Season of the Bruja has a very pretty artstyle but the plot left me a bit confused,
I was drawn to th book fitst because of the cover, which is breathtaking, but the premise also intrigued me.
And at first it was a great read. The artwork was pretty (even though it didn't quite live up to the cover) and the characters interesting. The world with all it's fnative lore was also quite intriguing. Unfortunately as the story progressed it became harder and harder to follow until I couldn't really understand what was going on anymore. I felt that there were just some jumps that weren't to well executed.
Still, the characters were nice aynd the artwork pretty so I still give it three stars.

Season of the Bruja tells the story of Althalia and the powers she inherited as a Bruja. She is no stranger to the magic and traditions of her heritage, which will not prevent her from discovering a more dangerous side to herself as the story goes on.

This graphic novel is pleasant to read (the illustrations are superb!) and the characters are rather endearing. I particularly liked Althalia's grandmother and her (Althalia's) reaction to the mourning which was rather well brought and built.

On the negative side, I think the main problem is the lack of depth (more interactions between Athalia and the other protagonists to get a better idea of their relationships and characters) and a story that moves too fast even though this is often what most graphic novels lack. I also would have liked more context on the deities presented for example (even if only a name). The antagonists were also portrayed in a too caricatured way, with sometimes artificial dialogues.

Overall a very good read!

In "Season of the Bruja", by scriptwriter Aaron Durán and artist Sara Soler, we follow young Althalia in her discovery of the powers she has inherited as the next bruja. As an employee in a supernatural museum, with a Chupacabra boss and a were-coyote coworker, Althalia is no stranger to the magic and traditions of her Indigenous heritage. Still, when an encounter with an odd priest results in Althalia losing the person who was the most precious to her, she'll find out just how much she didn't know about her bruja side... In the most dangerous way.

This graphic novel was a delight. I've been struggling to decide whether it was a 3-star or a 4-star read for me, but in the end, I've decided to give it the high rating it deserves.

"Season of the Bruja" is lush with elements and small details from Indigenous South-American cultures (I'd dare say that it's the Mexica civilization we see here, to be precise? From the mention of Mictlán), and it's immediately obvious that it's been conceived partly as a social denounce of colonialism, but also partly as an ode of remembrance and love for said cultures. From the inclusion of small sentences in Latin-American Spanish, to the flowers that crown Althalia's head (I believe they are marigolds), one can see how loving and devoted the representation of pre-colombine cultures is, and how much effort went into honouring them in this graphic novel. There isn't any cultural infodump at any moment, although I would've loved to hear a quick, small explanation—or even just an introduction by name, so that the reader can look them up on the Internet—about the two deities we meet when Althalia gets sucked into her grief.

Althalia was quite a realistic main character. As a teenage girl, she's impulsive, which mixes with her rage and intergenerational trauma. In this sense, even if her short fuse sometimes made me want to scream (then again, so does the short fuse all IRL teens have, so: not an issue), I really appreciated the social denounce component. Even though she doesn't know Spanish, or any indigenous language, Althalia still feels grief and rage about colonisation, and the loss of her people's ways of life and freedom at the hands of Spanish conquistadores. In that sense, I do have to say that sometimes I felt like the comic was a little too black-and-white—the bad guys were over-the-top evil, and their speeches were slightly artificial. This didn't stop me from enjoying the comic, although sometimes it did make me feel a little thrown-off. I also felt like Dana and Chuey were a little underused, since they had so much potential! I would love to see them get a bit more of protagonism in future installments of this comic, if there's ever a continuation.

Ever since I read "Us", I've been a huge fan of Sara Soler's art, and it was absolutely beautiful here. The colouring was stunning, and the lineart was really dynamic and powerful. I feel like her art was exactly what this story needed, and contributed to the story and world of SotB as much as the script did. On the other hand, the script itself had quite a quick pace, which was great in terms of packing a whole story with a beginning, two or three climaxes, and an ending, in just under 140 pages; but, sometimes, felt rushed. I'm a sucker for slower paces, mind you, so this is a purely subjective opinion.

All in all, this was an excellent read!

The story is 3 Stars and I added another one for the artwork.

The artwork is absolutely beautiful and the whole graphic novel is really colourful and magical. This is a story about a girl with magical abilities and she learns from her Abuela. There's a lot of mythological stuff included and also a lot of Spanish words and phrases and I really liked that aspect of it. I like supernatural and paranormal stories so this was a great read. If there's a Vol. 2 I will definitely continue. The only thing I wish there was more was background story on her Abuela and the magic but maybe we'll get more of that in future volumes.

3.5 stars

Art work is stunning i just wish the story had more depth because although it's interesting, it's also very surface level.
I wanted to know more about abuela and the relationship with our heroine to feel the lost more palpable but it didn't happened. Still the GN is entertaining and fun to read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

The reading slump recently is real y'all. I can't seem to pick up a book to save my life. So I've just been trying to cleanse my palette with some graphic novels and manga. So, thank you #netgalley & #onipress for a copy of this graphic novel.

The art in this was gorgeous, and so colorful. However, I feel like it suffers from what most graphic novels suffer from. The story jumped a lot and it was sometimes hard to figure out where I was or how I got there. I could have just been me though. I have been under the weather this last week. I also, always love a granddaughter and grandmother relationship.

Thank you NetGalley and Oni Press for a copy of the graphic novel.

Season of the Bruja is an amazing graphic novel. The art work is really good.
It’s full of magic and action. At first, we are into the story without an introduction, but luckily it becomes clearer forward.

The protagonist, Althalia, is a Buja apprentice and she is learning magic from her grandmother.
I loved the mix with different cultures: the use of Spanish and incorporation of Hispanic culture and Aztec mythology.

