Reviews with content warning for Colonisation - Vampires of El Norte

Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas

61 reviews

bcollent's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Absolutely loved this book. I usually don't like the miscommunication trope, but this was so well done. I loved the dual pov and the romance. The way the author describes the scenery makes me yearn for a place I can never visit.

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emily_journals's review

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adventurous emotional 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

5.0

Full disclosure on this book, the horror elements are not the main aspect of this story. Although this book is categorized as a horror novel, I would categorize it more as a historical romance with horror elements woven in.

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.

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h4ppycupcake's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

An adventurous romance with lots of tension and thrills. I didn’t find the characters’ journey in overcoming their personal conflict very believable; I wasn’t convinced that their childhood feelings would translate to adulthood after such a long time. In a lot of ways this felt like fan fiction of characters that exist already and unfortunately I as the reader don’t have access to their extensive character history.

About the ending:

She saves the vampires??????? What the hell is that about??????????? Come on, no way, that’s the dumbest way to end this

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janeadventures's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative 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

5.0

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kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

first read of the year! I marked this as started in Dec just to immediately put it down in favor of some Palestine readings so this truly does count!

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!

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kattyenn's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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annslittlelibrary's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Overall I enjoyed Vampires of El Norte, although it took me awhile to get into and was a little slower paced. More than anything this is a romance, and the historical and horror elements are primarily a backdrop to the love story. (I do not like horror, so for me that was a win.) Isabel Cañas has a gorgeous, lyrical writing style that brings the setting of 1840s Mexico to life. Would definitely round up a star for her writing style alone, but I could've done with a faster paced plot. (Also miscommunication is unfortunately my least favorite trope...but that's a me problem!)

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bg_oseman_fan's review

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

The premise of this book really hooked me, and the setting was really engaging. however the romance angle and horror angle felt like reading two separate books rather than one whole book. it felt like one had nothing to do with the other. i also found myself distracted at time by the author rehashing the same scenes fro different pov without reply adding anything. the power of this story was diluted by extraneous elements and lack of cohesiveness.

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saltycaramel's review against another edition

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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? No

4.5

This book sucked me in and I honestly forgot about the world while I was in it. This gave me the BEST dark-romantic-gothic vibes, and I just loved the overall story. I liked the pacing and the way the story was flushed out overall more than The Hacienda, so if you weren’t the biggest fan of that I’d definitely say give this one a go.

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aryelee's review against another edition

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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? Yes

5.0

If I could rate this higher than 5 stars, I would. From the first two chapters, I knew this was going to be one of the best books I've ever read, and boy did it deliver! Nena and Néstor felt so real. Their voices carried through so well, and all the emotions they felt hit me in the chest. The way their characters developed, how they've changed since they were children, what nine years apart did to them and what finding each other was like.... everything just had a GRIP on me. I will be thinking about this book forever. What an incredible novel.

The portrayal of vampires is also so interesting. I don't think I've read another book featuring vampires that uses them in this way. Paired with the background of the Mexican-American war... absolutely stunning. Easily one of my favorite historical fiction novels ever. Please read this book.

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