A review by amy_alwaysreading
The Witches of El Paso by Luis Jaramillo

3.0

Many thanks to my friends at @atriabooks and @simon.audio for the free #gifted copies of this read. 

 

The premise of this book—2 generations of women exploring their family heritage and the veins of magic that pass between them with time travel elements—immediately called to me.  

 

I love an exploration of family heritage, and I love when history and magic are blended because they often accentuate each other. And so, with the abundant potential within this storyline, I found myself deeply disappointed by its lackluster execution.  

 

The narrative unfolds within three timelines (present day, 1943, and 1792).  The time jumps often felt abrupt and convoluted making each transition hard to follow.  This may have been a direct result of the author’s disjointed writing style which oftentimes felt clunky to me.  

 

Nena’s story, particularly in the 1792 timeline, was a highlight of the read.  Her feistiness thread throughout her lifetime, whether as a young woman honing her powers or a mature woman determined to see her daughter again.  I found myself drawn to her story even as other elements within the read didn’t pan out.  

 

There was great potential within the themes—matriarchal heritage, ancestral pride, identity, the way our past shapes us—that ran throughout the read.  And yet, they never felt fully fleshed out.  For me, this was a byproduct of female characters being depicted through the eyes of a male author.  

 

Ultimately, I loved the ideas behind this read but was never able to settle in and enjoy the journey.  

 

🎧If you’re thinking about grabbing this read, definitely go the audiobook route.  Raquel Beattie narrates this one, and her performance added a richness to the culture with proper accent and pronunciation. Truly, her narration was the highlight of the read for me.  I might have considered DNFing this book if not for her performance.