Magic isn’t what she wanted. It’s what she is
A haunting, heartfelt coming-of-age novel wrapped in Dominican magical realism and psychological horror.
The Ordinary Bruja
New Adult | Magical Realism | Psychological Horror | Coming-of-Age
The Ordinary Bruja earned a Readers’ Favorite Badge!
Marisol Espinal has always wanted to disappear into the lives of others—girls who seem brighter, braver, more beautiful. But when strange visions and whispers begin to follow her through Willowshade, she uncovers a family legacy bound by secrets, shadows, and a grandfather’s curse that refuses to die. As Salvador’s grip tightens, Marisol must choose between surrendering to the self-doubt that has haunted her or stepping fully into the magic she never asked for but can no longer escape.
Perfect for fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic and Zoraida Córdova’s The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina.
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People Are Starting to Chismosear About The Ordinary Bruja… Read What They Are Saying:
“Ortega amplifies terror with every subtle detail — an impressive amount of work went into The Ordinary Bruja.”
Essien Asian
“A powerful story of love, hope, and remembering who you are.”
Danelle Petersen
“I was so deeply connected to Marisol in many ways: being scared to show my own culture, to actually know my own history. This book felt like a mirror— tender, haunting, and healing all at once.”
Ege M.
About The Book
The Ordinary Bruja is a haunting and heartfelt coming-of-age novel wrapped in Dominican magical realism and psychological horror.
Marisol Espinal doesn’t believe she’s special. Not when she’s back in her small Ohio hometown, working as a barista, haunted by grief and the girls who once made her life hell. But when mirrors flicker with strange words, cigar smoke curls where no one is smoking, and voices whisper from Hallowthorn Hill, she realizes something darker has always been watching.
Generations ago, the Espinal family’s magic was buried—forced into silence by Salvador, the ancestor who bound their power for himself. Now his ghost feeds on fear and doubt, and Marisol is his next target. To survive, she must reclaim her heritage, unearth the truth hidden in her mother’s journal, and face the hill that has been waiting for her all along.
Atmospheric and emotionally charged, The Ordinary Bruja blends generational trauma, identity reclamation, and queer love with a creeping sense of dread. Perfect for fans of The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina and Mexican Gothic, this novel asks: what does it cost to embrace every part of yourself—even the parts the world taught you to bury?
Bonus Content
Marisol Espinal
The descendant of women who silenced their power to survive. But silence has a cost.
- Grapples with family guilt
- Awakens magic through doubt
- Protected by one ancestor… hunted by another
Ordinary girls don’t break curses…but she just might.
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About the Author
Connect With Me
Joa
Johanny Ortega, writing as J.E. Ortega, tells stories where ancestral magic, buried memories, and emotional truth collide. Born in the Dominican Republic and raised between cultures, she writes for anyone who’s ever felt torn between worlds, silenced by generational expectations, or haunted by what wasn’t said. Her fiction carries the ache of reckoning and the power of reclamation—especially for women finding their voice in the shadow of legacy.
Can’t Wait To Get Your Hands On It?
The Ordinary Bruja: Book One of Las Cerradoras Series – Johanny Ortega
Price range: $4.99 through $23.99
Marisol Espinal has spent her life trying to disappear from her family’s whispers of magic, from the shame of not belonging, from the truth she refuses to face. She’s always wanted to be someone else: confident, capable, extraordinary.
But when strange visions, flickering shadows, and warnings written in her mother’s hand begin to stalk her, Marisol is forced to confront her deepest fear: what if she isn’t extraordinary at all? What if she’s painfully ordinary?
Yet Hallowthorn Hill doesn’t call to just anyone. And the more Marisol resists, the stronger its pull becomes. The past she’s buried claws its way back, and something in the mist is watching—waiting for her to remember.
If Marisol cannot face the truth about who she is and where she comes from, the same darkness that destroyed her ancestors will claim her, too.
Somewhere in the shadows, something knows her name.
And it’s time for Marisol to learn why.
