And yet again, I decide to get a book because of the cover. I really don’t know why this influences me so much, considering that most of the books I read are e-books and no one is ever going to see the cover. I also chose to read this book as it is a non-white fantasy and I am looking for good, diverse fantasy books.
Labyrinth Lost is the first book of the Brooklyn Brujas trilogy. It is #ownvoices.
The Good
I was very impressed that the book didn’t ignore present day problems. Racism and sexism were included in the plot. The characters are not in a diverse costume. The fact that most of them are Latinx is significant to the story. There was a casual mention of one of Alex’ relatives being bisexual. The main character is also bisexual. I especially liked the fact that this was only mentioned indirectly but still made very clear.
The writing was poetic and very flowery – it fit perfectly to the story and the magical environment. An example: “Not all loves are meant to last forever. Some burn like fire until there is nothing left but ash and black ink on skin.” This text passage is so dreamy and lovely.
I needed to use Google to translate a few words, in order to understand the Spanish. The fact that these words were not translated was very good, as it gave the story authenticity and was more realistic. I grew up bilingually (less German, more English), thus I was able to relate to non-English words slipping into the conversation.
The Bad
Alex refers to one of her uncles as ‘Crazy’. This is not corrected throughout the book. Update: the term “bipolar eyes” is used.
At times, I found this book a bit too fast-paced and I had to slow down and reread passages to understand what had happened.
All in all
It was a fun read, and I enjoyed the twists and turns. I urge you to read Labyrinth Lost, if you have the chance to do so. I will certainly be reading the next book and hope that the cover will be just as beautiful as this one.
What do you think of Labyrinth Lost? How often have you read a(n) (urban) fantasy book with Latinx representation?
Huntress of Diverse Books 
I really liked this book as well! I’m surprised you found it too fast paced lol I found it too slow pace at parts!
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😀 Really? I feel like something the information came too fast and something happened, and it was all happening so quickly that I couldn’t remember everything. But some parts were rather slow as well. A mixed-pacing.
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This is on my TBR, glad to hear it’s good. I’m also influenced a lot by covers, even though I know I shouldn’t be. Part of it I think is as a librarian, especially at school kids are very influenced by covers, If a good book has a bad cover it takes a lot more effort to generate interest in it. At some of my other jobs the cover matters less, but it’s definitely influenced my thinking – as a child I wasn’t so picky about book covers.
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I’ve always been a cover person, even though I didn’t admit it before. But just blogging has made me realise that I am.
The cover does say a lot about the book as well and on which aspect of the book the publisher/designer/author wants to focus on. Thus, I think one can get an idea of the book through the cover. But I have to realise that good artwork does not equal a good book.
For example, I don’t like the cover of Queens of Geek at all but everyone says it’s a good book and it does sound good.
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I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with latinx representation, or if I have, I can’t remember haha but I’m definitely going to put this on the list!
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Definitely. It’s worth it. I loved how the culture was part of the magic.
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I haven’t read this yet but I’m planning to! I’ve heard so much praise about this book. A Latinx Fantasy book sounds like it would be awesome. Great review!
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Thank you! I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
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I read this recently and really enjoyed it! I agree though at some points I did have to reread stuff to understand how people had got to where they were, but my main problem was actually that I found some of it to be quite slow paced. The ending was great though!
Zoe @ Readabilitea
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I agree – it was both slow- and fast-paced. I didn’t have that much of an issue with the slow-pacing as it allowed me to pay attention to the small details.
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I really enjoyed this one! I have a real soft spot for Nova 🙂
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I’m fascinated in his story and what to know more as well 🙂 !
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