Scan barcode
uruseibaka's review against another edition
3.0
Actual rating: 3.5 stars
OH-HO-HO, this has taken the most beautiful turn possible! First, a little run-down: we have Alex, a bruja who doesn't want powers; her family who gets whisked away; Nova, a smoking hot brujo who helps her get her family back; and Rishi, Alex's bestfriend
Throughout the book, we have cute little moments between Nova and Alex but then
Freaking genius. I'm cishet but I AM LAUGHING AT THE FACES OF THE CISHET PEOPLE RIGHT NOW LMAOOOO ZORAIDA CORDÓVA PLAYED US SO HARD.
Other than that badass twist, I love that this book doesn't revolve around romance. It's about family and finding yourself, love is just a subplot. Those are the best kind of books, in my opinion, because there's always more than just love.
The story is simply written but enough to have kept me interested. The familiarity helped, days spent reading Percy Jackson and Harry Potter have proved useful. Labyrinth Lost has the basic roots of mythology and magic similar to the world of two of the greatest heroes in the history of books.
The plot lacked a little order though. Things were just suddenly happening. The events felt unnatural as if the author wrote them for the sake of just happening. Alex's relationships with Nova and Rishi lacked depth as well. If everything was laid out more carefully, I would have given it a solid four stars.
Overall, this one's a good read, just not a life-changing one. I recommend it if you're looking for a unique kind of adventure, one mixed with mythology and magic. Would I read the next book? Hmm, maybe.
Extremely late but thanks to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for giving me access to an eARC.
"She is the light in the hopeless places. She is the sky when the night blazes."
OH-HO-HO, this has taken the most beautiful turn possible! First, a little run-down: we have Alex, a bruja who doesn't want powers; her family who gets whisked away; Nova, a smoking hot brujo who helps her get her family back; and Rishi, Alex's bestfriend
Spoiler
who follows her into Los Lagos.Throughout the book, we have cute little moments between Nova and Alex but then
Spoiler
Rishi appears and says romantic stuff (I always thought her words were too strong to just be a bestfriend) AND THEN THE BEST PLOT TWIST IN THE HISTORY OF BOOK ROMANCES HAPPENS (albeit a little unsurprising). Nova is actually a traitor and Rishi and Alex realize they have feelings for each other. BRING THE BUCKETS BECAUSE I AM CRYING.Freaking genius. I'm cishet but I AM LAUGHING AT THE FACES OF THE CISHET PEOPLE RIGHT NOW LMAOOOO ZORAIDA CORDÓVA PLAYED US SO HARD.
"Sometimes I'm afraid I've put on so many masks that one day I won't be able to recognize who I am."
Other than that badass twist, I love that this book doesn't revolve around romance. It's about family and finding yourself, love is just a subplot. Those are the best kind of books, in my opinion, because there's always more than just love.
The story is simply written but enough to have kept me interested. The familiarity helped, days spent reading Percy Jackson and Harry Potter have proved useful. Labyrinth Lost has the basic roots of mythology and magic similar to the world of two of the greatest heroes in the history of books.
The plot lacked a little order though. Things were just suddenly happening. The events felt unnatural as if the author wrote them for the sake of just happening. Alex's relationships with Nova and Rishi lacked depth as well. If everything was laid out more carefully, I would have given it a solid four stars.
Overall, this one's a good read, just not a life-changing one. I recommend it if you're looking for a unique kind of adventure, one mixed with mythology and magic. Would I read the next book? Hmm, maybe.
Extremely late but thanks to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for giving me access to an eARC.
fatimareadsbooks's review
3.0
*Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This in no way impacted my views and opinions below.*
Alright, so I went into this book with no prior knowledge of anything except for what I gleaned from the synopsis. Imagine my (pleasant) surprise when I discover that not only is there f/f representation, but also a WHOLE POC CAST. Um, have I died and gone to heaven?? It also really helped that the story makes you want to keep flipping pages by sucking you into this highly original fantasy world. So, you might be wondering.... Despite the above, why did I choose to give this 3 stars?
My main issue with this book lies with the execution of the story. You know that feeling when you're starting a new book and you know nothing about the world? You're still getting used to it as the author slowly immerses you into it page by page, and eventually, your confusion fades until your familiar with the book. Well, in the case of Labyrinth Lost, I was still stuck in that confused phase for the majority of the book. You've got all these ideal elements like an amazing premise, a wonderful setting, and an even better background, but... they just weren't executed properly. The story lacked a certain order to it; it was like a mishmash of plot ideas. This greatly dulled it's 'spark', leaving me very disenchanted.
