Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas

63 reviews

samanthaleereads's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Cursing

crystalisreading's review

adventurous emotional hopeful informative

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

This was great.  As good as that GORGEOUS cover.  I'm a baby about horror, but I didn't find it really scary,  just very atmospheric. Excellent audio narration. Creative vampires.  Great treatment of violent colonizers and examination of unfair labor practices,  done so smoothly it was a part of the the story,  not a distraction. Has me thinking about the Mexican-American war now.  A book to enjoy but also digest later. Recommended.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual content

mmccombs's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

4.0

A solid atmospheric read! I loved the setting and the premise, though it ended up being much more of a romance than I anticipated. The romance was still good, but I thought there’d be much more vampires! When the vampires did show up, I thought they were cleverly imagined and integrated into the story, I liked that they were more “creature” than human. Both characters were interesting and I enjoyed the complex social dynamics at play. I will say that I didn’t really enjoy the narration of this one and probably would have been more invested if I had read this physically instead. But all in all I thought this was a perfect fall read with just the right amount of spooky atmosphere and historical romance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: War

v_neptune's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

extremely strong start, but from the middle onward it was narratively kind of weak. still enjoyed it though

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

lefthandlou's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I really liked the setting of this story and the lyricism of much of the writing. Other than that, this is just a (bad) love story packaged as a horror story. The titular vampires actually appear very little, and most of the book is just a lot of internal monologuing by the characters, which got really boring really quickly. I feel like more and more books are falling into the “extensively narrate the character’s thoughts” trap, and I’m cranky about it. I also don’t like being bamboozled: this was marketed as a horror book, but it is not. It is 100% a romance with vampire curtains. Could have been a good book, but alas. If romance masquerading as fantasy is called romantasy, what is this? Hormance? Ugh. I was so excited to read this, too. Will still probably give her other book a try. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Blood, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

kaneebli's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Racism, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse and Sexual content

apple_atcha_reading's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

ttorisaurus's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War

Minor: Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

mzynda's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

5.0

Finished reading: June 28th 2024

“Don't you always. He did. Porque así fue la suerte. Nothing worth wanting came easy; nothing worth wanting was ever given to men of dust and sweat.”

I'm honestly still speechless. It's no secret that I'm usually allergic to vampire stories, but after being blown away by The Hacienda I decided to take a gamble and add Vampires Of El Norte to my TBR anyway. I absolutely loved Isabel Cañas' writing style in her debut, and I had high hopes that this alone would be enough to help me forget about my aversion towards fanged creatures. Not only did this happen, but this might actually be the first time I end up giving a vampire story the full five stars. What an absolutely stunning and simply glorious read! Vampires Of El Norte is part historical fiction, part romance and part supernatural horror, with a war and family drama thrown in to add even more dept. The historical Mexican setting is sublimely done, and it truly transports you to the 1840s and a turbulent time in Mexico. The writing itself is vivid and stunning, and I basically knew this book was going to get the highest rating after just a couple chapters. This also has a lot to do with both main characters Nena and Néstor, who were able to win over my heart almost immediately. Vampires Of El Norte uses a dual POV structure, switching between Nena and Néstor to give us a better idea what happens both when they are apart and together. The supernatural horror element is also extremely well done, and I loved how the curandera healing was incorporated into the plot. I'm honestly a bit lost for words as it is SO hard to write a review that does this story justice... If you enjoy well written historical fiction with a supernatural twist as well as a dose of romance and don't mind things getting dark and twisted, I cannot recommend Vampires Of El Norte enough. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism