Publication date: September 2020
LGBTQ+ author? Trans
Setting: Modern day East Los Angeles
Content warnings: Transphobia, racism, fantasy violence
This book is a fantastic young adult fantasy novel. What makes this book exceptional is that it is infused with rich Latinx culture, including Dia de Muertos, and the particular challenges of a trans boy whose family and culture are not always accepting. These parts of the story aren’t diversity sprinkles on top, but are essential and interwoven.
Yadriel is a trans Latinx teenager who lives with his brujx family in Los Angeles. (Brujx is a gender neutral term for witch/sorcerer in Spanish.) When they turn 15, brujx go through a coming of age ceremony. Young women become brujas, who are powerful healers. And young men become brujos, who help spirits of the deceased pass on to what’s next.
Yadriel’s father has not allowed him to go through the ceremony to become a brujo. So he enlists the help of his cousin Maritza to do it themselves in secret. Along the way they meet the spirit of Julian, a kid from their high school, who has recently been murdered. They decide to help Julian tie up loose ends before Dia de Muertos in a few days. But the question remains, who killed Julian and why can’t they find his body…
If you think this plot sounds like a YA version of another book I’ve recently reviewed, you’d be right. But this one is so much better.
Trans magic
Yadriel’s mother tried to teach him healing, according to his gender assigned at birth. And he was really quite bad at it. So his community assumes Yadriel has no magic.
When Yadiel takes things into his own hands, it becomes apparent that not only is he a real brujo, but he is one of the strongest that has lived for hundreds of years.
I honestly will never get tired of reading stories where trans people are magic. It’s such a healing balm to the way we are often treated in real life.
Family acceptance
I love how Yadriel’s family is portrayed imperfectly yet still lovingly. His mother accepts his gender identity first. His father seems to superficially understand. But when he is in a stressful situation with the other brujos, he tells Yadriel to stay home with the other women instead of bringing him along the way he might a son. Ouch. There is a redemption arc here as his father learns and changes throughout the book.
Gender binary
The system of magic in the book looks like it needs everyone to be either male or female. This suits Yadriel, who is a binary trans boy. But are there no non-binary brujx?
Luckily Julian raises this point for us. Yadriels is wallowing in self pity saying he is the first trans brujx. And Julian is like no dude, that’s impossible.
“There’s no way ya’ll have been around for thousands of years without there being one person not fitting into the ‘men are this, woman are this’ bullshit. Maybe they hid it. Or ran away. Or I don’t know, something else. But there is no way you’re the first, Yads.”
I love this was acknowledged, but also left alone. It’s not really part of our main characters’ stories. Maybe in the next book we will meet a non-binary brujx!
And always, here is some lovely fan art.
Queer Book Reviews 
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