Furthermore, I had a teeny issue with the Rishi + Alex pairing. You see, Rishi and Alex were supposed to be this AMAZING couple. We should have been more invested in them, since they already had an established friendship, but sadly I didn't feel anything. No chemistry at all. I'm all for LGBT+ representation, but there should have been more work put into Rishi and Alex's relationship. However, a relationship that was actually focused on was Nova and Alex. We actually have a clear progression of their relationship from the moment they meet. I found myself rooting for Nova most of the time; he's very intriguing. I just hope Rishi's character is developed as well in the next book.
OH, and was it just me or did this read like an MG book at times? It kinda had this whimsical feel to it. Still, the world was great and so original & unique. Kudos!
In short, this book has tons of potential. With a highly original premise and inventive world, it's bound to keep you reading 'till the very end. Seriously, the momentum's great. Bonus points for the LGBT+ and POC rep! However, the story just lacked this sense of clarity because of the execution. There are a lot of relationships and characterizations that could've been done in a better way. Due to that, I felt like it was teeming with plot holes. This was good read, but here's to hoping that the next book will be even better! I believe in you!
Follow me on my blog, Book Whizz | Bloglovin' | Twitter
Alright, so I went into this book with no prior knowledge of anything except for what I gleaned from the synopsis. Imagine my (pleasant) surprise when I discover that not only is there f/f representation, but also a WHOLE POC CAST. Um, have I died and gone to heaven?? It also really helped that the story makes you want to keep flipping pages by sucking you into this highly original fantasy world. So, you might be wondering.... Despite the above, why did I choose to give this 3 stars?
My main issue with this book lies with the execution of the story. You know that feeling when you're starting a new book and you know nothing about the world? You're still getting used to it as the author slowly immerses you into it page by page, and eventually, your confusion fades until your familiar with the book. Well, in the case of Labyrinth Lost, I was still stuck in that confused phase for the majority of the book. You've got all these ideal elements like an amazing premise, a wonderful setting, and an even better background, but... they just weren't executed properly. The story lacked a certain order to it; it was like a mishmash of plot ideas. This greatly dulled it's 'spark', leaving me very disenchanted.
Furthermore, I had a teeny issue with the Rishi + Alex pairing. You see, Rishi and Alex were supposed to be this AMAZING couple. We should have been more invested in them, since they already had an established friendship, but sadly I didn't feel anything. No chemistry at all. I'm all for LGBT+ representation, but there should have been more work put into Rishi and Alex's relationship. However, a relationship that was actually focused on was Nova and Alex. We actually have a clear progression of their relationship from the moment they meet. I found myself rooting for Nova most of the time; he's very intriguing. I just hope Rishi's character is developed as well in the next book.
OH, and was it just me or did this read like an MG book at times? It kinda had this whimsical feel to it. Still, the world was great and so original & unique. Kudos!
In short, this book has tons of potential. With a highly original premise and inventive world, it's bound to keep you reading 'till the very end. Seriously, the momentum's great. Bonus points for the LGBT+ and POC rep! However, the story just lacked this sense of clarity because of the execution. There are a lot of relationships and characterizations that could've been done in a better way. Due to that, I felt like it was teeming with plot holes. This was good read, but here's to hoping that the next book will be even better! I believe in you!
Follow me on my blog, Book Whizz | Bloglovin' | Twitter
freadomlibrary's review
4.0
This review was originally posted at https://freadomlibrary.wordpress.com/
Critically
Plot – 4 out of 5 stars
The plot of this book is totally action packed and exciting, though it could get a bit confusing. The world we travel to, Los Lagos, is such an expansive and well described world though I had issues picturing it sometimes. This story is full of magic, family, self-acceptance and just a little splash of romance. It was really fun and entertaining and I’m looking forward to the next book.
Writing Style – 4 out of 5 stars
Cordova’s writing style is simple and easy to read. It’s descriptive and detailed but like I mentioned above, sometimes I had a hard time picturing things, though that could be just me. The narration and point of view is a bit dry because of the main character and I felt like I couldn’t feel from her enough. But I loved that it was fast paced and that it had so much Latinx influence and Spanish dialect in it.
