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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
A migrant worker gets murdered and shows everyone who's boss. #onesentencesummary
Loved it. The women in this story are just so badass.
Loved it. The women in this story are just so badass.
dark
emotional
2.5 stars rounded up.
Bit bummed about this one. The premise was strong: a woman visits the grounds of a tragedy some sixty years in the past meets an urban legend: La Reina de Las Chicharras. Unfortunately, the execution of the story as a whole left me wanting more. I was pretty invested in the first half or so of this novella, but then it kind of goes off the rails. I thought the writing could have used some fine tuning, as well, because the way some sentences and ideas were phrased were a bit confusing.
If this had ended at about the 75-90 page range, it would have been a solid urban legend type of story.
I also wouldn't recommend the audiobook of this one; I started reading in that format and the narrator was so monotonous I had to switch to the ebook.
TW: racism, violence against women, gore.
Bit bummed about this one. The premise was strong: a woman visits the grounds of a tragedy some sixty years in the past meets an urban legend: La Reina de Las Chicharras. Unfortunately, the execution of the story as a whole left me wanting more. I was pretty invested in the first half or so of this novella, but then it kind of goes off the rails.
Spoiler
There's a lot of sexual content that I just didn't find appealing. It felt really out of place.If this had ended at about the 75-90 page range, it would have been a solid urban legend type of story.
I also wouldn't recommend the audiobook of this one; I started reading in that format and the narrator was so monotonous I had to switch to the ebook.
TW: racism, violence against women, gore.
The newsletter that I learned about this book from called it a "colonialism revenge" story and I knew I needed to read it. This is the horror story I was looking for during spooky season, though it's much more than an urban legend/ghost story. It's a fairly quick read so it doesn't delve too much into the mythology of Mictecacihuatl and Ix Chel, but just enough that you understand their connection to Belinda.
At first, I found Belinda kind of meh as a main character, but I warmed up to her as the novel went on. I would have loved to have a bit more about Hector though.
One of my complaints is that it was difficult to tell how much time had passed, especially once Belinda and Hector start to get the business back on its feet. The shift from "I'm here for a wedding" to "this is my new home" felt a bit abrupt. But I otherwise enjoyed V. Castro's writing, even if I had a "what the heck did I just read" moment at one point. I was familiar with Ix Chel/Ixchel (I visited the ruins of her temple in Isla Mujeres a few years ago) but not Mictecacihuatl, so of course that sent me down a rabbit hole! I always appreciate when a book makes me want to do my own research, so I give Ms. Castro props for that. I will be checking out more of her work!
At first, I found Belinda kind of meh as a main character, but I warmed up to her as the novel went on. I would have loved to have a bit more about Hector though.
One of my complaints is that it was difficult to tell how much time had passed, especially once Belinda and Hector start to get the business back on its feet. The shift from "I'm here for a wedding" to "this is my new home" felt a bit abrupt. But I otherwise enjoyed V. Castro's writing, even if I had a "what the heck did I just read" moment at one point. I was familiar with Ix Chel/Ixchel (I visited the ruins of her temple in Isla Mujeres a few years ago) but not Mictecacihuatl, so of course that sent me down a rabbit hole! I always appreciate when a book makes me want to do my own research, so I give Ms. Castro props for that. I will be checking out more of her work!
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
I really like the concept, the story, the writing, the lore, but I read this as an audiobook and it wasn’t the best experience for me as an audiobook. Not much distinction for characters or when we shift timelines. I do want to have a way better experience so I am going to read this physically, and thus, hopefully enjoying myself more since I liked everything else.
This story is about a woman named Belinda who attends her best friend's farmhouse wedding. Come to find out, the farmhouse is where the urban legend of La Reina de Las Chicharras originated. Belinda and her best friend remember hearing the folklore when they were children. Similar to bloody Mary, you chant La Reina's name three times in a mirror to make her appear.
As the story progresses, we learn more about Belinda, the history of the farmhouse, and the Mexican immigrant worker who was murdered there in the 1950s. This book started out great. It was chilling, graphic, descriptive, and seemed like it'd make for a great move adaptation. However, I felt like when the climax hit, it just when downhill.
Belinda was a pretty flat protagonist in my opinion. I don't think she added much to the story at all. Some events just seemed too far fetched, like how Belinda just up and decided to go to Mexico with a man she barely knew. Also, the timeline hopping was confusing in some chapters. There were also some weirdly erotic parts that I was not expecting. Threesome with a demon/goddess? Well, the book starts strong, but goes off the rails in the send half.
As the story progresses, we learn more about Belinda, the history of the farmhouse, and the Mexican immigrant worker who was murdered there in the 1950s. This book started out great. It was chilling, graphic, descriptive, and seemed like it'd make for a great move adaptation. However, I felt like when the climax hit, it just when downhill.
Belinda was a pretty flat protagonist in my opinion. I don't think she added much to the story at all. Some events just seemed too far fetched, like how Belinda just up and decided to go to Mexico with a man she barely knew. Also, the timeline hopping was confusing in some chapters. There were also some weirdly erotic parts that I was not expecting. Threesome with a demon/goddess? Well, the book starts strong, but goes off the rails in the send half.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I got this book from my library as part of my Library Tinder package. It's definitely not a book I would have picked out for myself, but I'm glad I read it. The book is decent, although the plot was thin at points, and the pacing could be better because there were times when I breezed through pages and other times where it was very long and drawn out. There were also more bugs than I would have chosen, but I forgot to put that on my list of things I don't like. This book also centers around folklore that I'm not familiar with, so that was very interesting. All in all, it was a good book, and I would read more by this author.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
3.5 stars from me. I absolutely loved Goddess of Filth, and this one had a lot of really great things in it and some excellent myth-building. Gorgeous writing. But the pacing was weird, and it really dragged in spots even while the prose was lovely. Maybe if it had been a novella it would have tightened it up a bit. I am very looking forward to reading her short stories as well.