Bindle Punk Bruja

Bindle Punk #1

by Desideria Mesa, Frankie Corzo (Narrator)

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.

Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Witches, Mystery, Audiobook

Audible Audio

First published September 13, 2022

About the author

Desi has eclectic taste, her favorite novels ranging anywhere from Anne of Green Gables and The Help to Mistborn and Ready Player One. Getting lost in a historical, sci-fi, or high fantasy novel will likely be her ultimate demise, besides crafting her own stories, of course. She is represented by Rachel Brooks at BookEnds Literary Agency and is currently editing her second book in the Bindle Punk duology, published by Harper Voyager. Her debut novel, Bindle Punk Bruja, was noted among the best of fall releases in 2022 by several publications, including The Washington Post, Buzzfeed, Tor Books, Writer’s Digest, Library Journal, Audible, Publisher’s Weekly, and many more. Sticking to her roots in writing about Latinx culture and magic, she also placed an article in Good Housekeeping entitled, “In My Family, Home is Where the Magic Is.”

Reviews

[Nicholas Perez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Won an ARC from GoodReads. Opinions are all my own

Taking place in the roaring jazz era of the 1920s in Kansas City, Missouri, Bindle Punk Bruja follows Luna Alvarado, the White-passing daughter of a Mexican mother and a White-American father. She's also a bruja--a witch--however her magic doesn't work quite as well as it shoukd. At least, not as good as her abuela Mamma Sunday. To the rest of the city, her name is Rose Lane, one of the first women to own a speakeasy. With her half-brother Javier being her bartender, Luna's club gets on modestly. But then things start to change.

The mafia keeps putting the screws on Luna's business, and her day job as a newspaper column editor she has to deal with more sexism and drama than ever. So, Luna decides to get big. Get a new club, get new friends that will finance her, and work on her bruja magic to protect herself and those she loves. However, 1920s Kansas City will continue to bite back at Luna and prevent her from getting her goals. From racists and sexists, to the mafia, and to even the Ku Klux Klan, Luna's dreams will be made more and more unattainable. But all she can do, and need to do, is fight back.

While there is good and evil in this book, this isn't a traditional fantasy scenario where the good constantly fights back against the evil. While there are occasional fights and conflicts, there's no street battles or magic battles that happen. This is mostly about Luna and her friends and family just trying to survive and be comfortable. However, for people like Luna and her friends and family, especially into 20s, such a simple feat is not done so easily.

Bindle Punk Bruha tackles a bunch of different issues: sexism, racism, homophobia, divided ethnic heritages. We see this solely through Luna's perspective, however I think Desideria Mesa handled this well for the most part. Luna feels like everything is against because she's primarily a woman. Her brother Javier, who is darker-skinned and full-blooded Mexican and (as we eventually learn) bisexual, points out to her though that she has it easier because she's White-passing and using an Euro-American name. It's a difficult truth for Luna to accept because she tells Javier that he doesn't know what it's like to be a woman. I think the story could've benefitted from hearing the experiences of a darker-skinned woman as that would shown a perspective that faces double oppression. There is a bisexual Black character named Penny in the story, but she never really takes center stage and her experiences are only alluded to; not erased or ignored, but just not considered. Luna eventually learns that her clinging to her White-passing identity, while giving her somewhat of a social boost, has made her unconsciously distance herself from both her bruja magic and her Mexican heritage. Mesa handled this issue without making the usual errors often made by actual White feminists who tackle these issues.

A lot of these issues often tie into the historical setting, which is brilliantly and authentically realized. Seriously! Mesa did a TON of research into 1920s society from the fashion, to the politics, to actual historical figures, and to even the way people spoke back then. The dialogue is probably the most authentic part about the setting. I will say that Mesa uses A LOT of the slang, some that I had never heard of before. Some might find this distracting, and it was at first for me, but I got around it. I will say that every character started to sound like a character in the movie Goodfellas. "I get to live the rest of my life like a schnook!" Yes, a completely different era, I know. You get my point.

While the dialogue was that swanky, 1920s "How you doin', toots! Ya gams look great!" kind of dialogue, the narration prose was a bit more sophisticated. The prose is beautiful, readable, and occasionally sensual. We see and feel everything Luna sees and feels from her most simple moments to her her most emotionally-charged ones. We are well and truly inside of Luna's head in this book, and the prose aids this. She never feels out of character; Mesa never dips from the viewpoint she's showing us. Mesa always captures a scene, its characters, and its feelings and never loses hold of it. However, I will say this: one of the errors I found with the book, at least in its beginning parts as I didn't see this at all later on, is that Mesa had some moments where she told right after she had already shown. These moments were are similar moments where Luna faces sexism or witnesses another form of prejudice thrown at another character. Luna would often inform us that the men who did these prejudices were being prejudiced and discriminatory. This wasn't needed. You don't need to tell when you've already shown; trust your audience to understand what just happened.

In terms of characters, I think everyone, save for some of the side characters were fully fleshed out. As I said above, I think the story could've benefitted from informing us about a few other perspectives in this fairly intsectionalist novel. Luna is a sassy, flirty, but also serious woman trying to make her way in the world. Javier is a brave but cautious man who wants to best for himself and his sister, but worries about any repercussions. Heck wants to find love with another man, but is worried about losing his inheritance, especially after his family already tried to "deprogram" him. Margaret wants to find love and escape the clutches of her terrible husband. Gio wants Luna to be his girl and to live a good life. Everyone for the most part is seen and felt.

Now, here's were I get into some more stronger criticisms. Overall, I think Bindle Punk Bruja is a good book. It's a debut novel, and it's weighed down by the common errors that come with a debut novel. For one, I think the first five or six chapters are a bit slow. There's a lot of different hit men and mafia guys and politicians who are kind of similar to each. Each a wise-talkin' Italian kind of guy or some big shot who has a lot of sway and/or power over the city. Except for Heck, Javier, and Gio, some of the side male characters are a little hard to distinguish. Additionally, I think this is the book's biggest burden, is that it tries to do too much sometimes. There's the complex network of financial payment Luna needs to give to certain mafia bosses, there's these same mafia bosses threatening her and coming for her, there's all the set-backs Luna faces--which are lot, by the way, and I'll get to that--, there's the Klu Klux Klan, there's Al Capone coming to town--it's all A LOT! Luna's struggle with her bruja magic and her Mexican heritage is still relevant throughout the book, you never forget about it, but it often takes a very far back seat to these other issues.