Characters – 3.5 out of 5 stars
There’s a huge cast of characters in this series but I feel like I didn’t get to know them as much as I wanted to. Alex is the narrator and our main character. She’s actually a bit selfish but it comes from a place of fear and worry. She’s reluctant (to say the least) to receive her powers and her family blessing and she does anything to stop it which causes a huge back fire that affects her entire family. However on her journey she becomes determined and powerful. Towards the end she’s remorseful and much more willing to embrace her destiny. Yet, even with all this emotional turmoil and trauma, I just felt like I didn’t get much emotion from her. I didn’t feel her pain or struggle as intimately as I wanted to. There are two side characters that get more attention in this book than the rest and I found both of them to be really different from each other. One is smart, sweet and funny. They have a very gentle personality but also tends to be really encouraging and positive. They also have great sassy comebacks that pretty much made my day. The other is a lot more mysterious and quiet. They put up a front to protect themselves but also come off as rude and uncaring at times which was annoying. Alex’s family is also a huge part of this book and while I loved their dynamic and how each member was a complex individual, I felt like I didn’t get to see Alex’s relationship with them as much because they were absent from her presence throughout most of the book. I hope that’s rectified in the next one.
Emotionally
The plot is intense. We follow Alex, a reluctant bruja (or witch but don’t call them that) who on her Deathday (kind of a like a witchy Quinceañera) manages to make her entire family disappear into a place called Los Lagos by accident and has to get them back. First of all, my favorite part about this book is how the world building is embedded with so much Latinx culture. Practically over-saturated with it and it’s magical and beautiful and just SO GOOD. And the best part about it is that it’s not just one country, it’s several. The author explains a bit of the inspiration for her ideas at the end of the book and she explains where she took from real life Latinx cultures to create her world and it’s so awesome. She has influences from Cuba, Mexico, her native country of Ecuador and more, so while I’m from none of those places, it still feels so inherently Latinx that I can’t help but feel identified even with the crazy fantasy and paranormal setting. Sometimes I had a hard time grasping the world of Los Lagos. Cordova described it very well, incredibly vividly in fact, but for some reason I still struggled with where things where and how things looked and the distance that the characters were traveling. Some of the different paranormal creatures were also a bit hard to imagine but I have to say that things got better as I got used to the setting. The plot itself was very fast paced and full of twists and turns. The trio on this particular journey encounter different paranormal creatures and residents of Los Lagos which made for entertaining brief encounters which helped them understand the bigger villain at play. I was really surprised by the ending because I assumed this particular conflict was going to prevail through the rest of the series but now it makes me even more interested and intrigued to see how the author is going to continue to develop the series.
I had trouble connecting with Alex. I don’t know if it was the writing style (which I doubt because I’ve connected with Cordova’s characters extremely well before) or Alex’s personality, but she felt almost dry and unemotional. She was going through a lot of tough situations and hardship but I just didn’t feel any emotional attachment or empathy toward her. She didn’t make me feel for her or feel her emotions like I like main characters to do when I read, I almost want to feel like what’s happening is happening to me, but that was impossible with her. However, I really enjoyed her character development. Throughout her Los Lagos journey, she learns a lot about herself and what she can do. She learns to accept her powers even if they scare her and she learns how to control them to the best of her abilities so they stop scaring her. My favorite part though is her acceptance to her heritage as a bruja. I think a lot of people can relate to that, sometimes feeling like you don’t feel comfortable about where you come from or that you don’t like all the details about your family and how they are. That’s how I manage to connect with her the most though it did take her awhile to get to that realization. You might have read in a review or heard from someone promoting this book that the main character is bisexual and the thing I love about that is the way that bisexuality is shown. For some reason, I find that sexual orientation to be the hardest to portray with respect and accuracy. I’ve seen people complain about various books with bisexual characters that they misrepresented and while I wouldn’t know, I feel like this one does a great job. The word is never written throughout the whole book as far as I remember, but Alex is without a shadow of a doubt bisexual. She feels attracted to and interested in both sexes. She can see a relationship developing with both sexes and it’s just so natural for her. She finds someone attractive and she thinks so and it never matters what gender they are because they’re both ones that she feels an interest toward. As I am not bisexual, I wouldn’t know if this is a good thing or not but it was a really honest approach in my opinion and I really liked it.
