story of trying to rescue her family.
Overall, not bad! It certainly got me through a rough patch, and it’s an interesting concept. If you’re looking for a YA read, this might be something to check out.
- There was some religious stuff in there, I think? Which would explain why, I am very bad at understanding that kind of thing [↩]