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A review by moonvers3
Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova
4.0
3.75/5 Stars
I requested an e-book arc version of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Before I get into the review and what I liked and didn’t like about the book I need to give a little disclaimer. Although I gave this book 3.75/5 stars, I believe that everyone should give this book a chance, you never know how much you might appreciate it. As a bisexual woman of color, I have been waiting for this character my entire life. I am now 20 years old, and she took a hell of a long time to get here, but she is here and I appreciate Alex so much. This beautifully diverse series is written by an own voice author. There isn’t just Latinx and sexually diverse characters in this series, and I think anyone—no matter what age, what race, what sexuality—can appreciate what Cordova has brought to young adult literature.
Spoiler Review:
One of my favorite things about the book was the mixture of Alice in Wonderland with Mesoamerican (and other) mythology influences to the world of the Deos and the brujxs. I love witches, wizards, and anything fantasy, and when you mix in influences from mythology you have got me hooked my witchy friend. I loved the history of the brujxs and how they got to the U.S.; especially the Book of Cantos, and every little quote that was included before a chapter that gave the world that Cordova has created a little depth. Although I enjoyed all of this, I felt like the world is missing something, like the story lacked something that I cannot quite describe. The descriptions in Los Lagos and every location the characters visited was vivid and easily imagined in my giddy-for-myth brain, but even though it was easily imagined it was not enough. It resembled Alice in Wonderland, which is a book/film I love, but it seemed to be lacking some complexity. I was not afraid for the characters because the place seemed too friendly, too “suitable for children,” now I don’t know if that was just me or whether it was meant to be so. Not to say that the world isn’t beautiful, because by La Mama, it is gorgeous, it just felt a shy away from perfection.
I also enjoyed the characters, but possibly some more in theory than not. Nova, boy was I not a fan of his from the start. As an avid reader of YA literature, I am quite tired of the “bad boy” trope—it is a good thing I was kind of spoiled for this book and knew that there would be a girl love interest, but I still cringed whenever something romantic was implied between him and Alex. And Alex, the bisexual Hispanic girl I have been waiting for. I was really upset about the way she described/treated herself in the beginning of the book—another trope I am quite annoyed of reading—but I was glad to see her development and how she came into herself by the end of the novel. The girl of the hour: my main girl, Rishi! I was not aware of who the love interest would be, but I swear it on the Deos that I shipped her with Alex probably from her first interaction with Alex. I knew that the love interest would be in Los Lagos because I saw some fanart, so when Rishi showed up I was giddy. She is one of my favorite; she is hilarious, supportive, and extremely loyal. She made me wish the book was told in different points of view so that I could know what was going on in her brain. I do feel like the relationships between the characters needed a little more depth to really believe how important they were to each other and how deep the feelings go. This, of course, does not include the family because the relationships between Alex and her family were probably my favorite and most believable. Clearly, this is a family driven story, and it is prevalent with the way each sister cares for each other and how much Alex interacts with her relatives. I appreciated that as well—not many YA books have that much family-based relationships/interactions with the main character. I think the last time I even heard the word “godparent” was Harry Potter, and “aunt/uncle” and even “cousin” this much was with Percy Jackson. Family is important to the culture in the book and that is something quite refreshing to read.
It was clear that Alex would get her family back safe, that was relatively predictable for me, and that no one would really get hurt. One thing I did not see coming was how quickly the Devourer was destroyed—I truly believed such an evil being would take the entire trilogy to be destroyed so that was not expected. I felt the professions of love between Alex and the love interests a little too hasty—at least with Nova, it was insta-love and I am not a huge fan of that—but at least Rishi and Alex have been friends for a long time so that is more believable.
I love all the diversity in this book, and it is extremely appreciated. I do hope that the world has more development and depth in the next books; this story has a lot of potential to be one of my favorites so I cannot wait to see what Cordova comes up with. ~ Owl xxx
I requested an e-book arc version of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Before I get into the review and what I liked and didn’t like about the book I need to give a little disclaimer. Although I gave this book 3.75/5 stars, I believe that everyone should give this book a chance, you never know how much you might appreciate it. As a bisexual woman of color, I have been waiting for this character my entire life. I am now 20 years old, and she took a hell of a long time to get here, but she is here and I appreciate Alex so much. This beautifully diverse series is written by an own voice author. There isn’t just Latinx and sexually diverse characters in this series, and I think anyone—no matter what age, what race, what sexuality—can appreciate what Cordova has brought to young adult literature.
Spoiler Review:
Spoiler
Now that I have given a little insight on why people should read the book, let’s get started.One of my favorite things about the book was the mixture of Alice in Wonderland with Mesoamerican (and other) mythology influences to the world of the Deos and the brujxs. I love witches, wizards, and anything fantasy, and when you mix in influences from mythology you have got me hooked my witchy friend. I loved the history of the brujxs and how they got to the U.S.; especially the Book of Cantos, and every little quote that was included before a chapter that gave the world that Cordova has created a little depth. Although I enjoyed all of this, I felt like the world is missing something, like the story lacked something that I cannot quite describe. The descriptions in Los Lagos and every location the characters visited was vivid and easily imagined in my giddy-for-myth brain, but even though it was easily imagined it was not enough. It resembled Alice in Wonderland, which is a book/film I love, but it seemed to be lacking some complexity. I was not afraid for the characters because the place seemed too friendly, too “suitable for children,” now I don’t know if that was just me or whether it was meant to be so. Not to say that the world isn’t beautiful, because by La Mama, it is gorgeous, it just felt a shy away from perfection.
I also enjoyed the characters, but possibly some more in theory than not. Nova, boy was I not a fan of his from the start. As an avid reader of YA literature, I am quite tired of the “bad boy” trope—it is a good thing I was kind of spoiled for this book and knew that there would be a girl love interest, but I still cringed whenever something romantic was implied between him and Alex. And Alex, the bisexual Hispanic girl I have been waiting for. I was really upset about the way she described/treated herself in the beginning of the book—another trope I am quite annoyed of reading—but I was glad to see her development and how she came into herself by the end of the novel. The girl of the hour: my main girl, Rishi! I was not aware of who the love interest would be, but I swear it on the Deos that I shipped her with Alex probably from her first interaction with Alex. I knew that the love interest would be in Los Lagos because I saw some fanart, so when Rishi showed up I was giddy. She is one of my favorite; she is hilarious, supportive, and extremely loyal. She made me wish the book was told in different points of view so that I could know what was going on in her brain. I do feel like the relationships between the characters needed a little more depth to really believe how important they were to each other and how deep the feelings go. This, of course, does not include the family because the relationships between Alex and her family were probably my favorite and most believable. Clearly, this is a family driven story, and it is prevalent with the way each sister cares for each other and how much Alex interacts with her relatives. I appreciated that as well—not many YA books have that much family-based relationships/interactions with the main character. I think the last time I even heard the word “godparent” was Harry Potter, and “aunt/uncle” and even “cousin” this much was with Percy Jackson. Family is important to the culture in the book and that is something quite refreshing to read.
It was clear that Alex would get her family back safe, that was relatively predictable for me, and that no one would really get hurt. One thing I did not see coming was how quickly the Devourer was destroyed—I truly believed such an evil being would take the entire trilogy to be destroyed so that was not expected. I felt the professions of love between Alex and the love interests a little too hasty—at least with Nova, it was insta-love and I am not a huge fan of that—but at least Rishi and Alex have been friends for a long time so that is more believable.
I love all the diversity in this book, and it is extremely appreciated. I do hope that the world has more development and depth in the next books; this story has a lot of potential to be one of my favorites so I cannot wait to see what Cordova comes up with.