Bruja Born

Bruja Born by Zoraida Cordova, 2018 Sourcebooks Fire

     After the drama with her sister's powers, Bruja Lula Mortiz is not feeling he powers. In fact, Lula isn't feeling like herself at all. She holds back from her normal life, and even her magic-less boyfriend Maks notices.
     On the way to their last soccer game of the season, Maksim ends their relationship. Lula is devastated and wishes her magic could heal their relationship and bring back his love - not something bruja magic can or should do. The two busses of teen soccer players and cheerleaders are involved in a horrific accident which very few of Lula's classmates survive.
     Lula uses her powers to save Maks despite Death's protests. She convinces her sisters to help. The Mortiz daughters manage to bind Maks to Lula and to heal his wounds, but the spell is unsuccessful and turns Maks into a casimuerto - quasi-dead. Lula and her sisters, Alex and Rose, delve into Bruja lore but the casimuerto isn't well known. The mythology describes a creature like a zombie and when Maks begins to rampage across the city that's what it looks like: the zombie apocalypse.
     Now Lula, Alex, Rose and the rest of their coven are held responsible for the imbalance caused by the girls' spell. Lula must reset the balance because La Muerta is bound from completing her work and the casimuerto infection is spreading across New York City.
     How does one free Death to complete her work? Lula must figure it out or the witch-hunters will solve the problem in a much more permanent way. After the dramatic ordeal involving Alex's magic Lula is afraid to deal with the physical and emotional results of her sister's actions but learns she's the same bruja as before, just with an all-powerful sister at her side.
     This second story of the Brooklyn Brujas follows the eldest Mortiz sister as the girls learn to manage their magic and their lives in the aftermath of tragedy. Lula learns that just because they have the power doesn't mean they should and the consequences nearly destroy her entire world. Bruja Born is aimed at older teen and young adult readers who enjoy their magic with a touch of gruesome reality.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, 2009 Quirk Books

   Like in Pride and Prejudice, the story of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies follows Elizabeth Bennet and her family as they attempt to navigate the social waters of 18th century England. The twist is the outbreak of brain-eating zombies causing havoc throughout the countryside.
     Many of the same events take place in this parody of Austen's novel: the addition of Bingley and his party to Netherfield, the rampant dislike of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Wickham's appearance and encouragement of anti-Darcy sentiment, Jane's visit to London, Lydia's elopement, and the eventual connections between Elizabeth and Darcy, and Jane and Bingley. Unlike the original tale, marriageability is based on accomplishment in the martial arts and destruction of zombies. The Bennet girls have been taken to Asia to learn from the experts and have become very accomplished. The characters' main motivation throughout the novel, with the exception of finding a partner with whom to defeat the zombies, is to eradicate the "unmentionables." The charm of this spin-off relies on its use of Austen's original language, the zombies are added in Grahame-Smith's version of contemporary language.
     Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a fun take on Austen's classic and is easily accessible for young and teen readers. Along with the prequel and sequel the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies trilogy is a fun read for fans of paranormal literature.