Luna faces a lot of setbacks in this book. In fact, it became quite depressing. This book isn't too brutal, it isn't grimdark, and it does have a mostly happy ending, but the constant fears, setbacks, and threats Luna faces in the middle of the book and towards the end just really started to feel depressing. Obviously, Mesa doesn't need to pull her punches, and life for minorities during this time period (as it still is in many parts of the USA) was rough, but still it's a lot. Also the addition of Al Capone felt a bit deus ex machina and a felt a bit off. He isn't the only actual historical person to show up in the book, and I understand why Mesa put him in there, and he's truly an intimidating figure on page. However, he felt like a MacGuffin in human form. I think Mesa could've made up her own crime boss and the story and its resolution would've been the same.

That being said, while this is not a perfect debut, it is a noticeable one and one that shows promise for the author. I think a sophomore novel would be a step up for Mesa. She is clearly an author who cares about details in her story and is able to deliver exciting characters and an interesting world. She's one to watch.

A modest, upper 3.5/5 stars!

[Lee (Books With Lee) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up

It’s always hard when a book you’re looking forward to doesn’t deliver in the way that you hoped it would.

On paper Bindle Punk Bruja is a book I should love. It’s set in the 1920 with flappers, mobsters, corrupt councilman, and a strong female lead who will take nothing from nobody. On top of that, you add the magical element that she comes from a family who is descended from witches, and with that I’m drawn in. However, that just wasn’t enough for me with this story, and here’s why.

First, lets start with the positives I loved that the main female character was latine. I thought the book did a good job of highlighting her cultural heritage and setting the back drop of the 1920s. I felt like I was transported back in time while reading this book.

Now let’s talk about what I didn’t like and why this book was ultimately somewhat of a let down:

First- like with many fantasy stories there was some information dumping at the beginning, which I anticipated; however, the way the characters were introduced and described made it hard to discern who was who as the story moved on. Not only that the main character often just referred to characters by their relations to her (ie brother, fiancé) and rarely used their name, which made keeping up with characters difficult when names were later used in other context.

Second- I found the pacing to just be off. It started off pretty quick with the introduction of characters, but then slowed down and it didn’t really pick up until over halfway through the book. However, by that time I wasn’t as Invested into the story as I was more focused on trying to remember which characters was which.

Lastly- the magic system wasn’t really fully explained. I understood some, but not enough so the fantasy element fell flat for me.

Because of the above, I lost interest and I couldn’t find a way to reengage with the story

Overall, I think the idea was a great, but the execution was poor in some area and done well in others

Thank you libro.fm for the audio ARC and Harper Collins for the physical ARC of this book

[Tomes And Textiles · Rating 3 out of 5]

I began this book highly anticipating the story of a 1920's flapper with a magical secret born of her family's heritage navigating a world riddled with speakeasies and gangsters. I was looking forward to a historical fantasy lead by a strong female main character with strong business sense fighting the patriarchy and . The synopsis had all the makings of a 2022 best of for me. However, it quickly became clear that...this was NOT what I was expecting. While surprises come with being a reader (how many times have you read a synopsis and the story didn't match?), this book fell short for me repeatedly. I'll highlight a few of the reasons below.

Before I get into the negatives, I wanted to address the pluses of this story: discussions of Latinx heritage in the midwest/Kansas City, Latinx family relations and heritage, prolific use of 1920's slang, discussions of gentrification and history of gentrification in major cities

And now on to the (unfortunately) much longer list of negatives

My confusion settled in within the first chapter. At first, I thought I was out of practice with fantasy (which has been a recurring theme for me in the past year or so), but what I quickly realized after rewinding and re-listening to scene after scene was that that the story itself was a disjointed. Scenes ended without resolution or fading to black without actually explaining the action that occurred as well as how that motivated the next course of actions. For example, there would be a detailed description of a dress or what type of stemware the bar in an action scene, but hardly any description of the fight or even the resolution itself. This resulted in a lack motivation for the action moving forward and escalation of stakes. We follow a chronological story without clarity or reason, making the book seem like a litany of almost disjointed scenes. This editorial choice slowed the pace of the story tremendously for me. Ultimately, there was too much showing of things that didn't matter to the core of the story.

My next point of contention for me was the writing style--first person point of view. While I'm not against this style, I was against the strange possessiveness in the way this POV was written. Terms such as "my brother" or "my supplier" were overused. Without the reinforcement of character names, I had to have a written cast of characters referring to who was who (but this could also be a product of my 1st point where things weren't properly described?). By he end, I was just annoyed at the use of these endearments.

Finally, we come to Rose/Luna. The execution of the two sides utterly confounding and confusing? While I understood Luna's magic to come from her grandmother, I didn't understand the full extent to which these two sides existed for Rose, outside of her allure. Considering a big-ish part of the plot was dependent on this, it cut into my enjoyment of the story quite a bit, mostly because I was left with more questions than answers. The reader wasn't given enough justification to suspend disbelief when it came to Rose's magical side. Quite honestly, the magical rules weren't explained thoroughly and without the rules of a fantastical world, the tension never fully gripped me because the stakes seemed so low. And the stakes were SO low that Rose was not even given agency in the eventual outcome with the syndicate sliding in to resolve many of the business tensions without Rose's oversight

Thanks to Harper Audio for the ARC.

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[laurel [the suspected bibliophile] · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more than I did.

In the end, it was okay.

I think a lot of my annoyance was because it felt so disjointed. There was a lot going on, which is normal for life, but it all seemed so disconnected, like a series of scenes shoved together.

I did like that Rose/Luna was a bruja in a 1920s historical fantasy novel. I liked that she was an owner of a bootlegger club and that she was passing for white and the sacrifices she had to make with her family in order to succeed and support them. I liked that the realities of being BIPOC and queer in the 1920s was portrayed with wonderful accuracy (although mild spoiler: a prominent gay character is lynched [and brought back to life] pretty much immediately after getting together officially with his lover).

However, at some points it got a little ridiculous. Rose stumbles into not just the local mobsters, but Al Capone and also the KKK (the KKK had a HUGE presence, not denying that), to the point where it was like one thing after another after another and I was like, mhm what else is going to happen here? And then she was a part-time reporter, and I was like, where does this woman find the time? Does she ever sleep? Does she ever have five minutes to poop?

Also, I'm a square, but 1920s slang is annoying as hell (this is one reason I rarely read books set in the 1920s).

[Allison Hurd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh boy. So, well, I guess this is in fact historical fantasy, in that it not only is their magic, but the whole setting is the daydream of a modern feminist with a shame kink. Unfortunately, sexual assault is upsetting enough to me that even being a modern feminist does not make this fantasy one for me.

