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julesfrigault's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Death, Gore, Blood, and Animal death
carlyoc's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Another fresh take on vampires. Adding to the ranks of recen Mexican vampire stories like Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Certain Dark Things, this book has some notable differences. The vampires are semi-sentient beasts rather than humanistic love interests and the story has a historical setting during the Mexican-American war.
Nena is thr daughter of a ranchero in Northern Mexico. She and her childhood friend Nestor are in love, but he is the son of a vaquero, a ranch worker and of a lower social class. But before that issue can come to a head, they encounter a creature that attacks Nena and leaves Nestor thinking she is dead. In his grief, he runs away to become an independent vaquero. He returns nine years later to help defend the ranch from the invading Yankees and only then discovers that Nena is alive. Together, they learn that the Yankees are using the vampires as weapons and how to defeat them. But will anyone at the ranch listen to them given their forbidden relationship?
Nena is thr daughter of a ranchero in Northern Mexico. She and her childhood friend Nestor are in love, but he is the son of a vaquero, a ranch worker and of a lower social class. But before that issue can come to a head, they encounter a creature that attacks Nena and leaves Nestor thinking she is dead. In his grief, he runs away to become an independent vaquero. He returns nine years later to help defend the ranch from the invading Yankees and only then discovers that Nena is alive. Together, they learn that the Yankees are using the vampires as weapons and how to defeat them. But will anyone at the ranch listen to them given their forbidden relationship?
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Gore, Grief, and War
beccaand's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, Violence, War, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Classism, Abandonment, Animal death, Colonisation, and Sexism
Minor: Sexual content
tea_at_mole_end's review
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Sexism, and Classism
Moderate: War
elskede's review against another edition
adventurous
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, War, Violence, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Alcohol, Vomit, and Gun violence
monicaa_d's review
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I enjoyed this, but it fell in the middle of the road for me. The story moved quickly enough, and had a little bit of mystery and a fairly good allegory for colonialism throughout. I enjoyed the story, but didn't really vibe with the characters. They meet and become best friends between the ages of 9 and 13, ultimately being each other's first love (to the degree that a 13 year old can be in love). Then they're separated for nine years, and the story resumes there. We find out that they haven't forgotten each other, that they still can't think of the other without pain, that every action they've taken in those nine years was shaped by the absence of the other, etc. It's all very sweet and pining and true love, but eventually just felt annoying. Throughout the story they repeat the same pattern of finding and losing one another, and every time they do we get to hear how they can't live without the other, again and again... Maybe I just expected more horror and less pining from a vampire book, but it just didn't do it for me. The story was enjoyable, but I felt like I was just going through the sappy parts to find out what would happen with the rest of the plot, because it's obvious from the start that they're going to get their happy ending. This isn't at the top of my recommendations, but I wouldn't discourage anyone from reading it, especially if they're more interested in romance and not so much in horror.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Blood
Minor: Body horror, Colonisation, Grief, War, and Gore
skitch41's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- 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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore and War
acrosstheskyinstars's review against another edition
tense
slow-paced
- 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
2.5 stars for plot, 3.5 stars for characters, 3 stars average of the two
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Grief, Misogyny, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Abandonment, Classism, Gore, Blood, Animal death, and Violence
ktv's review
adventurous
dark
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
Loved it!!!! Expected nothing less from Isabel Cañas. Really liked getting both Nena and Nestor’s perspectives. So action packed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Death, Gore, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, and Colonisation
Minor: Cursing, Alcohol, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
triple_m's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
This was book so deeply romantic. Definitely more of a romance than a thriller/horror but I still thought the vampire aspect was eerie and there was some gore.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Misogyny, and Colonisation
Moderate: Gore, Blood, and Gun violence