Nocturna: A Debut Latinx Fantasy About a Thief and a Prince Who Must Vanquish an Ancient Darkness

I can't recommend this book enough. The magic system is fascinating and so cool. The main characters feel realistic in that they have real flaws and make horrible mistakes just like real teens, but I would die for them. Finn is the coolest female lead--I love her thief, face-changing, stone-shaping self. Seriously one of my favorite characters ever, and I read a lot. Alfie and Luka are both adorable. Love them. There are some really dark things in this book, not gonna lie, but there is also love and hope. I also loved book 2 and can't wait for book 3.

Maya Motayne’s Nocturna is an exciting fantasy debut that embraces its Latinx culture, seamlessly weaving it into a high fantasy setting. When Prince Alfehr “Alfie” Reyes returns home to Castallan, he has one goal in mind: find his older brother who was swallowed by a magical void months earlier. If he doesn’t succeed, he will have to accept his role as the next king, something he is not ready for. Finn Voy is used to being on her own. Her ability to change her appearance has been invaluable, after all, you can’t catch a thief if you don’t know what she really looks like. When Finn is blackmailed into stealing an item from the royal family, it places her in direct opposition with Alfie. Their encounter sets up a series of events in which the prince is forced to make an impossible decision in order to save his cousin, but in the process he unleashes a dark and ancient power. As unlikely allies, Alfie and Finn race to stop the malicious magic from reuniting to its master, an event that will bring back a darkness capable of corrupting the entire world. Nocturna is a Latinx fantasy that doesn’t detach itself from real world history. It addresses colonialism and slavery while also creating its own unique world. Castallan was once enslaved by Englassen colonizers who believed only they deserved to wield magic. They stripped Castallans of their culture, including their language which tied them directly to their magical abilities. Castallans were able to expel the Englassen out of their land and reclaim their language and magic. Nocturna underscores the long-term consequences of colonialism and how a culture is forever altered by it even in ways that at first seem inconsequential. I loved that the magical system in the novel had so many different layers. While people had an affinity for a particular elemental type of magic, their level of skill depended on training and study. Finn and Alfie have also been gifted with propio magic that manifests in different ways but is tied to how a person perceives themselves. I loved both Alfie and Finn as characters and they were both easy to like and root for. Alfie has grown up the second son and never imagined that the kingdom could one day be his. He is haunted by the death of his older brother Dezmin, and isn’t sure if he can live up to the same kind of expectations. Alfie is sensitive, compassionate, and despite how much he beats himself up for any dark thoughts he might have, incredibly good. It’s always so refreshing to read about a soft male character and I especially loved how important his relationship with his brother and cousin, Luka, were to him. The Alfie and Luka dynamic was one of my favorites in the novel and it’s so rare to see such an affectionate relationship between two male relatives in fiction. I loved how brusque Finn could be, her words were often as sharp as her blade. She is also clever and crafty. Much of who Finn is is a result of the traumas in her life. She grew up poor and lost her parents at a young age. Finn was taken in by a man who enjoyed controlling her, who was possessive and abusive. When Finn was finally able to get away, she had already learned keeping people at bay was both easier on them and herself. Like thievery, it’s just another means of survival. Much of her character arc revolves around her reclaiming personal autonomy. Her dynamic with Alfie is a lot of fun to read because they are so different, but also because they make a stellar team. I loved how rewarding their interactions were and how each of them made such an significant impact on the other. Maya Motayne’s Nocturna is a fun fantasy that functions on multiple levels both as a fictional story and narrative on Latinx history. With every page I read, I grew more and more invested in the characters and the bittersweet ending left me begging for more.

Absolutely LOVED this! I’ve been waiting forever for a Latinx fantasy book. The characters were well written. My heart is with Finny Finn all the way. Ignacio was creepy AF and I’m here for it. Hearing Spanish words used as the magic words was just something I found to be so cool. The reasoning the author does it is actually pretty deep. I went to her book signing and was moved by what she said. Cannot wait for the next book!!!!!

