Monday, December 19, 2022

Breakup from Hell by Ann Dávila Cardinal

Welcome Back, Booklovers! Breakup from Hell intrigued me because it's a Latinx fantasy with a different premise. I received an arc from HarperCollins for review.

Mica lives in cold and snowy small town Vermont and she's desperate to move to sunny California for college. She's tired of her very religious grandmother's strict rules and she thinks she can be so much more outside of their town. One day during church she meets a mysterious newcomer and she quickly finds herself drawn to him. Mica soon discovers her new boyfriend is actually one of Satan's sons.

This book definitely felt very teen friendly which I appreciated because some YA books seem to be targeting a more adult audience. This was funny and poked fun at classic teen fantasy tropes. Mica also is a very sarcastic character and keeps that throughout even in scary situations.

I also liked the way it wove Christianity and the book of Revelation into the magic system. And Mica being Puerto Rican, religion is very tied into the culture. People may have mixed feelings about the portrayal of religion in this story but I thought it was very relatable from the teen perspective. It doesn't condemn or critique Catholicism. Mica felt like a girl I went to Catholic school with. Her grandmother reminded of some of the women I came across in church growing up.

I will say the pacing in this story is a little uneven. It starts out very fast-paced which I didn't mind because she doesn't waste time laying down the foundation for the story. Mica meets Sam and they quickly form a relationship which we find out he used his powers to draw her in so it makes sense why she fell so fast. Once we start getting things revealed the pacing slows down a lot. 

Overall it's a good lighter teen fantasy especially for those who don't read a lot of fantasy and things are left open for a series.


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Lover of food and lore. I'm always looking to get lost in my next adventure between the pages. https://ko-fi.com/mswocreader