Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas

49 reviews

jillaay_h's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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crystalisreading's review

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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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condls27's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? No

5.0

This was such a beautifully atmospheric and angsty story. I loved the parallels between the vampires and the white colonizers and the mix of historical fiction and folklore. 
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patriciamadariaga's review

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medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No

2.5

This turned out to be a romance novel with vampires in it, which is fine. Its fatal flaw is that the author is a chronic overexplainer. There is no emotion, situation or motivation that is not explicitly described. Suggesting, evoking or hinting are out of the question. Add the fact that the characters are rather stereotypical and that the love story follows a familiar course (
rich girl, poor boy, misunderstanding, big fights, happy reunion
), and it should be a wash.

...Buuuut the setting is great: It takes place in North Mexico in the mid 1800s, during the American invasion, and does a pretty good job at it. More historical  fiction from that period, please! I also love that
it presents susto, a folk illness still common all throughout Latin America, as being caused by vampire attacks.
Finally, it is less clumsy than other recent novels in its inclusion of Spanish terms, even though some of it seems gratuitous.
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mmccombs's review against another edition

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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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max_pink's review

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4.0


Genres: Historical Romance, Horror (Vampires) 
 
Tropes: Class Difference, Second Chance, Forced Proximity 
 
This book started out slow but ramped up to a quite satisfying back half. I appreciated how unsettling the vampires were, and how high the romantic stakes felt, as well. 
 
As I reached the end of this, I realized that this is basically what Pride and Prejudice and Zombies should have been. It’s not impossible to combine these genres and have something successful. 
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megasis487's review

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

A spontaneous read on my part that I thoroughly enjoyed. The characters are what made the book shine as well as miss Cañas writing ability of detailed metaphor that really brought her world to life. There were parts that had me a restless nervous wreck, that tore my heart in two, and also made me swoon. What a wonderfully crafted story. 
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jpfortmiller's review

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adventurous 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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velvetcelestial's review

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-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? No

5.0

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kirstenw13's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

An absolute 5 star read for me. Both story and language were beautifully written. The characters were lovable, their conflicts felt real and raw. The mystical element of vampires set against the love story set against the mexican american war. Wow. 10/10 would read again. I want to have it on my bookshelf. 
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