Labyrinth Lost

Labyrinth Lost

“Nothing says Happy Birthday like summoning the spirits of your dead relatives.
Alex is a bruja, the most powerful witch in a generation…and she hates magic. At her Deathday celebration, Alex performs a spell to rid herself of her power. But it backfires. Her whole family vanishes into thin air, leaving her alone with Nova, a brujo boy she can’t trust. A boy whose intentions are as dark as the strange markings on his skin.
The only way to get her family back is to travel with Nova to Los Lagos, a land in-between, as dark as Limbo and as strange as Wonderland…”

I heard about this book through the #DSFFBookClub (Diverse Sci Fi/Fantasy) on Twitter a few months ago.  From the description somehow I got the impression that this took place in Mexico and perhaps was set in the past.  That isn’t true at all.

Alex is part of a family of witches in Brooklyn in the present day.  Their numbers are dwindling.  Alex has been hiding the fact that her powers have appeared because they are very strong and they scare her.  She also thinks that magic has been responsible for a lot of the problems in her family.  She doesn’t want anything to do with it.

She accidentally reveals her powers at school while defending her friend Rishi from a bully.  Now her family is planning her Death Day, a traditional celebration of a young bruja’s power.  Alex doesn’t want anything to do with it.  She decides to try to relinquish her powers during the ceremony but her attempt to use a canto goes wrong.  Her family (living and dead) is banished to another realm and now Alex has to try to get them back.

I liked the depiction of a family for whom magic is a normal and expected part of everyday life.  The next book in the series is going to focus on her sister Lula who is a healer.

This book uses a lot of YA Fantasy tropes but twists them in small ways so they weren’t totally annoying.

There was a love triangle in this book which I absolutely hate but instead of a perfect girl trying to decide between two guys who love her here she is deciding between a girl and a guy.  (I’m still waiting for my dream book where the two objects of affection decide they don’t need the perfect one and go off together.)

Alex is, of course, the Chosen One who can fix everything.  She’s the most powerful witch in generations.  Only she can defeat the bad guy.  At the end though she had to accept help from others.  She does also acknowledge that part of her wants to take all the power and be a despot too.

There is a point where a person who has hurt Alex tries to explain that it was all ok because this person loves Alex so much.  She ultimately rejects that but it teetered on the brink.  It was a little too close to “stalking is ok because this person loves you SO MUCH” for my liking.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and am interested to read the rest of the series when it comes out.