Gr 9 Up-In the wake of her younger sister Alex coming into her powers as an Encantrix, everything Lula thought she knew about herself and magic seems less certain. Lula Mortiz has always been the healer, the beautiful one. That was before Alex's spell to dismiss her Encantrix powers went awry in Labyrinth Lost , sending Lula and all of her family to the underworld of Los Lagos. When Lula is involved in a fatal bus crash, she's determined to bring back her boyfriend. Maks has been the one stable thing in her life, but every bruja knows it's impossible to beat Death. This sequel picks up shortly after the events of the previous installment, but from Lula's first-person perspective. Córdova blows the world of the "Brooklyn Brujas" series wide open as readers learn more about the Mortiz family and the Deos and also meet the Knights of Lavant and the leaders of the Thorne Hill Alliance who manage all magical beings within the city. Zombies and hunts for answers bring Lula and her circle across Brooklyn in this plot-driven novel. Lula's introspective narration shifts neatly to high action as the zombie outbreak heats up and Lula works to restore the balance between life and death. A cliff-hanger of an epilogue and question surrounding youngest sister Rose and sometimes-ally Nova will leave fans eager for the next volume. VERDICT A fast-paced story sure to appeal to fans of the original and urban fantasy. Emma Carbone, Brooklyn Public Library

This companion to the well-received Labyrinth Lost (2016), the first book in the Brooklyn Brujas series, focuses on second sister Lula, whose healing powers are tested to the extreme. After a horrific school-bus accident, Lula, who barely survived, decides she must save her boyfriend, Maks, even though he's technically dead. With the help of her witch sisters, Lula casts spells that work do they? Maks returns, but he is casimuerto, an "almost dead." In the process, Lula has also disturbed the balance of worlds by dislocating Lady de la Muerte. Lula knows it's her responsibility to find the Lady's spear and make things right. That's no easy task, as all manner of undead now roam Brooklyn, and the mysterious Knights of the Lavant, sometimes allies and sometimes foes, want control. The book is at its best examining the relationship between Lula and her sisters as brujas, but also as teens, who have the same yearnings and petty arguments as any girls. For readers coming for the ghouls, there are plenty of those, too.