CONTENT WARNING: extreme racism, sexism, repeat and graphic sexual assault, rape of gay men, domestic violence, arson, miscarriage, Ku Klux Klan

Things that were fun:

-Roaring 20s. If you and your intersectionally-minded sex-worker friends could travel back in time and get it while the getting was good, this is what that might look like.

The rest:

-So much assault. And so much of it we were meant to find sexy or sympathetic. And like, yes, I am sympathetic to survivors, but this is just the story of their repeated shame, not the person.

-Wildly anachronistic. There were a lot of choices here. Really bold ones, that mashed together a lot of things that read more like one of those nightmares where you have to give a report at school and you haven't prepared so you just ramble off what you know from movies and cultural osmosis.

I was excited about a historical urban fantasy that centered Mexican characters, but that element also felt steeped in shamed in a way that made me uncomfortable to be hearing it.

As always when I don't actually finish a book (I stopped at 75%) I will round up in case the best part of the story was yet to come.

[Ilana Banana · Rating 2 out of 5]

thanks to netgalley and Harper Voyager for the e-arc

2.5*

TW: homophobia, racism, xenophobia, sexual harassment, sexism, police brutality, religious bigotry.
i did not have fun reading this💀.
I'll start with the positive things I have to say about it. I am also Mexican, so I appreciated being able to see Rose/Luna and her family, although I would have liked to see a little more of their dynamic. The prose is great and really atmospheric.
This book is about racism and sexism and how this has affected the main character and those around her while trying to make a living and be successful. Its a story that follows minorities and identities in a difficult time period and difficult circumstances. The magic is interesting and complex, so that was fine too.

Now, my main problem with this book was the characters. I'm sorry, but I didn't love the main character. I like what she represents and the general idea of ​​her, but as a character I just don't. I'm not going to deny that she's a strong and powerful character, but I still feel pretty indifferent about her otherwise,She barely does anything, all the problems and conflicts are conveniently solved by other people, which later creates another conflict and then again is solved by someone else and it's just a vicious circle that gets boring after a few times, it's incredibly convenient for the plot. and except for a few occasions this is a recurring theme. It's a 400 page book and in my opinion we barely get to know the characters, there's not enough backstory to care about them. The relationships that are formed are incredibly rushed and happen in a short amount of time, these relationships expand and grow throughout the book, but the beginning felt really rushed.

There are a lot of colloquialisms from the 1920s and the way the dialogues are written makes it sometimes difficult to read if you don't already know them.

I didn't want to spend a lot of time talking about this because I don't think that's the main focus of the book, as it's mostly about marginalized communities like Latinx and Black, but this also includes the LGBTQ+ community and it’s important for me to talk about it. There are some queer characters that are really important to the story, I'm going to talk about one in particular right now. I'm not going to say his name because that’s a spoiler, although it's pretty clear from the start. He was just the stereotypical gay best friend for most of this book, we don't get much context or history about his character and that makes it seem like he's just there for the main character's sake. There is a scene near the end of the book where he has some interaction with Rose (trying to be vague here) but I can't tell you how humiliating and awful reading this was for me, it didn't need to be included. After this situation happens, it is immediately forgiven and forgotten within the next chapter, I didn't like the way the main character responded to what happened. We know the historical context of being an LGBTQ+ person and the nuances and difficulties about it even more so in the 1920s, this character is dealing with internalized homophobia from the very beginning. There are also several instances of making the main character seem superior just by “understanding” these characters, while the queer characters deal with this internalized homophobia and trauma and get no more help than her saying it's okay you’re like this. People usually do this when it does not affect them, showing acceptance is the bare minimum. Again, this is the 1920s so acceptance is already a big thing but if you’re writing progressive and supportive characters I feel like should have been talked more about this issues and others. Despite the fact that the ending for them is happy as far as it goes, I think that many layers were missing in the exploration not only of these characters, but of the others as well.

As I mentioned, the book's prose is great, although I found the story and character construction to be lacking. It went on forever and there weren't enough good characters to make me want to keep reading.

There’s also a very minor and silly thing that bothered me and that was the fact that the book gives off strong millennial vibes, like the character interactions and stuff. Not really a problem but this is a historical fiction book and it took me out of the story,

Again, maybe not a bad book, it wasn't for me and I didn't really enjoy my time reading it, it was very hard for me to read it because of the negative emotions it caused me.

[Cande]

Here I am again with another disappointing 2022 read. Another case of a pretty cover that delivered nothing.

This book has a pretty solid setup; a historical fantasy novel that features magic and secrets in the roaring twenties. It must have such a cunning protagonist! It must be a thrilling book! Yeah, no.

Bindle Bundle Bruja is an underwhelming and convoluted mess. Dear god, this girl has such a ridiculous list of enemies. Everyone is out to get her! The why I get, she is not only stunning but also amazing at everything. But how they can’t defeat her, considering how she lacks of any sense of self-preservation is the real mystery. She is extremely impulsive. Oh, maybe it’s just a character flaw? No really because she always finds a way to keep going. And not in an admirable way, showing her strength and perseverance in the face of hardships. Mesa doesn’t want her to suffer any serious consequences for her very poor actions, that’s the thing. She is saved every single time by a flimsy twist. It becomes quite clear when the side characters suffer more than her for her decisions.

The amount of violence in this book was a lot (domestic violence, sexual assault, homophobia, xenophobia, racism, white supremacy). I’m not saying is portrayed in a “problematic” way or whatever, just saying that is a book that deals with a lot of the hardships of the 1920s and it wasn’t something that I was expecting. I’m used to historicals (historical romances) where marginalized people get to carve their happiness. And we barely see that here; hardship after hardship. I’m sure there’s something smart to say about this very romanticized period and the way folks, especially marginalized people, experienced the era but was it done successfully? I’m not sure. To me, it felt that Rose’s journey comes at the expense of her own family.

Reading my full review on my blog

[T. Frohock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Desideria Mesa puts the reader in a Kansas City Prohibition scene filled with gangsters, bigotry, and magic to give a thrilling read to historical fantasy fans. Her writing is strong and confident in a story that simply bursts with action fueled by a likable young woman bent on shattering the stereotypes of her time period. No stranger to a fine turn of phrase, Mesa balances raw action with lyrical prose and knows just when to pull her punches. Fans of emotionally strong characters and historical fantasy will find a lot to love in Bindle Punk Bruja. I know I did. Overall, the story goes down like good bootleg hooch: smooth and easy with a real strong kick.

All you need to know is that Mesa rocks this book! It is an excellent, snappy read with memorable characters. I loved it.

