Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas

47 reviews

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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bg_oseman_fan's review against another edition

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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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directorpurry's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.25

Not as vampire-y as I might have hoped, but interesting! The creatures that Cañas has created are quite fascinating.
I agree with other reviewers - definitely more historical romance with spooky elements than horror, really. Personally, I preferred The Hacienda, but I really think I've found a new auto-read author! 

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booklifeisthelife's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

So while reading this I thought it was an okay read but after I finished and got done with it I realized I didn't enjoy it much and that I had many complaints about the book. To name a few, some plot points were never addressed/resolved, we didn't get much lore/info on the vampires, the back and forth between the Mc and ml was kinda weird and drawn out but then happened too fast, and also there wasn't an actual ending. It was open ended, left to your imagination. So the romance didn't feel natural but I did enjoy learning about this world and the characters. I enjoyed the main character using her wits to fight for her future. 

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tenderbench's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75


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zabsmad's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

3.75


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author2223's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

4.75


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just_one_more_paige's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

 
I went "full-vampire" for the Halloween season reading this year, and this is the first of the books I chose. I don't usually lean horror with my reading, but reviews said it was a lighter horror, and I got the ALC from Libro.fm, so I was able to listen. And really, I have a soft spot for vampires and apparently can't help but read about them, even if there's a chance I terrify myself. Solid self-preservation... 
 
I'm still very behind on reviews, so I'm borrowing most of this summary from Goodreads: As the daughter of a rancher in 1840s Mexico, Nena knows a thing or two about monsters—her home has long been threatened by tensions with Anglo settlers from the north. But something more sinister lurks near the ranch at night, something that drains men of their blood and leaves them for dead. Something that once attacked Nena nine years ago. Believing Nena dead, Néstor has been on the run from his grief ever since, moving from ranch to ranch working as a vaquero. But no amount of drink can dispel the night terrors of sharp teeth; no woman can erase his childhood sweetheart from his mind. When the United States attacks Mexico in 1846, the two are brought abruptly back together on the road to war: Nena as a curandera, a healer striving to prove her worth to her father so that he does not marry her off to a stranger, and Néstor as a member of the auxiliary cavalry of ranchers and vaqueros. But the shock of their reunion—and Nena’s rage at Néstor for seemingly abandoning her long ago—is quickly overshadowed by the appearance of a nightmare made flesh. And unless Nena and Néstor work through their past and face the future together, neither will survive to see the dawn. 
 
I really enjoyed this book. And yes, the vampire aspect was part of it. But there was so much here that I was impressed by. It's a slower read, horror in vibes and the slow build of knowing that something is out there, more than in direct interaction with the "evil." And yet, there were absolutely steadily-paced moments of violence and contact with the myriad types of vampires that appeared within these pages that hit with intensity and a more immediate style of terror. This pacing, the heaviness and creepiness of the entire aura of the storytelling, was matched by the the longing between Néstor and Nena (oooooooh the pining) with spaced out explosively emotional confrontations as they each dealt with, and tried to sort out, their feelings. It was a fantastic literary balance of plot and character development. 
 
Thematically, the classism central to what tore Nena and Néstor apart is strong and deeply explored. And the interweaving of monsters (vampires, the land, class structures, “yanquis” and more) is high quality overlapping metaphors that are examined throughout the entirety of the novel.  
Cañas takes on the age-old question of what makes a monster, its nature/look or its choices/character, and her take on it, while not groundbreaking, is incredibly well-delivered. Similarly not groundbreaking, but well-delivered, was her take on the classic "what makes a home, a person or a place?" question. 
 
Lastly, I was really happy with the ending. It wasn't fully closed, as a book that takes on themes of class and colonialism can never be and remain honest. And the way the vampire aspect was similarly present but less immediate, as threats go, paralleled nicely with that. So, it subverted the “too easy” happily ever after just enough to make it solid, in my opinion. And really, the literary full circle to the drama of the ending was *chef’s kiss* - star crossed lovers are a classic for a reason. 
 
Oh, random, but...the two audiobook narrators, voicing Nena and Néstor, were great! 
 
This was just a really solid, entertaining read. A critique of colonialism and a gorgeous romance and a paranormal thriller all in one quality package…It was maybe a little slower overall than one might prefer, but for me, the thrill came from vibes in this case and it delivered on that, for me. Like I said earlier, “supernatural gothic thriller” is not really a blurb that usually jumps at me, but my difficulty in saying "no" to anything vampire worked in my favor, in this case. 

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spookytaco's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • 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


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