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shubka's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Blood, War, and Violence
ali_k0's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- 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
The Vampires of El Norte is a Romantic Historical Thriller perfect for anyone looking to get into Romance, History, or Thrillers.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, War, and Colonisation
Moderate: Child death, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence
Minor: Cursing and Fire/Fire injury
agirlsnightbookbash's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
It's marketed as horror. This is not horror
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, War, and Colonisation
boomwormbrittany's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Vampires of El Norte follows Nena who is the daughter of a wealthy rancher in Mexico in the 1840's. When a mysterious illness starts to leave the men of the ranch sick, she races to try to find out what is causing the illnesses. But when war breaks out and an old friend, Néstor, returns to the ranch, they both find themselves tangled in a mystery bigger than them.
I really wanted to love this book because the premise really interested me but this didn't quite live up to what I was expecting. This book is labelled as a horror but felt more like a romance book with a touch of horror in it. If you were to take the horror out, it would be more of a romance which is not what I was expecting.
I thought the author did an amazing job with the romance and developing this friendship again after an event happens in the beginning of this book. I thought the strength was really in the characters and the way this book transported you to 1840's' Mexico. I really felt like I was there when I was reading this.
However, I just didn't feel the horror elements held up. The descriptions of the monsters in this was interesting to read about but it didn't really give horror to me. I think the strength in this is the historical elements and the romance elements which is what I wished was focused on this book more than trying to make the horror elements work.
Overall, if you want to try this book please do. I think that there will be those who like this but thsi wasn't my favorite.
I really wanted to love this book because the premise really interested me but this didn't quite live up to what I was expecting. This book is labelled as a horror but felt more like a romance book with a touch of horror in it. If you were to take the horror out, it would be more of a romance which is not what I was expecting.
I thought the author did an amazing job with the romance and developing this friendship again after an event happens in the beginning of this book. I thought the strength was really in the characters and the way this book transported you to 1840's' Mexico. I really felt like I was there when I was reading this.
However, I just didn't feel the horror elements held up. The descriptions of the monsters in this was interesting to read about but it didn't really give horror to me. I think the strength in this is the historical elements and the romance elements which is what I wished was focused on this book more than trying to make the horror elements work.
Overall, if you want to try this book please do. I think that there will be those who like this but thsi wasn't my favorite.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Murder, and War
caidyn's review against another edition
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? Yes
4.25
Damn, this was so good. I think I liked it even better than The Hacienda! I can't wait to see what this author publishes next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Death, Murder, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
yarisbooksandbevs's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
I loved this book. It was well-written and kept me interested the whole way through.
I loved both Nena and Nestor’s characterizations. I fell in love with both of them and was rooting for them. Her writing is so visceral it makes your heart skip a beat or ache for these characters.Nestor’s love for Nena is heartbreakingly beautiful and I wanted to cry for him when the patron banished him and Nena said nothing . I really appreciated that there’s very little miscommunication. The characters pretty quickly tell each other their sides of the story and even if they are angry, they communicate. Beto was also a very loveable character. I thought the depictions of the vampires were creative and very well-written. The way she writes about the colonization and draws the parallels to real life is so well done.
There are quite a few Spanish words throughout the book but it’s not hard to look up any unknown words. I will also note that I think the book is romance first with the vampire plot being a sub-plot but still very significant. Overall I really enjoyed this read.
I loved both Nena and Nestor’s characterizations. I fell in love with both of them and was rooting for them. Her writing is so visceral it makes your heart skip a beat or ache for these characters.
There are quite a few Spanish words throughout the book but it’s not hard to look up any unknown words. I will also note that I think the book is romance first with the vampire plot being a sub-plot but still very significant. Overall I really enjoyed this read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Colonisation, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Classism, Death, and War
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Grief, Blood, Gore, and Murder
Minor: Child death
yourbookishbff's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking, Violence, Colonisation, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and War
Moderate: Blood
imstephtacular's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Sexism, Medical content, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Xenophobia, Murder, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Racism, Misogyny, Body horror, and Death
Minor: Animal death, Sexual content, and Fire/Fire injury
maeverose's review against another edition
I wanted to love this 😭
This book is mismarketed. The Hacienda had this problem to an extent, but I feel like that one wasn’t as far off. This is historical romance, with monsters and war blurred out in the background. Within the 42% that I read, it was 90% Néstor and Nena thinking about each other. I was most interested in this for the vampires and history, but at least in the part I read those weren’t the focus. I went into the Hacienda for the Rebecca retelling and horror elements and ended up actually liking the romance the most, unfortunately that wasn’t the case with this one.
