Review by khanyareads - Vampires of El Norte

khanyareads 's review for:

Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas

3.75

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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: Complicated

Leans heavily into the romance part of ‘horrormance’, a genre I’ve come to love if the spooky and yearning are balanced well. I was more emotionally invested in side characters (Nestor’s best friend, abuela and Luna, the horse) than the mc’s which is not a feeling I like to take away from a romance. The horror (focused on the gore and grotesque monster) wasn’t as appealing for me, just missing the sort of intensity I expected. Vamps aren’t my fave horror device for spooks (they work better for me when exploring desire) so they didn’t land very well for me here. I liked how nuanced they are but wasn’t a fan of walking away with an unclear understanding of how the rules worked for them. I did like seeing the story from both povs, but preferred Nestor’s interiority. I found Nena slightly more annoying to spend time with. The chemistry between the characters was great when they were getting along but the romance fell flat for me. Didn’t help that the tropes in this aren’t my fave either (second chance, miscommunication, forbidden love because of class divide where fmc is rich and sheltered, slow burn, closed door).
Not my fave book but I liked it all the same. Loved the beautiful and vivid descriptions, Cañas’s writing is so evocative! I liked the pairing of a curandera and vaquero (cowboys are having a moment rn!), loved the folk side of this. The ending felt like a setup for Cañas’s upcoming release so that’s giving me something to look forward to.

Content Warnings