Breakaway Books

Authored by Luis Jaramillo; Published October 2024; Fantasy

⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️🏖️

I’m pretty sure The Witches of El Paso is the first fantasy novel that I read with a coven full of nuns. Nuns are not, I would say, the most natural friends of witches.

The novel follows Marta and her great-aunt Nena on their respective journeys to discover the magic inside them, jumping from twentieth century Texas to eighteenth century Mexico. The way that the author depicted magic was unique—no specific rules to be followed, but instead an acknowledgment that this magic cannot be controlled. La vista, as it is called, is feared and thirsted after in equal measure, depending on the nun.

But, the lore around the magic was almost certainly the most interesting element of the book. The coven, rather than exhibiting the strong female friendships that I love to read about, was easily fractured and reminded me of high school social politics. The romance that Nena engaged in made little sense to me, as her lover seemed so unattractive, and even Marta’s husband came off as cruel. Of course, in a book about witches, I wouldn’t expect romance to take center stage, but as it was, it felt like an unpleasant side plot.

Mostly, though, what frustrated me was how little I understood of Marta, Nena, and their family. I felt like I couldn’t understand their internal motivations, and their decisions made little sense to me. I didn’t learn all that much about their character, and it seems that what personality they had before was easily swept away by the influence of the magic. All of this made it difficult for me to care about them, and without caring about the witches that practice the magic, the magic itself does seem a little lackluster.

Overall, The Witches of El Paso felt a little incomplete. Interesting magic and a fascinating setting, but not enough to the characters to keep my attention.