My main issues:
1. Unnecessary relationship angst. The reason for their drama (this is in the synopsis) is because of a huge misunderstanding where Néstor thought Nena was dead and he was to blame, so he ran away only to come back nine years later and find that she’s been alive the whole time. She’s mad at him for leaving, he’s feeling guilty about his mistake. The problem I have with it is 1. We find out that Nena’s brother is able to contact Néstor, which begs the question as to why nobody told him in the nine years he was gone that Nena was alive. And 2. the fact that when he finds out she’s alive, instead of immediately talking to her and explaining everything, they avoid each other and sit in their angst. For c h a p t e r s. I dnfed before they finally resolve things so idk when that even happens.
2. It’s overwritten. The Hacienda was also a bit overwritten at times, but for the most part it didn’t bother me. Maybe it’s because this one is focusing on a romance that I dislike, but it felt painfully drawn out from the beginning. It frequently cuts to unnecessary flashbacks in the middle of scenes (about every chapter has at least one flashback, one even had a flashback within a flashback). And is so focused on the characters’ thoughts and emotions rather than what’s happening in the scene, despite the fact that I would’ve expected this to be a more plot focused book.
Some other things that bothered me:
Nena at the beginning is bitten by a vampire, but lost her memory of the incident. Later, when Néstor finally explains that he thought she was dead, he says she was attacked in the same way that another character was just attacked. Despite the fact that she 1. Has a scar that matches the wound on this other character, 2. Lost her memory of the incident and is aware that thats a symptom of these attacks, 3. Was told she had susto (the name of the reaction from these attacks) by her Abuela who healed her in the same way that Nena now heals other people who were attacked in the same way, she doesn’t believe him. It’s literally just drama for the sake of drama at the expense of making her look stupid.
Certain words are repeated excessively. Part of it may just be that I don’t speak Spanish so I notice the words more than I might if they were in English, but I feel like I would still be noticing them even if they were the English equivalent. Those words mainly being rancho and ranchero. I feel like they’re said multiple times in every chapter, often multiple times on one page.
If you want a slow paced, angsty, gothic historical romance then I’d genuinely recommend this, if you want a book about vampires and a historical war, skip it.
This book is mismarketed. The Hacienda had this problem to an extent, but I feel like that one wasn’t as far off. This is historical romance, with monsters and war blurred out in the background. Within the 42% that I read, it was 90% Néstor and Nena thinking about each other. I was most interested in this for the vampires and history, but at least in the part I read those weren’t the focus. I went into the Hacienda for the Rebecca retelling and horror elements and ended up actually liking the romance the most, unfortunately that wasn’t the case with this one.
My main issues:
1. Unnecessary relationship angst. The reason for their drama (this is in the synopsis) is because of a huge misunderstanding where Néstor thought Nena was dead and he was to blame, so he ran away only to come back nine years later and find that she’s been alive the whole time. She’s mad at him for leaving, he’s feeling guilty about his mistake. The problem I have with it is 1. We find out that Nena’s brother is able to contact Néstor, which begs the question as to why nobody told him in the nine years he was gone that Nena was alive. And 2. the fact that when he finds out she’s alive, instead of immediately talking to her and explaining everything, they avoid each other and sit in their angst. For c h a p t e r s. I dnfed before they finally resolve things so idk when that even happens.
2. It’s overwritten. The Hacienda was also a bit overwritten at times, but for the most part it didn’t bother me. Maybe it’s because this one is focusing on a romance that I dislike, but it felt painfully drawn out from the beginning. It frequently cuts to unnecessary flashbacks in the middle of scenes (about every chapter has at least one flashback, one even had a flashback within a flashback). And is so focused on the characters’ thoughts and emotions rather than what’s happening in the scene, despite the fact that I would’ve expected this to be a more plot focused book.
Some other things that bothered me:
Certain words are repeated excessively. Part of it may just be that I don’t speak Spanish so I notice the words more than I might if they were in English, but I feel like I would still be noticing them even if they were the English equivalent. Those words mainly being rancho and ranchero. I feel like they’re said multiple times in every chapter, often multiple times on one page.
If you want a slow paced, angsty, gothic historical romance then I’d genuinely recommend this, if you want a book about vampires and a historical war, skip it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Animal death
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Vomit, Blood, Racism, Gun violence, and Misogyny
Minor: Alcoholism, Medical content, Alcohol, Grief, Child abuse, Sexual content, Body shaming, and Drug use
Somewhat detailed descriptions of animal (cattle) carcasses. They’re not exactly gory but they could definitely be disturbing for some people. Being as I didn’t finish the book, I can’t say if there’s anything worse than that.dybbuk's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Gore, Colonisation, Murder, Sexism, and Emotional abuse
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