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beccaand's review
- 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
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Sexual content
elskede's review
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Alcohol, and War
ali_k0's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
As the Anglo army matches South into Mexico, childhood friends Nestor and Nena are thrown back together after years apart. Nena yearns to prove herself vital to her home and avoid being married off, Nestor yearns to prove himself worth marrying her and to be seen as more than a "lowly" vaquero.
Isabel Cañas mixes horrors of the imagination and the real horrors of history, reinventing vampires and weaving them into the long history of the Rio Grande Valley. Along the way, she pairs it with a love so bright it burns away all darkness.
Keep one hand on your heart and the other in a bag of salt as you journey back in time to 1840's Mexico-America to fight the Vampires of El Norte, but remember, the true monsters aren't always the ones who lurk in the night.
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cursing and Fire/Fire injury
dandydoodle's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Blood, Grief, Colonisation, and War
triple_m's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Both of the main characters are so three-dimensional and I genuinely understand both of their perspectives, decisions, and actions.
My heart really ached for these characters but it made the emotional pay off so worth it.
Graphic: Misogyny, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, and Blood
kate_arts's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Gun violence, Abandonment, and Colonisation
nrogers_1030's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Classism
Moderate: War
danaaliyalevinson's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
And this frustration was compounded by the fact that the book switched POVs between the two main characters who were deliberately not communicating so we were constantly getting inner monologue about said miscommunication from both sides. And for me I also found myself frustrated by the constant switching of POV when it was most often switching between the POV of two characters in a scene together. So it felt a bit unnecessary. There was nothing being revealed plot wise for the most part that the reader needed to see a different POV to understand. It could’ve just been written from an omniscient 3rd person or third person multiple which it basically already is, without distinguishing between POVs.
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
emily_journals's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
That being said, I really loved this book. I got recommended this book, so I already knew that this was more of a romance than a horror and was fully prepared for that, which I think is what most people didn't love about it. This romance is so good. The yearning and the pining is done so perfectly and the introduction really builds a good foundation for this friendship to become more. I also think the horror elements were woven in really well. The horror elements in this book are really used to mirror the colonialism of Mexico and I thought the way the horror was used to amplify and mirror those themes was really expertly done.
I don't think this book will be perfect for everyone, but it was perfect for me and hit the perfect level of every element to make me eat it up. I'm immediately going to go read this author's other works.
Graphic: Sexism, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, War, and Classism
Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, Medical content, and Abandonment
Minor: Sexual content
kaiyakaiyo's review
- 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
5.0
The romance was sweet, if a bit fade to black, but the true shine in this book was Nena (super badass), and the folklore. I am a slut for tales and creatures tied to a specific land or people. This delivered that many times over!
I am also a slut for supernatural creatures as metaphors for how white settlers destroyed and warped the land they stole. this book delivered that quite well. colonialism and environmental devastation are not unrelated; we’re seeing that right now with the species disappearing in hawaii, so I like when authors don’t shy away from it in historical fiction.
all in all a fun and surprisingly quick read! I didn’t mind the POV switches for once, as it made the Feelings more juicy. will def read more by this author if I can!
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Gore, Misogyny, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Death