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jessereadsthings's review
sad
medium-paced
3.0
Gorgeous art and an interesting concept for the plot. However, it definitely needed a bit more time put into crafting the story into the best version of itself.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Xenophobia and Colonisation
Minor: Police brutality
betweentheshelves's review
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I wanted to love this because the art is so, so gorgeous, but the writing and the world building just fell a little flat for me. We're dropped right in the middle of the action, which is normally fine for me, but I didn't feel like there were enough details in the rest of the story to fill in what was going on. I still felt quite confused by the end of the book.
It seems like this might be a series, though (maybe?), so perhaps we'll get more details later on. The concept was interesting, and I loved the magical elements woven throughout the text. The characters were also great! We just needed those world details to really put the reader on the same page.
It seems like this might be a series, though (maybe?), so perhaps we'll get more details later on. The concept was interesting, and I loved the magical elements woven throughout the text. The characters were also great! We just needed those world details to really put the reader on the same page.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Racism, and Death
Moderate: Colonisation, Violence, and Xenophobia
Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Self harm
clarabooksit's review
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry
Moderate: Death, Grief, and Violence
Minor: Colonisation and Racism
destiel74's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
It was a good adventurous story with good magical and cool creatures.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Colonisation and Violence
indeedithappens's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Police brutality, Animal death, Body horror, Colonisation, Death of parent, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Violence, War, Xenophobia, and Racism
readingwithkaitlyn's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Racial slurs, Genocide, and Police brutality
Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Colonisation
Possession, victim blaming, prediabetes joke,bladelikesbooks's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Season of the Bruja is an SFF graphic novel about Althalia, a Latinx woman learning to use her gifts and battle threats from the past.
Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for this eARC. I really liked this! The opening scene plunges you straight into an exorcism and is a great starting point. The book discusses colonialism and scenes of police brutality which can be quite upsetting. The characters are so lovely, I loved the character designs and I loved the friendship/family bond they had with each other, that was done so beautifully.
I really liked the art style and the colour palette. And I really love the extra character art at the end of the book. The lush colours really added to the story, it was great. I think this was a good start to a series, but I can’t wait to read more of Althalia’s story!!
I also enjoyed reading the author and illustrator’s notes at the end too. It really made me feel more connected with them and I liked learning about their own personal experiences in relation to this story.
Rep - Latinx (Althalia); Own Voices (Latinx - Aaron); POC (Dana; Althalia); Queer (Sara)
TWs/CWs - Colonialism; Death of a loved one; Demons; Police Brutality; Racism
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Death, Police brutality, and Colonisation
heather_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Season of the Bruja is a fantastic young adult graphic novel about Althalia, a young bruja learning about her abilitites from her abuela. This graphic novel was instantly engaging and threw you into the action from the first panel. The artwork is crisp and clean and just what I like from a graphic novel, and as a person who has read many a graphic novel for all ages, this is a good one.
I personally loved the showcasing of Althalia's culture, the dialogue felt natural, and the feeling of the graphic novel as a whole felt cohesive.
Thoroughly enjoyed it, and I look forward to the other volumes.
Thank you to Netgalley and Onipress for the ARC!
I personally loved the showcasing of Althalia's culture, the dialogue felt natural, and the feeling of the graphic novel as a whole felt cohesive.
Thoroughly enjoyed it, and I look forward to the other volumes.
Thank you to Netgalley and Onipress for the ARC!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Death, and Grief
shaipanda's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Thank you so much to NetGalley for the eARC!
The art of this book is absolutely beautiful and I thought what I could gather of the plot was really interesting and had great potential. However, I unfortunately had a few issues with the book. The main two for me were lack of clarity and lack of personal connection with the characters. While there was some character development as the book progressed, it was still the kind of book where despite being a short graphic novel that I would normally finish in one sitting, this took me at least 3 sittings to finish. I just didn't feel that connection to the characters especially in the first half or so of it, and despite the fast pace, it just didn't pull me in. Additionally, in terms of the lack of clarity, I just felt that there were a lot of plot lines that weren't fully pieced together for me and because of that it wasn't as impactful.
However, overall I did enjoy this book and it was a beautiful read. I also really liked getting to see story lines about witches from other cultures as obviously witchcraft has been a part of many many different cultures in various forms but often it is only shown in a very specific European way.
The art of this book is absolutely beautiful and I thought what I could gather of the plot was really interesting and had great potential. However, I unfortunately had a few issues with the book. The main two for me were lack of clarity and lack of personal connection with the characters. While there was some character development as the book progressed, it was still the kind of book where despite being a short graphic novel that I would normally finish in one sitting, this took me at least 3 sittings to finish. I just didn't feel that connection to the characters especially in the first half or so of it, and despite the fast pace, it just didn't pull me in. Additionally, in terms of the lack of clarity, I just felt that there were a lot of plot lines that weren't fully pieced together for me and because of that it wasn't as impactful.
However, overall I did enjoy this book and it was a beautiful read. I also really liked getting to see story lines about witches from other cultures as obviously witchcraft has been a part of many many different cultures in various forms but often it is only shown in a very specific European way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Grief, and Death
Moderate: Xenophobia and Colonisation
ilana_banana's review
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality, Violence, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Racism, and Colonisation