Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova / Book Review

By: Zoraida Cordova
Published by: Source Books Fire
Released on: September 6th, 2016
Series: Brooklyn Brujas #1
Purchase from: Amazon | B&N
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A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest review 

Nothing says Happy Birthday like summoning the spirits of your dead relatives.

I fall to my knees. Shattered glass, melted candles and the outline of scorched feathers are all that surround me. Every single person who was in my house – my entire family — is gone.

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…

Beautiful Creatures meets Daughter of Smoke and Bone with an infusion of Latin American tradition in this highly original fantasy adventure.

Magic, diversity, and a rich lore, I really liked the way Cordova created her setting, and elements for this book. This book's strong points are it's rich lore, cultural diversity, and beautiful world building. Not to mention the strong family dynamics, magic, and over all diversity. I loved the way these vivid elements were infused together, and written. They are the heart of this story, and are what kept me reading. I just wish they were enough to make me love this book. This is a very character driven book, and sadly the characters themselves weren't ones I was fond of for much of this book, nor were they ones I connected to.

I had a hard time connecting with the characters, especially Alex. At first, I was invested with Alex's story. I loved that she comes from a tight knit family. I loved their dynamics, and her willingness to do anything for them. As the story progresses, I had a hard time liking with her, as well as some of other relationships throughout the book. Her nonstop bantering with Nova made her come across as a queen B, and normally I'm a reader who loves character banter. Another thing that I struggled with is Alex's indecisiveness. I don't know why, but for some reason this really bugged me. However, I will say that by the end of the book, I did like the character Alex became, but unfortunately it was a little too late for me. 

Another thing I had a hard time believing was the romance. Sure I'm not a huge fan of love triangles, but I kind of got this one. I understood Alex's feelings towards both Nova and Risha. What made it hard to believe in their relationships, is the way Alex acts towards and treats them for much of the book. I felt like it contradicted her romantic feelings towards both of them.

Despite the rich diversity, world building, magic and lore, all of which I really enjoyed, I missed the character connections. I needed to feel that connection to the characters early on in the book, vs towards the end. Though I did like that things did get progressively better towards the end, it was a little too late for me. While I may not have liked this book as much as I was hoping to, that killer ending has me very intrigued about what's going to happen in the next book.