If you haven’t read the Brooklyn Brujas series, you seriously need to. I loved Alex and Lula…but I feel like Zoraida outdid herself with Rose’s character in Wayward Witch. Maybe it’s because I really felt connected to her as a character, despite being a young sibling. There’s something about characters that are the observers/fixers in their family. The ones who see what’s going on in their family and doing their best to keep everything together, or at least semi normal. Also I was/am Rose at most family gatherings, and I felt that to my core! The ending was bittersweet in a way that is perfect for this series, and left just a bit unfinished that I hope readers might get to revisit sometime soon! I sincerely urge you to pick up this book, because you’re going to love it!
Okay, so in Wayward Witch, it’s finally time to get Rose Mortiz’s story. Rose is used to being the fixer. However, lately she’s feeling lost with her brand new powers she doesn’t quite understand and she and her family are struggling on how to interact with their amnesiac father. During her deathday party, Rose discovers that her father’s amnesia has been a lie. When she goes to confront him, they’re ambushed and spirited away to the land of Adas, where the king of the Adas has a task for Rose. Save the island, or lose her father. She’ll have to work quickly, otherwise there might not be a way to get back home.
I’ve never identified more with the start of a book than I did with Rose’s beginning. I loved getting her observant perspective, because there’s so much going on in her head. Her worries for her family are palpable, and there’s an underlying anxiety about how long the peace is going to last. Her solution to that is by not rocking the boat too much, because there’s been enough excitement for a lifetime. Her behaviour during her deathday party reminded me of how I used to act at big family gatherings. I loved her sibling interactions because they felt genuine and were so hilarious. After she inadvertently learns that her dad hasn’t actually forgotten everything about his time away, her vulnerability comes to the surface…but she uses that same vulnerability as a shield to protect herself from pain. I also found it good to see Rose finally come undone and not hold everything in.
While this story is fast-paced, I feel like we really get to know the new characters really well. Iris and Arco’s story is very well intertwined with Rose’s, and the more you get to know them, the more you fall in love. There’s a strong bond that develops between these siblings and Rose, and I adored the way the story grew around this quest that they’re on together. Then there’s Lin! Let me just say that every time I thought I knew what was going to happen in regard to Lin, I was so WRONG. I can’t speak to the authenticity of the rep, but it was nice to see the inclusion of a non-binary character in the story and to also see it be taken positively and without judgement.
Like I said, everything seems to move rather quickly, and Rose has a lot to deal with, considering her limited resources. The land of Adas glitters with quite a few dangers. I loved getting to explore the land and the dangers lurking about. One of my favourite moments in this book happens because of a poisonous frog. It feels like such a Rose moment, and I was giggling the entire time, while also a little nervous about what would happen. Let’s talk about those chapter quotes for a second, because I was here for all of those little tidbits. They involve myths and bits and pieces of lore of Adas, which just added this level of depth to the Adas, and everything going on within it.
The themes of this story are very multi-layered and deep! Of course we have the bonds of family, as well as mending relationships to heal something much bigger than ourselves. The whole premise of this story centres around healing from trauma. Emotional, physical, mental, healing is all encompassing, and what I loved was the fact that it was a process. Zoraida Córdova did such an excellent job at illustrating what rebuilding relationships looks like, from all sides. Rose’s perspective is exactly the story we needed in this final chapter.
My only complaint to this story: there wasn’t enough! I doubt I’ll ever get tired of saying that with stories I love. However, it’s my hope that a few of the loose ends in this last book of the trilogy might mean we’ll see a side story, or even some tales about the myths and lore of the land of Adas.
There’s always something special about picking up a book by Latin American authors for me because it feels like I always get to see myself represented in a story. Understanding the language and then getting to see how the language is used to frame the lore and so much more in the story, it’s honestly breath-taking for me. Seeing how Zoraida weaves fantasy lands with the “present” timeline is really well executed. The imagery that I could conjure because of this makes this so unforgettable. I genuinely loved this book from cover to cover. This book is a 10/10 for me, add it to your collection, especially if you love stories about brujas, brujos, and brujex.
Wayward Witch is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of September 1st 2020.
Will you be picking up Wayward Witch? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
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.