So I read this while teetering on the edge of a book slump. Usually a book like this I would consume in half a day but it ended up taking me about three days. I honestly think if not for the approaching book slump then I would have loved this book. I think I will give it another read in a couple months. 😁

“‘Given enough time,’ she said, her eyes on the well behind him instead of his face, ‘you can learn to survive most anything. You learn to breath when your lungs are too scare to move and you learn to calm before your heart bursts. You learn.’ She shrugged. Or you die.’” In Nocturna by Maya Motayne, when the lives of Finn, a thief, and Alfie, the crowned prince of Castallan, collide a series of events unfold that releases a terrible and ancient power into the world. They learn they need to work together to rid the world of what was unleashed. I truly enjoyed this book and feel like it deserves a lot more attention. The story felt unique and easy to fall into. The characters where complex and easy to connect too and love. I looked forward to picking up this book each day and can’t wait for the next installment. I give it 4.5 stars.

This novel surprised me in so many ways. It’s rich with words and descriptions that just grip you. The main MCs Alfie and Finn, you just want to be their friends. Now the magic system and world building in this book, amazinggggggg. Well thought out and thorough. I can’t wait to read the next book in this series.

“Who you are when you’re angry is still you. It doesn’t have to be all of you, but it’s a piece of you all the same. If you deny that, you might as well deny your whole maldito self and be done with it.” Nocturna is an enchanting Latinx inspired fantasy. The world is rich and the author takes her time using her words and language to show your all of the colors of the world and really let you experience it. The main characters were fun and both a treat in their own ways. The magic was familiar yet had its own twist and was interesting to explore its limitations. And this book was just fun, and sometimes scary, and I had a really good time reading it. I especially enjoyed the beginning and found myself highlighting so many beautifully written passages.

My 30 year old daughter and I share a kindle account. I started reading this one and was about 40 % into it when I recommended it her. She had it finished in about 3-4 days. I knocked if out in about 3 weeks which is lightening fast for me. A real page Turner from the start. Great villain! Nice banter between the prince and the thief. No gratuitous sex. I leaned some Spanish words as I looked then up whenever they were new to me. We pre-ordered the next book.

A fantasy novel set in a Latin American inspired world sounded rather cool and promised to be a good read, however, this book proved to be a bit of a disappointment. There are two main characters, prince Alfie and a girl called Finn, slowly falling in love with each other in the course if the novel. Finn is an orphan, who was brought up by and eventually escaped from a guy called Ignacio, who is depicted as a bad person from the beginning and turns out to be even more evil in the course of the novel. Trying to save the life of his cousin Alfie accidentally unleashes a dark power that converts people into a kind of evil zombies - but only people with an evil predisposition. Although everyone in the kingdom of Castallan is supposed to be magically gifted, only the small cast of main characters really do use magic thus overpowering everyone who stands in their way causing considerable collateral damage among anonymous guards, party guests etc., most but not all of whom have been previously turned into zombies by the evil power anyway. Especially guards seem to be poorly trained and easy victims of the main characters’ ruses and aggressions. In between fighting evil Finn and Alfie always find time to muse over their troubled past, so the novel changes between action and drama, but of course, the two main characters are essentially good and always miraculously escape from (almost) certain death at the last moment, their antagonist is essentially evil, most of the minor characters stay rather flat anyway. Even for a fantasy novel there are a lot of implausibilities and inconsistencies. Over more you should not look too close at the details as to how many books or how many guards are involved in a given scene or when or how exactly Ignacio got knowledge of Finn’s darkest secret (did he witness it or did she tell him later?). Spanish words are not only used as spells but interspersed rather randomly into the main characters’ conversations, who show a tendency to designate nearly everything as maldito.

I loved this book, it was beautifully told and engaging. I recommend it for all but especially for lovers of V.E Schwab's A Darker Shade of Magic series. I can't wait to read Maya's next book.

No problems. Would recommend.

Amazing read!

El libro está hermoso y no llego maltratado !!! Estoy feliz !