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.
My thoughts:
Luna is a strong female protagonist. This is very much her story. And while I didn't like all the choices she made, I did like her overall.
I found Luna's magic as well as her grandmother's magic interesting. Her grandmother is capable of bigger acts of magic than Luna at the moment, but she encourages Luna to practice and learn to better use her magic. I liked that family ties were a strong part of the book. And that magic was accepted as a natural part of the world.
I was surprised at Luna owning a club as Rosa. It would be difficult because she was a woman. And then she also employed minorities like her own brother. There were men who wanted to take control of her club and barring success, they wanted to put her out of business. And there were good men as well who helped her to set new goals and meet them. But, it is a dangerous world she lives and works in. I was a little surprised at the appearance of the KKK, but in retrospect, they would have probably thought Luna would be an easy target.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. I gave it 4 stars out of 5. I liked the characters associated with Luna in general. I enjoyed seeing how her choices turned out. And I liked the way she weathered the struggles she faced.
If you like stories with a strong, magical female protagonist and stories that are set in the 1920s, then this would be a good book for you.
I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley. This did not affect my opinion.
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