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monicaa_d's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Enjoyability ⭐⭐⭐
Impact ⭐
Graphic: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body horror, Gore, Grief, Colonisation, and War
rachelunabridged'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
4.25
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Colonisation, War, and Classism
Moderate: Misogyny and Grief
Minor: Animal death and Sexual content
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
agirlsnightbookbash's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Colonisation, and War
acrosstheskyinstars's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I really liked the premise of the book, but the plot was a lot different than the story I wanted. The Mexican-American war truly is only a backdrop. It barely matters to the plot in my opinion, which I found a bit disappointing. I liked the two main characters, but the Nena’s parents in particular were hard to understand frequently. Despite the wartime setting, the pacing also felt slow to me. Pick this one up if you really only want a light dose of the historical setting and don’t mind a slow-paced read.
Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
ashley_mrose530's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I really enjoyed the main characters and especially Nena. She was so quick, smart, and knew exactly what she wanted and how to work the system to get it. I liked that her only flaw was getting the courage to stand up to her parents. It's very realistic especially for the time period she was living in. And Nestor was so sweet and obviously loved her very much from the beginning.
I think the only real issue I had with this book is I thought it would be more high energy and fast-paced than it was. It definitely starts off kind of slow and even the first vampire attack when they were kids was followed up by slower plot points. But it did pick up when they finally went to war a little over half way through. I just wanted expecting a slower start I think, but it was needed to set up the romance plot line.
All in all a really great book and I'm glad I picked it up.
Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
ktv'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Colonisation
Minor: Cursing, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
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
salemander's review
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail