Mundie Moms

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova / Book Review


By: Zoraida Cordova

Published by: Source Books Fire
Released on: September 6th, 2016
Series: Brooklyn Brujas #1
Purchase from: Amazon | B&N
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A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest review 

Nothing says Happy Birthday like summoning the spirits of your dead relatives.

I fall to my knees. Shattered glass, melted candles and the outline of scorched feathers are all that surround me. Every single person who was in my house – my entire family — is gone.

Alex is a bruja, the most powerful witch in a generation…and she hates magic. At her Deathday celebration, Alex performs a spell to rid herself of her power. But it backfires. Her whole family vanishes into thin air, leaving her alone with Nova, a brujo boy she can’t trust. A boy whose intentions are as dark as the strange markings on his skin.

The only way to get her family back is to travel with Nova to Los Lagos, a land in-between, as dark as Limbo and as strange as Wonderland…

Beautiful Creatures meets Daughter of Smoke and Bone with an infusion of Latin American tradition in this highly original fantasy adventure.



Magic, diversity, and a rich lore, I really liked the way Cordova created her setting, and elements for this book. This book's strong points are it's rich lore, cultural diversity, and beautiful world building. Not to mention the strong family dynamics, magic, and over all diversity. I loved the way these vivid elements were infused together, and written. They are the heart of this story, and are what kept me reading. I just wish they were enough to make me love this book. This is a very character driven book, and sadly the characters themselves weren't ones I was fond of for much of this book, nor were they ones I connected to.

I had a hard time connecting with the characters, especially Alex. At first, I was invested with Alex's story. I loved that she comes from a tight knit family. I loved their dynamics, and her willingness to do anything for them. As the story progresses, I had a hard time liking with her, as well as some of other relationships throughout the book. Her nonstop bantering with Nova made her come across as a queen B, and normally I'm a reader who loves character banter. Another thing that I struggled with is Alex's indecisiveness. I don't know why, but for some reason this really bugged me. However, I will say that by the end of the book, I did like the character Alex became, but unfortunately it was a little too late for me. 

Another thing I had a hard time believing was the romance. Sure I'm not a huge fan of love triangles, but I kind of got this one. I understood Alex's feelings towards both Nova and Risha. What made it hard to believe in their relationships, is the way Alex acts towards and treats them for much of the book. I felt like it contradicted her romantic feelings towards both of them.

Despite the rich diversity, world building, magic and lore, all of which I really enjoyed, I missed the character connections. I needed to feel that connection to the characters early on in the book, vs towards the end. Though I did like that things did get progressively better towards the end, it was a little too late for me. While I may not have liked this book as much as I was hoping to, that killer ending has me very intrigued about what's going to happen in the next book. 

WITH MALICE by Eileen Cook / SHUTTER by Laurie Faria Stolarz / Book Reviews


By: Eileen Cook
Published by: HMH Books 
Released on: June 7th, 2016
Purchase from: Amazon | B&N
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Rating: 3 stars- It's A Good Read
A copy of this book was provided from the publisher, in exchange for my honest review

It was the perfect trip…until it wasn’t.

Eighteen-year-old Jill Charron wakes up in a hospital room, leg in a cast, stitches in her face and a big blank canvas where the last six weeks should be. She discovers she was involved in a fatal car accident while on a school trip in Italy. A trip she doesn’t even remember taking. She was jetted home by her affluent father in order to receive quality care. Care that includes a lawyer. And a press team. Because maybe the accident…wasn’t an accident.

As the accident makes national headlines, Jill finds herself at the center of a murder investigation. It doesn’t help that the media is portraying her as a sociopath who killed her bubbly best friend, Simone, in a jealous rage. With the evidence mounting against her, there’s only one thing Jill knows for sure: She would never hurt Simone. But what really happened? Questioning who she can trust and what she’s capable of, Jill desperately tries to piece together the events of the past six weeks before she loses her thin hold on her once-perfect life.


A thrilling, suspenseful read. This is a well paced story that slowly unravels the truth. For much of this story Cook leaves readers in the dark on what exactly happened. Instead, she allows readers to discover the truth at a similar pace that Jill does. For much of this story our main character is lying in a hospital room, trying to remember what happened, and the events that landing her there. 

Cook uses a lot of elements to create a thrilling read. Told using present day, flashbacks, police interviews, media reports, medical records and emails, it's hard to decipher what the truth is, the motive, and piece together exactly what happened. Cook does a great at using media and social media prejudices when it comes to judging whether or not someone is guilty prior to their trial taking place, and before all the evidence is shared. She shows how that effects the person who's behind the name being slandered across the various media outlets.


This story definitely has it's darker tones. It doesn't shy away from how easily someone can snap when the pressure is too much. Part of what makes this story  suspenseful happens as the events are pieced together, or attempted to be pieced together, and true motives are uncovered. It makes you realize that sometimes friends aren't always who you think they are. I'm not a huge physiological thriller fan, but this was a good read.


*There is some mild language.




By: Laurie Faria Stolarz
Published by: Disney Hyperion
Released on: October 18th, 2016
Purchase from: Amazon | B&N
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Rating: 2.5 stars
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest review

Sixteen-year-old Day Connor views life through the lens of her camera, where perspective is everything. But photographs never tell the whole story. After Day crosses paths with Julian, the world she observes and the truths she believes—neatly captured in black and white—begin to blur.

Julian does not look like a murderer, but his story is full of holes, and his alibis don’t quite add up, either. This time, Day is determined to see the entire picture…whatever it reveals.

Did he kill his parents? Or didn’t he?

While Julian remains on the run, Day digs deeper into his case. But the more facts she uncovers, the longer her list of questions becomes. It’s also getting harder to deny the chemistry she feels with Julian.

Is it real? Or is she being manipulated?

Day is close to finding the crack in the case that will prove Julian’s innocence. She just needs time to focus before the shutter snaps shut.


One again I find myself reviewing a book for a genre that normally isn't my cup of tea. This is another book that as soon as it arrived I found myself thumbing through the pages, and instead of putting the book down, I ended up reading it. There was something about Julian's story that I wanted to know more about. I couldn't help but be intrigued about this boy, his troubled story, and how his path crossed with Day's. I liked that this story is told from both Day's point of view, and Julian's journal entries. 

This book definitely has all the makings to be a dark, thrilling read. It's a well paced story that is complex and dark, but too predictable. Though the predictably isn't always a bad thing, with this book I was looking for more suspense than predictability. I was also looking for more thrill and mystery, vs this being more of a coming of age story. The romance in this book did not work at all for me.... I'll just leave it at that. 

At times it felt there was an edge to the story, but sadly I felt like it fell flat as the story went on. It's not that this was a bad read. It just wasn't what I was excepting. Over all this is a fast paced read, but it just missed it's mark with me. 


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