As for the side characters, I really loved Rishi. She’s amazing. She’s funny and charming and has this overall positive attitude that’s just really appreciated I think in these kinds of high fantasy, action packed, high stakes stories. I loved her friendship with Alex and how she took everything with such stride. It’s quite refreshing to know a character who has no idea about supernatural things existing and yet being totally cool with the idea once encountered with it. It’s new and unique and it definitely made me love her more. Nova on the other hand has always made me feel a bit wary. He’s mysterious and secretive and you don’t really understand his motives. He was kind of the typical bad boy who you want to see has a good side but he does everything to make sure you don’t really believe it completely. It was frustrating, specially when he made things worse for everyone but there’s hope for him yet I think. Alex also has a lot of family members as well as her immediate family and they all have an important role in this book. I loved seeing her relationship with them and how they all differ depending on who it is. However, I felt like I didn’t get to see enough of it. I knew it was coming since the synopsis says the family disappears but I didn’t realize I’d feel so attached to them so quickly so it was sad when I didn’t see more of them until the end.
Overall, I really liked this book. I loved the plot which was fast paced, action packed and entertaining. The world building of the mythical land Los Lagos took me a while to get used to but it was rich and expansive and well described. I had a few problems connecting with the main character but I loved the journey she went on in this book. I loved how much Latinx culture was infused into this book and the side characters were all unique and interesting. I can’t wait to see what the next book brings.
Critically
Plot – 4 out of 5 stars
The plot of this book is totally action packed and exciting, though it could get a bit confusing. The world we travel to, Los Lagos, is such an expansive and well described world though I had issues picturing it sometimes. This story is full of magic, family, self-acceptance and just a little splash of romance. It was really fun and entertaining and I’m looking forward to the next book.
Writing Style – 4 out of 5 stars
Cordova’s writing style is simple and easy to read. It’s descriptive and detailed but like I mentioned above, sometimes I had a hard time picturing things, though that could be just me. The narration and point of view is a bit dry because of the main character and I felt like I couldn’t feel from her enough. But I loved that it was fast paced and that it had so much Latinx influence and Spanish dialect in it.
Characters – 3.5 out of 5 stars
There’s a huge cast of characters in this series but I feel like I didn’t get to know them as much as I wanted to. Alex is the narrator and our main character. She’s actually a bit selfish but it comes from a place of fear and worry. She’s reluctant (to say the least) to receive her powers and her family blessing and she does anything to stop it which causes a huge back fire that affects her entire family. However on her journey she becomes determined and powerful. Towards the end she’s remorseful and much more willing to embrace her destiny. Yet, even with all this emotional turmoil and trauma, I just felt like I didn’t get much emotion from her. I didn’t feel her pain or struggle as intimately as I wanted to. There are two side characters that get more attention in this book than the rest and I found both of them to be really different from each other. One is smart, sweet and funny. They have a very gentle personality but also tends to be really encouraging and positive. They also have great sassy comebacks that pretty much made my day. The other is a lot more mysterious and quiet. They put up a front to protect themselves but also come off as rude and uncaring at times which was annoying. Alex’s family is also a huge part of this book and while I loved their dynamic and how each member was a complex individual, I felt like I didn’t get to see Alex’s relationship with them as much because they were absent from her presence throughout most of the book. I hope that’s rectified in the next one.
Emotionally
Spoiler
I knew this book was going to be good, since I’m a fan of this author, but I had a hard time getting into it in the beginning.The plot is intense. We follow Alex, a reluctant bruja (or witch but don’t call them that) who on her Deathday (kind of a like a witchy Quinceañera) manages to make her entire family disappear into a place called Los Lagos by accident and has to get them back. First of all, my favorite part about this book is how the world building is embedded with so much Latinx culture. Practically over-saturated with it and it’s magical and beautiful and just SO GOOD. And the best part about it is that it’s not just one country, it’s several. The author explains a bit of the inspiration for her ideas at the end of the book and she explains where she took from real life Latinx cultures to create her world and it’s so awesome. She has influences from Cuba, Mexico, her native country of Ecuador and more, so while I’m from none of those places, it still feels so inherently Latinx that I can’t help but feel identified even with the crazy fantasy and paranormal setting. Sometimes I had a hard time grasping the world of Los Lagos. Cordova described it very well, incredibly vividly in fact, but for some reason I still struggled with where things where and how things looked and the distance that the characters were traveling. Some of the different paranormal creatures were also a bit hard to imagine but I have to say that things got better as I got used to the setting. The plot itself was very fast paced and full of twists and turns. The trio on this particular journey encounter different paranormal creatures and residents of Los Lagos which made for entertaining brief encounters which helped them understand the bigger villain at play. I was really surprised by the ending because I assumed this particular conflict was going to prevail through the rest of the series but now it makes me even more interested and intrigued to see how the author is going to continue to develop the series.