[Emily M · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s hard to organize my thoughts, because this book has SO MUCH going on! The idea of a white-passing Latina witch trying to run a 1920s speakeasy without anyone finding out either of her secrets, or having to sleep with the fishes because of pissing off a mob boss, is definitely a great premise. However, there’s a LOT of antagonists plus two different romance sub-plots and various interpersonal drama. Personally, I think streamlining the story could have made it easier to get into and follow, while also reducing some elements that didn’t sit quite right with me. For instance, maybe having a single mobster or the KKK as antagonists, rather than multiple hard-to-distinguish mobsters and the Klan!

The first few chapters suffer from too much showing AND telling. I think this comes from the first-person POV, where Rose/Luna feels a need to describe what’s going on when the dynamic – people are prejudiced against Mexicans and witches, Rose has passing privilege, her brother is salty that he doesn’t – would be obvious just from the action and dialogue. At the same time, some things that could do with a bit of explanation never get it! For instance, WHY does Rose want to run her own nightclub so bad, when it seems like a thoroughly unpleasant experience? My guess is that, because alcohol is illegal, the lack of taxes means she can make money faster than in other career tracks, even with the mob kickbacks. But she never says that, so I’m not sure. Likewise, we get mention of miscegenation laws that mess with interracial couples in various ways, but they’re not fully described…and I feel like most modern readers probably need a refresher on that! Although those laws end up not actually relevant to the story, so I’m not sure why they were mentioned in the first place other than to cement that this is a terrible, highly prejudiced time period!

My interest perked up a bit with the first hints of a gay subplot between Rose’s bisexual brother and her fake fiancée. (What can I say – I’m predictable that way!) I wish we’d gotten more of them being flirty/awkward/protective on-page, because I was much more invested in Javi and Heck than in Rose’s thing with her bootlegger. On the other hand, I also started to get pissed off at how much suffering this book puts them through. These poor guys get hate-crimed THREE TIMES! Not including Heck getting SA-d – or nearly so? – in a closet (irony?). At least he gets some space to be visibly upset by that! Javi actually dies after getting dragged by the neck behind a car until the gravel scrapes his face off, before getting brought back to life by earth magic and Rose is like: it’s weird that I’m the one crying on HIS shoulder. Yes, it is! I know Javi is supposed to be the stoic type, but he deserves to cry over that one, or at least have a stare-at-the-wall-for-a-day kind of trauma reaction. Their eventual happy ending is very sweet, but slightly whiplashy after all that!

I did like the way that Rose grows into her magic over the course of the book, starting off with just “charm” – being able to read people’s thoughts if she touches their skin, or to manipulate them if she kisses them; useful for her work, but limited! – and eventually tapping into healing and curses. However, I wish we’d got more interaction between Rose/Luna, her mother who taught her to hide her Latina roots so that she can climb up the ladder, and her witchy grandmother who knows she can’t use her full power if she’s always running on fear and emotional guardedness. It also could have been cool (as another reviewer pointed out) if we got the perspective of a darker-skinned queer woman through Rose talking more with her employee Penny. In fact, just any level of Rose connecting deeply with another woman rather than mostly dealing with good or terrible men would have made the feminist aspects of this story better! She does support her newspaper co-worker, Margaret, when she gets saddled with a terrible husband. But though she calls Margaret a friend, we don’t see much evidence that Luna confides in her, or that she even likes her that much, tbh – she just doesn’t want to see her get beaten up!

Finally, having AL CAPONE be a savior figure? I’m not sure how I feel about that, but it is an interesting choice, for sure.

[Mar at BOOKIVERSE · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is with great pleasure that I write this letter of recommendation for this book because... I TOTALLY ADORED IT!

If you like accurate historical fictions that are also super fun because of their high entertainment value, topped with the cherry of relevant social commentary on the many prejudices and inequalities of the time period... Then this book is for you with its lively storytelling placing an eccentric bouquet of diverse and mischievous characters in realistic but hilarious situations!

YES, I KNOW. That was quite the description so, yes, this kind of books are not easy to find. That's why, I tell you, THIS BOOK IS A GEM!

Actually, I had only found ONE book like this, THE DIVINERS. One book... until now!

And I don't say this lightly! The Diviners is waaaay up there for me, top-shelf, an all -time favorite that I thought could never be surpassed. If anyone had asked me what could make The Diviners better, I wouldn't have known what to say because I never imagined such thing and YET this book did the unimaginable: this book is MORE!

So, yes, think THE DIVINERS but... even better!

1- Even more diverse characters that are even sassier facing even more prejudice and inequalities, especially an...

2- Even more interesting main character. Things just not happened to Luna (AKA Rose), she drives the plot herself with her courage and determination! She creates...

3- Even more tension and conflict with her daring attitude, refusing to let these gangsters bully her around even though they are the rulers of this...

4- Even more fascinating {under}world plagued with bigotry, cunning and corruption and soooo well developed with all the good, bad and ugly of this time period!

I recommend this as audiobook, which It is out of this world fantastic with all the immigrants' accents, the musical cadences of the sassy flappers, the drawls of the bigoted chauvinist villains... all of it so much fun!

[Ivana - Diary of Difference · Rating 4 out of 5]

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I loved reading Bindle Punk Bruja by Desideria Mesa, especially during the spooky season.

Synopsis:

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.

My Thoughts:

Luna / Rose is a character I loved so much. Even now, a month after reading the book, she still holds a very special place in my heart. It’s quite shocking that if I wasn’t aware this is a historical fantasy, I would have thought it’s a contemporary fiction. That shows the issues we are still having in the world when it comes to prejudice. Sure, it struck me as very off that Luna had to hide her hispanic roots and marry to be able to own a jazz club and succeed in her business life, but it didn’t seem impossible. I’ve heard things and I’ve met people who I know would be capable of this. And despite everything, Luna was able to shine her own light, write her own story, live her own life as she wants, adding her sprinkle of family magic to the world. Speaking of magic, I really enjoyed that fantastical element. It added a lift to the book in its own way.

“The promise of a greater future without the barriers of corruption carried them forward, though the price of assimilation would steal away at my own identity, my heritage just a whisper on the breezes like the old folklore that we tell. My mother’s recipes and my own native language fade every day that I’m Rose, burying Luna in the earth beneath the riverbeds.”

Quite an important section of the book was Luna’s identity. She is hiding, being Rose and trying to fit into a world that can only accept a portion of her. As I kept reading, Luna started peeling her layers and because her unapologetically herself. And honestly, seeing someone be whoever they want to be is always an incredible moment, and the reason I will always treasure my experience with Bindle Punk Bruja.

“Because there will always be those who will never see who we truly are. But if we waste our energies punishing their ignorance, we will drown in our own bitterness.”

[Kristenelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5ish

This is a historical fantasy set in the 1920's and tells the story of a white-passing, half-Mexican woman who wants to own and run her own club. She is driven and independent and also possesses magic that allows her to "charm" and basically mind read. The 1920's aesthetic is very much there with descriptions of fashion, politics, and spoken accents. This book also takes a fiercely feminist lens as the main character fights the patriarchy, is very independent, sexually liberated, and encourages all of her friends to accept and stand up for themselves when they are attacked (literally) for being gay, female, or Mexican.

This is an easy-to-read, rollicking tale with gangsters and one night stands, but it also deals with racial violence, domestic violence, and homophobia. I enjoyed it a lot, but by the end of the book I was a little bored with the story being one precarious situation after another. I wanted a stronger through line that felt less episodic. The journey wasn't as satisfying as I'd hoped.

Sexual violence? Yes. Other content warnings? Racial violence, racism, homophobia, torture, fire, guns, misogyny, domestic violence, some gore.

[Jackie · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a cool premise! What a beautiful cover! What a bunch of one dimensional characters and tropes!

This book read as a preachy YA move without anything to actually bond anyone to the characters. Most of the writing was very modern to the point of forgetting it was supposed to be historical fiction, and then they’d throw in “quirky” phrases and I would think, “oh right, this is supposed to be historical!”

I wish the author would have pulled all the useless nonsense and made the characters feel real. There were touches, like “Rose” having a day job, but other things that were huge holes, like how she started the speakeasy and why.

All in all, it fell so very flat.

Added a star just for the phrase, “The rabbit died.” because that’s hilarious and if I were a person that had a pregnancy announcement, that’s what I’d want it to say. 🤣

[Aly · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I'm not a fan of books set during WWII, I do like the 1920's. The flapper dresses, secret bars during prohibition, and jazz musicians are fun and exciting and I appreciated how the author incorporated slang to pull the reader in. The magic is nicely incorporated into the plot and I liked that while it helped Luna sometimes, she and her friends had to work out problems with regular means too.

The first half was fairly slow and I wasn't quite sure who was who in the large cast of characters. The pacing definitely picked up though and there were threats, plans gone awry, and several dire injuries. I really liked Heck, even though he felt kind of stereotypical. He was sweet and I wanted him to stop running from his true self and be happy. Luna was interesting, sometimes I loved how bold she was and how she chased her dreams, then other times she gave up too easily and needed to have some faith.

While I know Al Capone was big in this time period and Luna was working with several mobsters, I thought his parts were out of place and could have been written differently. I still liked it overall and the audiobook had some fun accents and music that I enjoyed.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to HarperAudio and NetGalley for the copy

[etherealfire · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

With bootlegging gangsters, jazz, flapper dresses, and a bit of bruja magic, "Bindle Punk Bruja" by Desideria Mesa is one entertaining read! I love historical fiction with a touch of magic! Luna/Rose is one of my favorite literary characters of the year; she is smart, ambitious, and tough as nails. The author's quality writing deftly unveils a complex plot that is compulsively readable. Even with the magical elements, the characters were vivid and realistic, and they came alive from the pages. Though set during the Prohibition Era, the characters face timely issues such as racism, sexism, homophobia, and classism. At its heart, this book is about people who are just trying to make in in a world into which they don't quite fit. It's about people striving to be true to themselves in a world that doesn't approve of who they are.

This book starts slow, but it definitely picks up and is worth the slow burn at the beginning. It's a memorable book with characters that will stay with me.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the privilege of reading an advanced digital copy of this magical book in exchange for my honest review.

[Brend · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this one but it just wasn’t for me. It’s well written and the plot is interesting, but the pacing was not my favorite and I didn’t grow attached to the main character enough to want to follow her around. I’d still recommend this, if you’re used to either slower paced books or historical fiction and want to try something with a bit of fantasy incorporated but not too much.

[Lucía · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea

[Ann Dudzinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

I initially requested this ARC because of the title. How can you not love that title? Add in magic and a roaring 20s setting - I’m in!

Here’s the blub: Rose is a white-passing copy editor by day and an up-and-coming speakeasy owner by night. With her family, she’s Luna, a half-Mexican bruja who works her charm magic to get ahead in the world. If only she had her Abuela’s earth magic, she’d really be able to make things happen. But Rose is playing a dangerous game in a man’s world. Everyone - from politicians to mobsters - are ruthless but also a necessary evil for Rose to deal with if she wants to succeed. However, one whiff of her immigrant origins would be enough to bring everything she’s built tumbling down.

But Rose isn’t on her own. She has the help of her brother Javier, her fiance Heck (who is hiding his own secrets), and the loyal employees of her club to help her succeed, even if her magic isn’t up to snuff. If she can learn to trust those who love her, not even the biggest gangster, most crooked politician, or the Klan will be able to keep her down.

There’s a whole lot to unpack in this book. First off, the setting. I loved it! What’s not to love about the flapper-era in Kansas City when it’s really well done? The lingo felt a bit heavy at times, but for most of the book, it was simply immersive. I have to repeat: really, really well done. Then we have the earth magic. That was also done brilliantly. I don’t want to give out any spoilers but the way the magic is woven into the story and follows Luna/Rose’s arc was magical in its own right.

The book tackles several important social issues - both the plight of minorities and of homosexuals during the 1920s. To be honest, I think only one would have sufficed since the novel already offers an immersive historical fiction setting and a magic system. The story started with Luna’s plight of being accepted and hiding her Mexican heritage, then moved on to bringing in LGBTQA characters (quite a few of them) and the tension with the two groups seemed to shift back and forth. I felt like they fought for dominance throughout the book. I’ve seen several reviews that went into this issue at length so I’ll leave this here for now. There are plenty of opinions on Goodreads if anyone wants to peruse them.

Honestly, the main thing that I stumbled over was the writing style. The point of view is in first person and I think the author may have been trying to avoid using “my x” and “my y” a lot, but what I wound up with was inanimate objects becoming the actor in a sentence. For instance, the walls scratched her shirt. Or her hands had a sentience that hands shouldn’t have had. And gerunds. Gerunds galore in this novel.

Structure was another nitpick for me. Whenever a new character entered a scene, the author withheld their identity for several sentences (or paragraphs) for no apparent reason, using a vague description like the reader is supposed to be able to see who walked in without her telling us. I couldn’t figure out why. I mean, just tell me who came in and then describe them. Only one of them led to an “a ha!” moment where I thought the withholding was necessary.

Regardless of how my critique might sound, I really did like this book and I’ve yet to see another review mention the stylistic quirks that I stumbled over, so maybe that was just me. Also, I’m a sucker for well-wrought historical fiction (and magic) so that upped my final rating a bit.

