I recieved an ARC from NetGalley in exchange or an honest review.

I always love the inclusion of brujas in fiction, so I jumped at the chance to read this title. Unfortunately, Season of the Bruja was a little bit of a let-down for me..

I'll start with what I loved: the incoporation of South American cultures, and Aztec mythology, the themes of anti-colonialism and more. I loved the incoporation of Spanish- I love when multiple languages are included in a text, even if it means a bit more "work," for me as a reader (In this case, I got by with secondary-school Spanish, but you'd get by just fine with Google Translate if you don't speak a lick.) I was slightly intruiged by the possibility of a villain who could serve as a foil to the protagonist, but unfortunately there was little page-time for me to become truly curious about him. There are some interesting questions about cultural identity brewing here that it seems like the story will pose later down the line.

Graphic novels always have it harder than traditional novels simply because they have less page-time to establish characters and relationships: a quick exchange of dialogue that would take only a few lines of text in a novel might take about two pages to cover in a graphic novel. The first volume in a series usually has a lot of legwork to do, achieving all of this and often introducing the reader to a new world and a new plot. A really economical approach is neccesary, and I think SotB suffers from this. Launching straight into the action before the reader has a proper grasp on, or investment in, any of the characters leads to this frustrating feeling of playing "catch up," and for me, wondering why I should even care. A few other reviewers have also emphasised feeling a little bit lost regarding the lore- I can certainly empathise with that, but I'm happy to walk blind for a while (and in this case, draw on some of my own knowledge of the mythology, mostly from other books)- but the lack of character establishment was the much more glaring problem for me. Unfortunately, I didn't become particularly more invested in the characters as time drew on- they largely felt like ciphers and I don't get the feeling they'll stick in my head over time. I'd struggle to choose a favourite from the line-up.

I also felt that SotB has a little bit of a problem with establishing tone. The mood often changed very quickly, making for a jarring reading experience. The pacing was pretty all-over-the-place, and sometimes the dialogue didn't quite flow.

On the art side, SotB is often gorgeous, but also often... not. I found the art to be pretty inconsistent overall; there were some extremely cool elements, such as the designs of the alebrijes, and a couple of panels with some stunning composition, and some great uses of colour. However, a few panels featured slightly "off" anatomy or somewhat goofy facial expressions (often in serious moments) which undermined my appreciation for it. And although perhaps elsewhere it could've worked, I didn't really love the incoporation of manga-style "sweat drops," either- it contributed to a sort of "lack of identity," that suffused the work (see also those tonal problems I mentioned earlier.) This graphic novel is written and illustrated by two seperate people, and although many teams have created some extremely moving and cohesive work in this way, I definitley felt some level of disconnect, like perhaps they weren't quite on the same page about the mood they wanted to evoke and the story they wanted to tell.

Looking back on SotB, it essentially strikes me as "okay." In a world oversaturated with incredible comics, graphic novels, webcomics, manga, manwha, etc.... I sadly wouldn't be inclined to pick up the next volume, nor to recommend it, unless perhaps someone was very specifically after "brujas in graphic novels." And even then, there's a few traditional novels I would encourage them towards first.