I absolutely recommend it

This is such a beautiful story with incredible artwork, it made me tear up with both joy and sadness. Can't wait for volume two!

Steeped in folklore from the past, the story is remarkable. The characters are well defined and absolutely love the illustrations.

Can't wait for the second installation, because there HAS to be one!

Thank you #NetGalley and Oni Press for giving me the opportunity to read this!

I quite enjoyed reading Season of the Bruja, definitely a read perfect for this time of year, with its strong ambience, magic, spooky settings and gorgeously atmospheric art style.

Where it loses me a bit is that the plot feels a bit messy, we're thrown straight into action and the rest of the story moves rather quick, switching between POVs and with few clear introductions of characters and settings. I appreciate the lack of needless exposition that often clog up the start of stories but feel that this went too far the other way; even a section of quick character profiles at the end of the volume as some graphic novels do would have helped.

Overall I loved the art style, and definitely find the story arc and it's anti-colonialism and preservation of culture themes really interesting, and will likely continue to see where the story goes. But would give fair warning to anyone that doesn't enjoy confusing or difficult to follow stories that this mightn't be the read for them, but could very well be worth persevering if only to admire the stunning artwork.

This was a short graphic novel in which Althalia, a young bruja [the last of her kind] who works in a paranormal museum alongside her unique friends and whose paranormal abilities grow. She meets a mysterious priest and her world is turned upside down.

I enjoyed going into this book with very little knowledge beforehand - the art is very nice and colourful and I found myself staring at the drawings at times forgetting to read on. The paranormal creatures were quite unique in terms of design! The storyline is also interesting - Lia is incredibly powerful and in the early stages of her development, with a lot of room for growth into her role.

<i>I received a complimentary copy of this graphic novel from Oni Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, which I leave voluntarily.</i>

The artwork is stunning. I especially love the color scheme used in the graphic novel. You are directly thrown into the story at the beginning, which I liked. The lore and worldbuilding are interesting from the very start. I especially liked the cultural background of the protagonist. The sketches and the recipe at the end of the graphic novel are a gorgeous bonus. Even if the story itself was very emotional in parts, I missed some background on the characters and their relationships to commiserate. I am looking forward to the upcoming volumes.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel for the central character of Athalia and the evocative illustrations that brought it to life so vividly. Athalia is one of the best LatinX characters I have ever seen, with not only her supernatural powers providing dimension but the strength of her personality really took this to the next level for me. The fascinating delve into a culture I don’t know much about with the beliefs and Spanish woven seamlessly throughout was insightful but not preachy. Athalia as the central character gave the impression of a teen-appropriate Constantine, with her power being unstable and almost apocalyptic to keep it feeling high stakes. The most endearing element was her relationship with her grandmother and this is used effectively in the narrative so I was rooting for Athalia to succeed and was really emotionally invested in their story. A wonderful read, especially for the run up to Halloween.

"Season of the Bruja Vol. 1" by: Aaron Duran is a visually stunning and incredibly engaging graphic novel. It tells the story of Althalia and her journey to embrace her powers and find a way to save her Abuela. The story in itself was empowering and I felt immediately drawn to Althalia as the main character. The supporting characters were amazing as well and lent themselves to help fill out the entire story.

I found myself missing my own Abuela while reading through this graphic novel and it really pulled at the heartstrings at times. This was the perfect October read as well as there is plenty of magic and mystery to carry you along through it.

The art in this graphic novel is absolutely stunning! The colors are vibrant and every detail so well placed that it does everything to help enhance and complement the story. I am eagerly anticipating Volume 2!

A magical and whimsical graphic novel, filled to the brim with trails, tribulations, and some chaos all wrapped into a adventure/mystery story.

Was a great little read

this book was just perfect for reading during the spooky season, with the witchcraft, the ambiance, and magic. The writing was similar to that of Rick Riordan which I loved. I loved the representation with all of the different cultures and traditions. The colors and art style were simply stunning and vibrant. this was such a cute and perfect middle-grade graphic novel.

I'm relatively new to reading graphic novels but I have to admit, reading witchy graphic novels in autumn is just on another level. This book was extremely cute and cozy, whilst also dealing with grief. I also must add that the illustrations were stunning, the colour palette was just so refreshing and felt really witchy. Would love to read the hopefully upcoming volumes!

It's a great story. I loved all the references to Mexican culture (the alebrijes were so cute!). The story itself it's really interesting, dealing with grief and coming into power, the temptations of it and growing up while figuring it out. Great friendships and those little gestures of caring were amazing. The ilustrations were beautiful, and I enjoyed the colorfulness of them. I can see how the Church being the antagonist can be a little problematic for certain people, but also makes a lot of sense to me.
I'll be definitely reading the next books!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book.

I had no prior knowledge of this book or comic series before seeing the cover and then reading the description (give me a Bruja and a Chupacabra any day). So this was completely requested on a whim and I have zero regrets.

It’s a quick read with beautiful illustrations that fit the writing. The cover variants in the back of the book were stellar and I love the notes written by the author and illustrator.

I loved that it accurately shows the immediate aftermath of losing someone unexpectedly. There’s a lot of bargaining going on until you realize that you can’t do that and nothing will bring them back.

After this, I’m very interested in what comes next.

Ahhh I loved this so much! The art style is so vibrant and really fits with the magic of the book. Colour is used so well to create setting and mood, something I love about fantasy graphic novels. The story was also well paced, and I felt like I followed it pretty well for a first book. The reason I couldn't give it five stars is because it seemed as though some of the world building was missing. It was almost as though I was missing a first chapter. I didn't completely understand the magic system, and why some of the characters were non-human. It was easy to put aside and read the story regardless, but it did mean I didn't get the full enjoyment I was hoping for.