Title: The Witches of El Paso by Luis Jaramillo
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟💫
Culture: Mexican
Themes: Boundaries and borders, trust, family, origin story

Bubbling cauldron of dreams and motherhood

Release Date: October 8th

Spell-binding and haunting, The Witches of El Paso by Luis Jaramillo captures you in its chaotic nature of past and present witches. 1943, El Paso, teenager Nena spends her days caring for the small children of her older sisters, while longing for a life of freedom and adventure. The premonitions and fainting spells she has endured since childhood are getting worse, and Nena worries she’ll end up like the scary old curandera down the street. Nena prays for help, and when the mysterious Sister Benedicta arrives late one night, Nena follows her across the borders of space and time.

Gritty and grisly, I enjoyed reading this book of Nena’s bruja origin story and Marta embracing her life in its current state and what is yet to come. Centered around strong women, I fell in love with all the characters – good and bad. From perseverance to grit to empathy, each woman was determined to solve her problems the best way they knew how. And sometimes they had to use people to get exactly what they wanted. But these women will find that everything comes with a price.

Full of witchy goodness, this is the perfect fall or Halloween read. From the detailed descriptions of unwashed bodies to the bubbling cauldron of “brebaje”, Jaramillo creates a perfect witch world in colonial Mexico during very uncertain times.

I did find the pacing to be just a little awkward – the time jumps from past to present sometimes through me off, but I always managed to find my way back. I ended up favoring one time period over the other and enjoyed the storyline way more. However, I was a bit disappointed in the romance for this storyline, it ends very abruptly without any resolution leaving me wondering what happened next.

If you love The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina and La Hacienda, then you’ll love The Witches of El Paso by Luis Jaramillo.