Bindle Punk Bruja
Ratings2
Average rating3.5
15
Ratings2
Average rating3.5
Boardwalk Empire meets The Vanishing Half with a touch of earth magic in this sexy and action-packed historical fantasy set in the luminous Golden Twenties from debut author Desideria Mesa, where a part-time reporter and club owner takes on crooked city councilmen, mysterious and deadly mobsters, and society’s deeply rooted sexism and racism, all while keeping her true identity and magical abilities hidden—inspired by an ancient Mexican folktale. Yo soy quien soy. I am who I am. Luna—or depending on who’s asking, Rose—is the white-passing daughter of an immigrant mother who has seen what happens to people from her culture. This world is prejudicial, and she must hide her identity in pursuit of owning an illegal jazz club. Using her cunning powers, Rose negotiates with dangerous criminals as she climbs up Kansas City’s bootlegging ladder. Luna, however, runs the risk of losing everything if the crooked city councilmen and ruthless mobsters discover her ties to an immigrant boxcar community that secretly houses witches. Last thing she wants is to put her entire family in danger. But this bruja with ever-growing magical abilities can never resist a good fight. With her new identity, Rose, an unabashed flapper, defies societal expectations all the while struggling to keep her true self and witchcraft in check. However, the harder she tries to avoid scrutiny, the more her efforts eventually capture unwanted attention. Soon, she finds herself surrounded by greed and every brand of bigotry—from local gangsters who want a piece of the action and businessmen who hate her diverse staff to the Ku Klux Klan and Al Capone. Will her earth magic be enough to save her friends and family? As much as she hates to admit it, she may need to learn to have faith in others—and learning to trust may prove to be her biggest ambition yet.
Reviews with the most likes.
Mesa doesn't lift her foot off the gas as Rose/Luna struggles with identity, mobsters and earth magic while she tries to make it big in 1920s New York City.
The scene and character descriptions were as visceral and beautiful as Rose's culture and supernatural abilities. I also didn't expect the hard look at intersectionality threaded throughout the story, giving characters additional weight and meaning.
This book kept me entertained and guessing from page one. Love it!
An historical fantasy set in 1920s Kansas City in the jazz district? Yes please. The story includes so many elements and real life characters like Pendergast, Capone and a member of the Kessler family as well as workers in the night club that I got a bit overwhelmed and none of the character got the kind of development that would make them fully fleshed out. Even Rose felt scattered. I think there was such good stuff in the book but it really needed a good pass with an editor to make the story cleaner and the pace sharper. There were sections that meandered and seemed to cover the same problems over and over. There was a side story of Rose's relationship with a guy from St. Louis that felt genuinely superfluous. I can tell the writer did a ton of research and knows a lot about the history of Kansas City but all those details did not need to be in the book.
There was mention of bruja in NKC that dabbled in curse magic but it felt so weird to include a nebulous “them” after so many other characters were named specifically.
I suppose I'm critical because I liked so much about the book but the parts that felt like a slog, repetitive or “who is that now?” leaves me unlikely to recommend it to anyone even though I so want to.