3.5/5 stars ⭐⭐⭐+

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon & Harper Voyager for providing the ARC. I’ve left my review honestly and voluntarily.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book!!! Love, loss, heartbreak, action, MAGIC!!! And Al Capone makes an appearance! What’s not to love??

[Luiza · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5!

roaring 20s, earth witches, mobsters, queer relationships, magic kisses, breaking norms, double identities, guest appearance from al capone, sex positive, more!

[A.K. Mulford · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the combination of brujeria with the flapper era and the struggle of the main character between existing as Luna and Rose! I listened to this on audiobook and the narrator does a gorgeous job of bringing this story to life!

[Virginie Shelton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wish I could give it 3.5. I think I just read it too slowly.

[Asmi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a sister, a daughter, a lover, and a friend. I am who I say I am.

I love a story that starts & ends with the same line. This book, made me fall in love in *unexpected* ways. I never thought I’ll love it as much as I did.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Plot

The blurb promised a sexy, action-packed story & it delivered. Mostly. The entire plot was a series of continuous ups & downs, which I rather enjoyed. I couldn’t stop myself from turning the pages when I picked this up. Honestly, the first few chapters were a bit confusing, given the main character is of a background I’ve least knowledge of. Also, some times the prose came off as more tell, than show.

But that is that, and I loved the compelling story.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Characters

Let’s start with our protagonist Luna, or Rose, the name she goes by in the world. She is a half bruja, charms & allure being her strongest suits. She charms her way in the underbelly of the dangerous world; where she strives to make a cut for herself. Given her powers, she is closed off to commitments. Family & friends matter to her. But she finds no way to show that.

Javier, half brother to Rose. A wonderful man, with equal parts love & fierceness imbued in him. He is headstrong, knows to challenge his sister’s and others’ belief. He is also a lovesick fool. I just loved his relationship.

Heck Kessler, the charming blondie who doesn’t really wish to charm the wrong crowd. He has a kind heart, great confidence & exquisite fashion sense. The one best friend that Luna needed.

Gio Cattaneo, the charming pianist, with a charming heart. I just love him.

Pretty honestly, I loved the diverse cast of characters this book gave us. From the the family members, to the club members & employees, they stole my heart. The villains made me hate them, seethe with rage.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Moments

Here are my favorite moments:

“Because there will always be those who will never see who we truly are. But if we waste our energies punishing their ignorance, we will drown in our own bitterness.”

Love ya Heck for that.

“Oh, kitten.” Letting me down, he presses a kiss into my hair that makes me bawl even harder. “Please don’t cry. I made a fool of myself. It wasn’t your fault. And I love you too.”

“Our friendship means the world to me. I can’t lose it.”

Love this two.

“So they really aren’t from jail.”

“Boss, the closest I came to jail was the lion’s cage.”

“And you just let the circus paint you from head to toe?”

Love this two as well.

As Javier weaves around the tables, sliding his arms under our incapacitated friend, Heck begins to stir. “Mmm, Javi, not tonight. I’m too tired.”

“Mr. Kessler.” My brother clears his throat as he hoists a stupidly grinning Heck into his arms. “I’m taking you to a room to get some rest.”

“Nooo,” Heck whines into his shoulder. “I don’t want you to go.”

“I have to go. Gio will stay with you.”

My brother avoids my curious eyes as Gio and I exchange a look, my brows lifting at the flush climbing up Javier’s cheeks.

And I love this two. How can I not?

[Amanda at Bookish Brews · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 1920's book I feel like I've been waiting for my whole life. I usually find that I get bored with historical fiction but Desi Mesa did such a great job with this.

The representation being treated so normal, but not erasing how dangerous it was to be different at the time, is something I see so rarely in historical fiction. This is a story that involves the mob (something I'm painfully disinterested in most of the time) but it was just the right amount to show their influence at the time without being ABOUT the mob.

Honestly, I loved this way more than anticipated. Thank you so much Desi!

Plus you know I love mixed rep 🤍

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[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Welcome to 1920s Kansas City. There are all the speakeasies and gangsters you'd expect of a Prohibition-era story, but this book is so much more. Our protagonist is Luna at home and Rose to the outside world. She's Mexican, but the white man who fathered her and abandoned her just as easily gave her a gift of dubious quality. Thanks to her mother's hard work and her abuela's money, Rose can pass for white and grab hold of some freedoms that would have been denied her... as long as the lie doesn't come crashing down on her. The secret necessarily alienates her from her family, who live in two boxcars by the river while she luxuriates in a well-appointed apartment. She misses home in all its forms: the space to be fully herself, the ability to claim her family openly, the food and nostalgia of her childhood, and the language her mother insists she not use less it leave her English accented. Rose is also saddened by her weaker hold on the family magic, presumably another "gift" from dear dad, his contributions diluting her power. Despite her lack of healing and cursing ability, the bit of charm and allure she commands comes in handy for running her speakeasy. In a world where women only succeed as a curiosity, her magic protects her from men who would seek too much from her, a common occurrence.

Rose's success is starting to attract attention around town, which is both valuable and dangerous. She receives a business offer from a mobster she can't refuse (no matter how badly she wants to), and ambition tempts her to make the deal, anyway. As she jumps from the frying pan into the fire, Rose plays a tricky game once backed into a corner. She fights for each victory and spins from each setback. Rose makes as many friends as enemies while trying to not only survive but thrive in a world that resists her success. Then the KKK gets involved, taking issue with the many races of people that Rose employs (her own identity hidden) and the so-called loose, amoral behavior fostered at her speakeasy. Content warnings include violent racism and homophobia, so go in anticipating the heavy nature of the challenges Rose and her family and friends face.

For all the pain inflicted on our main cast, it also comes with a healthy helping of joy in the margins. For example, Rose struggles with all the men in her life that want to help, but she knows you can't ever rely on one to be there for you when you need it. You can only count on yourself. But we see her branch out throughout the book, learning to lean on her brother, a new friend, and a love interest in different ways without losing herself. In fact, it only makes her stronger when the foundation of respect stands strong. The women in the story represent a multitude of experiences as heads of household and leaders in their community while also despairing of options, making compromises they wish weren't the best choice available. We get to see the way women thrive even when they're beaten down for ways they don't conform. We have multiple queer characters in the main cast. They struggle with internalized homophobia and attempts of others to mold them into a more socially acceptable role, but the characters fight back and find acceptance and contentment in found family. We also see the nuances of identity as sources of conflict, even with loved ones. Rose butts heads with her older brother Javi over the privileges she has as a light-skinned person who doesn't go through life denigrated as an "immigrant," but he misses the dangers she faces as a woman. While the whole family fought for Luna to have those privileges, Luna both appreciates her freedoms and chafes at the ways she must compartmentalize and even ignore different layers of her life, not able to live fully and authentically.

