Labyrinth Lost Book Review

After reading several fiction novels last semester, the book that intrigued me the most was the first book I read called Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova. It is somewhat a fantasy and paranormal fiction novel with a total of 336 pages. The book focuses on a Latin family of brujas (witches) who live in Brooklyn. Alex, the middle child among three sisters, despises the magic she was born into. Because she is already considered as weird at her school, she wants nothing to do with the magic she believes is a curse on her. Despite being the most powerful witch in her family's bloodline, she hates magic with a passion and would do anything to become normal. On her Deathday celebration, she turns to her family's Book of Cantos (Book of Spells) and attempts to execute a spell to liberate herself of her power. However, things don't go as planned. Instead of getting rid of her  power, it makes her whole family disappear into another world. The only way to save them is to travel to the land between the realms of the living and the dead known as Los Lagos. Because she knows nothing of the land of and what dangers await for her there, Alex travels with a bruja boy named Nova with malicious intents and strange markings on his skin. Through this perilous journey, she must face a creature known as the Devourer; a monster who feasts on the magic that gives life to Los Lagos. In order to rescue her family, Alex must overcome her hatred for magic and use it to get through the dangerous realm and defeat the beast holding her family captive.

Frankly, I truly enjoyed reading this book. Knowing it is a part of a series makes me more interested in finding out what happens next. Although the cliff hanger in the end did give away that there would be a continuation, I honestly thought that the author would leave it as is and let the readers imagine what would happen next. Often times while I would read this book, I would anticipate what would happen to the main character as she went through her journey. However, I did not expect a love triangle to form in the middle of the story line among three certain characters, it really surprised me because I only saw the one romantic relationship forming between two of the characters. I would have liked it more if the author did other characters' perspectives and not focus only on Alex's point of view. I wanted to see how several characters would see the situation differently from the main character's perspective, but it was fun to see how going though a death-defying rescue mission changed many of the characters as a person in several ways. I would recommend this novel to readers who are interested in magic and drama.