I had trouble connecting with Alex. I don’t know if it was the writing style (which I doubt because I’ve connected with Cordova’s characters extremely well before) or Alex’s personality, but she felt almost dry and unemotional. She was going through a lot of tough situations and hardship but I just didn’t feel any emotional attachment or empathy toward her. She didn’t make me feel for her or feel her emotions like I like main characters to do when I read, I almost want to feel like what’s happening is happening to me, but that was impossible with her. However, I really enjoyed her character development. Throughout her Los Lagos journey, she learns a lot about herself and what she can do. She learns to accept her powers even if they scare her and she learns how to control them to the best of her abilities so they stop scaring her. My favorite part though is her acceptance to her heritage as a bruja. I think a lot of people can relate to that, sometimes feeling like you don’t feel comfortable about where you come from or that you don’t like all the details about your family and how they are. That’s how I manage to connect with her the most though it did take her awhile to get to that realization. You might have read in a review or heard from someone promoting this book that the main character is bisexual and the thing I love about that is the way that bisexuality is shown. For some reason, I find that sexual orientation to be the hardest to portray with respect and accuracy. I’ve seen people complain about various books with bisexual characters that they misrepresented and while I wouldn’t know, I feel like this one does a great job. The word is never written throughout the whole book as far as I remember, but Alex is without a shadow of a doubt bisexual. She feels attracted to and interested in both sexes. She can see a relationship developing with both sexes and it’s just so natural for her. She finds someone attractive and she thinks so and it never matters what gender they are because they’re both ones that she feels an interest toward. As I am not bisexual, I wouldn’t know if this is a good thing or not but it was a really honest approach in my opinion and I really liked it.
As for the side characters, I really loved Rishi. She’s amazing. She’s funny and charming and has this overall positive attitude that’s just really appreciated I think in these kinds of high fantasy, action packed, high stakes stories. I loved her friendship with Alex and how she took everything with such stride. It’s quite refreshing to know a character who has no idea about supernatural things existing and yet being totally cool with the idea once encountered with it. It’s new and unique and it definitely made me love her more. Nova on the other hand has always made me feel a bit wary. He’s mysterious and secretive and you don’t really understand his motives. He was kind of the typical bad boy who you want to see has a good side but he does everything to make sure you don’t really believe it completely. It was frustrating, specially when he made things worse for everyone but there’s hope for him yet I think. Alex also has a lot of family members as well as her immediate family and they all have an important role in this book. I loved seeing her relationship with them and how they all differ depending on who it is. However, I felt like I didn’t get to see enough of it. I knew it was coming since the synopsis says the family disappears but I didn’t realize I’d feel so attached to them so quickly so it was sad when I didn’t see more of them until the end.
Overall, I really liked this book. I loved the plot which was fast paced, action packed and entertaining. The world building of the mythical land Los Lagos took me a while to get used to but it was rich and expansive and well described. I had a few problems connecting with the main character but I loved the journey she went on in this book. I loved how much Latinx culture was infused into this book and the side characters were all unique and interesting. I can’t wait to see what the next book brings.
mea9an's review
3.0
Labyrinth Lost was... okay. It didn't really have much going for it other than characters of color. There were parts that I did like, but what prevented me from liking it was the characters. I wasn't really a fan of the family in this book, just because they didn't seem to feel like they could be real people.
Obviously, witches aren't real in our world, but these characters felt like a drawing on a piece of paper, rather than a person.
Obviously, witches aren't real in our world, but these characters felt like a drawing on a piece of paper, rather than a person.
wishfulfillment's review
2.0
Why You Might Bump This Down On Your TBR: The fantasy world they enter wasn't developed well and as soon as they entered it, the writing was hard to get through. I DNFed it.
Why You Might Bump This Up On Your TBR: The protagonist is bisexual and Latinx. I loved the incorporation of cultural ideas into the creation of the urban fantasy setting. I loved everything about the family dynamics.
Why You Might Bump This Up On Your TBR: The protagonist is bisexual and Latinx. I loved the incorporation of cultural ideas into the creation of the urban fantasy setting. I loved everything about the family dynamics.
rainbowbookworm's review
3.0
I had zero expectations for this book and found myself entertained. I love that there is a lesbian romance storyline, but I fear for their future in book 2. There have been so many books and movies where a character dumps the girl to be with the guy that I am fearful this will happen in book two. That dread is what makes it a 3-star read instead of a 4.
maraec5c4's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
marieintheraw's review
3.0
I'm glad to see bisexual love triangle for once, but in terms of paranormal this seemed less unique; however, I did find it enjoyable.