The story is edgy without being overdone. Gangsters and life-or-death stakes necessitate high tension and drama. It's fast-paced without losing out on the quiet moments between characters that make you fall in love with them. There are strong themes of family loyalty-- both the bio and found varieties. We see Rose realize all the people in her life who serve as family and do her utmost to protect them. In a world where so many people are ostracized just for existing while looking or being a certain way, Rose uses her magic and wiles to carve a space for those who need one. With danger and tough identity work around every corner, the characters understandably are in their feelings. I'll be honest-- I cried at one point. It's a poignant story even with all the action and scheming.

I enjoyed this story immensely. The historical, social, magical, and personal notes all landed for me. I was deeply invested in Rose's journey as a bruja and as a person, excited to see her grow in power and dig deep into her vulnerabilities. Thanks to Harper Voyager for my copy to read and review!

[Sophia Dyer • bookishly.vintage · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Harper Voyager for sending me an advance copy of this book, all opinions are my own.

"Luna Alvarado, you are not half anything. You whole. And everything you put your hands to shall prosper."

This book was....fine. I thought it sounded really interesting - especially set in the 1920s and dealing with speakeasies/bootleggers. The synopsis made this book sound interesting, but ended up feeling a bit disjoined from what actually happened.

So I really liked the premise of the character feeling consistently split between two identities - she's Mexican enough to face prejudice but white enough to be white passing - and she struggles with feeling like two halves throughout the whole book. I was interested in seeing her character development throughout, and think the author did a good job of increasing Rose's power incrementally instead of suddenly or being overpowered from the start. I loved seeing Rose struggle, especially when it meant she would come out better for it in the end, and a large portion of my interest in this book was on her and her related powers.

But....the pacing of this book is slow and it is very detail heavy. I admit there are multiple times throughout this book that I found myself confused or rereading passages because I could not understand what was happening, and there are a lot of characters to keep track of. With this, I felt like I struggled to be fully immersed in the story, and while I thoroughly enjoyed a few scenes and genuinely rooted for the characters, I had a hard time wanting to pick this up and binge it.

I wanted to see more of the magic and more of Rose standing up to the mobsters by using it. Even if I did not fully understand some of the magical aspects of the story, I was interested and wanted to know more! Most of Rose's problems came down to money, which was solved either by another mobster stepping up, or her paying someone off and then having them ask for more. There is some action and violence, but this book feels more like a historical fiction with magical realism than a historical fantasy.

Along with the large cast of characters, there seemed to be a lot of mobs and gangster-adjacent groups too. I really needed a character list for this book, I struggled to keep track of who was on each side! We even see appearances from Al Capone himself and the KKK too....so there are a lot of players in this book.

Overall, not a bad book. I enjoyed the premise of the story even if the pacing was a bit slow, and I was interested in reading about the magic and how it worked. I struggled to get fully immersed in the story, but I still enjoyed it well enough and would recommend reading other reviews or going in blind if you are interested in reading this too. There is a lot of commentary on racial issues and gender roles throughout this book as well, it is not just a fun-loving jazz club featuring mobsters and bootleggers.
Content Warnings: racism, whitewashing, prejudice, sexual content, gentrification, violence, blackmail, miscarriage, domestic abuse, death, murder, torture, gun violence

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Not just my love for Javier, but my love for who I’m supposed to be. Who I am—a bindle punk bruja whose courage never dies.”

Thank you Harper Voyager for an ARC of this book! Bindle Punk Bruja is set in 1920s Kansas City and follows Luna, a half Mexican woman who is a witch and goes by the alias Rose due to the fact that she is white passing. As she discovers new things about her powers, she works to get out from under the control of dangerous mobsters and own her own club in Missouri’s underworld of bootlegging.

I really enjoyed this! It took me a bit to get into it and sometimes the magic or setting could be a bit confusing, but once I hit a certain point in the book I couldn’t put it down. The stakes were always so high and the tension was there. There was always some kind of enemy coming to take Rose down, to the point where it was almost too much at the end. But I loved how the author included commentary on race and sexuality and gender. I loved how the main character was a strong woman who knew what she wanted and got it, but also had a lot to learn about who she was and what it meant to love others. What I loved most about this book was the relationships. I loved Rose’s bond with her brother and how important family is for her. I loved her relationship with Heck and how they cared for each other. I loved the romance between Rose and Gio. The tension was done really well and the the feeling of wanting to but not being able to was depicted well. Overall, I enjoyed this a lot and I loved the characters. I love that Rose was able to expand her family even more.

[Brenda! ☺ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find myself reading more historical fiction set in the 1920’s (The Diviners, The Night Tiger, The Witch Haven) - a period right after WW1 filled with optimism, experimentation, and freedom. Despite the veneer of jubilee, discrimination in its many forms was rampant and deeply felt for many. This new wave of 20’s historical fiction explores life for those beyond the glitter of F. Scott Ftizgerald’s world and Bindle Punk Bruja sets Luna Rose Alvarado to navigate through it.

Luna Rose is a mixed heritage Latina trying to move up the ladder in the underground jazz club/bootlegging industry. A daughter of a Mexican immigrant mother and an estranged white father, Luna Rose is familiar with the prejudices against her. To survive and succeed, Luna Rose believes she must live separate lives: Luna Alvarado - the daughter of an immigrant Mexican and a burgeoning bruja; and Rose Lane - an editor at the local newspaper by day and the manager of the The River Rose jazz club by night. The story follows Rose as she tries to open her own nightclub at the height of the Prohibition era. With the cards stacked against her, Luna Rose learns that to achieve her dreams she must trust in her roots, her family, and her friends.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a free e-copy for my honest review.

First off, what a gorgeous cover! I personally love art deco, and I love how so many of the novel’s themes and motifs are illustrated in the cover alone. The dark colors and the golden moon around Luna Rose evoke the nightlife Luna Rose thrives in. The golden moon could also represent witchcraft and the feminine - Luna Rose’s secret, her burden and her strength. I love that a tree was used as a symbol of her magic! There’s so many ways to interpret it, but without spoilers, I see it as a symbol of her honoring her roots and representing her allyship to her family, friends, and community.

