I love the Brooklyn Brujas series. They’re always full of heart, family, and self-discovery. You know that I would have Wayward Witch on my list of anticipated releases! Keep reading this book review to see what I thought of the latest in the series.
Summary
Rose Mortiz has always been a fixer, but lately she’s been feeling lost. She has brand-new powers she doesn’t understand, and her family is still trying to figure out how to function in the wake of her amnesiac father’s return home. Then, on the night of her Deathday party, Rose discovers her father’s memory loss has been a lie.
As she rushes to his side, the two are ambushed and pulled through a portal to the land of Adas, a fairy realm hidden in the Caribbean Sea. There, Rose is forced to work with a group of others to save Adas. Soon, she begins to discover the scope of her powers, the troubling truth about her father’s past, and the sacrifices he made to save her sisters.
But if Rose wants to return home so she can repair her broken family, she must figure out how to heal Adas first.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from Edelweiss. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
I have loved the first two Brooklyn Brujas books, Labyrinth Lost and Bruja Born, so I was so excited for this final book! What I love about this series is not only the fact that it’s urban fantasy, which I don’t read enough of, but also that their stories are so firmly rooted in family and world building. Sure each story is focused on one of the sisters, but in Wayward Witch we still witness what Rose will do for her family. It becomes even more important our connection to family, our traditions, and memories in this book!
Being in Adas in Wayward Witch was a fantastic addition to a wonderful world. There was an edge to the glittering waters, to the unlikely allies we find. But the biggest theme which resonated with me was Rose’s quest for the truth and her characterization. Not only does she feel like her family is poised on the edge of a cliff, not sure what will push them over, but she feels that the trust must be told. Rose wonders if she can ever truly be at peace in the silent moments. The ones without fighting and risk. She’s always expecting it to crumble around her.
Because of that, she’s always searching for the truth. It doesn’t help that her father has been hiding secrets, the least of all that he never actually lost his memories. I loved witnessing Rose’s character growth as she realizes that nothing is really as it seems. That she may just end up changing her mind. It’s also a story about her journey to define her own powers and limitations. What is her place in the world?
I also appreciated that Córdova included language to include non-binary brujex in this world building!
Overall,
In Wayward Witch Rose asks herself if she can figure out the truth of what happened to her father, what he had to sacrifice, and if she can put her family back together again. It’s also a book that navigates this grey space between truth and lies, betrayal and protection, sacrifice and forgiveness. Can we ever truly say goodbye with our past if we never acknowledge its existence? If we press it between the pages of the prologue.
Find Wayward Witch on Goodreads, Amazon, Indiebound, Bookshop.org & The Book Depository.