I enjoyed this story very much - it was atmospheric, magical, fun and intense. The first half really sets up the second half- second half just takes off and I couldn't put the story down. Mesa did a great job developing each of her characters. Luna Rose works hard day and night to build her dream, believing her situation is hers to fight alone. As her circle of friends grows, she learns that many of the people she keeps close are outcasts, some leading duplicate lives as she is to survive while others live under the protection of shadows to make it through the next day. There is a lingering menace that weaves itself through the story as the stakes get higher for Luna Rose, taking on so many forms. I appreciated Mesa for not leaning into graphic descriptions for shock value. The acts of violence/hate against some characters were presented respectfully. Knowing that violence was committed and seeing how the characters reckon with those acts was enough to convey the greater story of what minorities and marginalized groups have historically been subjected to. There were some lovely relationships developed among the secondary characters, and I would actually have liked to see more development in the forefront for some of them.

I enjoyed the magic in the story - I actually wanted to see more of it because I did like how it was used. There were plenty of humorous moments to contrast the more menacing portions. My favorite scenarios were the detail the mobsters took to destroy Luna Rose’s business by destroying or stealing her plants.

Mesa’s story telling did evoke strong emotions in me, more of joy than horror. The story belongs to Luna Rose and I felt the frustrations of seeing her complicate things for herself and I also felt her joy and excitement, especially when she sees how her actions have helped her loved ones. The story did convey the importance of allyship, community, honoring identity, kindness, taking care and supporting others- it didn’t become too preachy for me.

Rating 4.5/5 stars - Strong debut novel from Mesa, enjoyable atmospheric story, lively characters. I look forward to seeing what Desideria Mesa creates next.

CW: lynching, implied rape, sexual harassent, discrimination

*******************************
(5/9/22) Longer review to come! Just wrapped up the book and wow. It went full speed ahead in the second half and I couldn't put the book down. Really enjoyed how things came together and appreciated how mesa played with the theme/duality of your weaknesses are your strength, and the overall importance of family and friends.

[inquillery · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️s rounded up to 3

TW racism, homophobia, domestic abuse, SA
This review contains spoilers!

Thank you so much to Harper Collins Canada for sending me an ARC in exchange for review!

Bindle Punk Bruja is a historical fantasy set in the Golden Twenties in Kansas City that follows Luna, a white-passing Mexican American, as she hides her identity and her bruja family in order to rise through the ranks of the underworld with the aim of opening an illegal jazz club. As her own bruja magic awakens, Luna struggles with questions of identity, while taking on racists and mobsters who seek to overthrow her on her quest to the top.

What I liked: such a fun concept! A group of POC and queer underdogs taking on mobsters and the triple K's in prohibition-era Kansas City and becoming a found family while they rule the underworld? Sign me up! Also, the love interest, Gio, was soooo sweet.

What I didn't like: There were a number of things that didn't sit well with me in this book, some just due to personal taste and some that I think hold problematic significance. Firstly, despite the dangerous setting, I never felt like the stakes were very high. There were few times when I felt the MC (or her friends) was genuinely in danger, and when those times came she was in touch with her magic enough to solve the problems easily. This made the pacing very slow to me and I struggled to feel like much was happening in the plot.

Secondly, while there were a number of queer characters, I felt these characters left a lot to be desired. The primary queer character is Luna's faux fiance, Heck. Heck comes from a wealthy family that threatens to cut him off if he doesn't marry (a woman, of course) and Luna needs money and wealthy clients to open her jazz club, so the two strike a bargain. Another fun concept! However, Heck feels like a stereotype to me. He is not a gay man living his best gay life trying to make the most of the oppressive world in which he finds himself; instead the bulk of his story is taken up with his self-hatred. He spends the novel trying to find a cure for his "affliction" and initially approaches Luna and her family with the hope that bruja magic can fix him. We also find out that he agreed to marry Luna with the hope that he would one day desire her for real and becomes angry at her when he discovers that she has allure (basically sex magic--more on that later) but won't use it on him. He has a number of meaningless sexual encounters which occur when he fails to resist his urges, and then he spends the next morning in a state of despair and self-loathing. It is also implied that he has also been the victim of assault in a number of these encounters in the past. There is an abrupt turn toward self-acceptance at the end of the novel when he falls for Luna's brother, Javi. However, we never hear from Heck on this; we simply get dialogue from Luna and Javi telling him there is nothing wrong with him, and Heck (to paraphrase) responds "yay" after 400 pages of feeling broken. (It also bothered me that Luna sort of infantilizes Heck's trauma throughout the novel, thinking repeatedly "poor thing can't just see how things really are'', as though she was just born evolved and accepting even though she is a straight woman in the 1920s. If Heck has that much internalized homophobia, why hasn't Luna been affected by the homophobia that surrounds her in that society?)

Onto Javi: I perceived Javi as the "promiscuous bisexual" stereotype, in that Luna makes reference to his plethora of male and female lovers that she can’t keep track of, but he was not on the page enough for me to say for sure if that is a fair analysis.

The third queer character is Luna's coworker Margaret. Margaret is abused by her husband and does not have a strong sense of self at the start of the novel. She and Luna bond over their work and Luna's insistence that she deserves better. Then Margaret abruptly kisses Luna. (Luna thinks mildly about how she's kissed a number of women but is sure she's straight.) There are no emotional ramifications for this kiss; the two barely discuss it and there are no consequences in their friendship (good or bad). The next time we see Margaret she is flirting with a woman at the club. It all just felt very convenient, as though it was yet another way to show how desirable the MC was, since we don't hear much from Margaret and it has no effect on the story. Margaret leaves her husband off screen by the end of the book.

Finally, I want to talk about Luna's sex magic (for lack of a better word lol) and its dubious implications for consent. Luna has what's called "allure", which basically means that when she kisses someone they can become overcome with desire for her to the point of near insanity. Luna uses this magic to convince men to sleep with her. (As a white person, I'm not the best person to comment on this, but I did wonder why the proximity of this to the Latina seductress stereotype was never unpacked.) Perhaps I did not understand how the magic worked exactly, but from my read I gathered that, once the allure had taken hold, these men had no ability to say no or change their minds. Luna justifies her actions by the fact that she reads their minds first to determine if they want her. However, just because someone has desirous thoughts about a person does not mean they want to act on those thoughts. And just because someone consents to kissing doesn't mean they are consenting to everything or that they have rescinded their ability to change their mind. But in this case, once kissed by Luna, they quite literally have no ability to change their mind and remain obsessed with her for up to a day. I'm genuinely quite surprised this made it through the rounds of editing required to traditionally publish a book and no one questioned the concept. It really bothered me.

Sooo all that to say, very fun idea for a book with elements that did not sit well with me. Perhaps another reader would resonate more.