A review by beautyisterror
The Route of Ice and Salt by José Luis Zárate

2.75

 This is a take on Dracula I’d never seen before: it’s a retelling of the Demeter’s journey as told by the captain’s secret log. Not only we see how the terror develops on the ship as Dracula keeps getting rid of the sailors one by one, but we see how he plays on the captain’s mind and feeds on his dreams and desires. The language used was beautiful and incredibly melodic, definitely erotic (even if, as the tale goes on the horror overtakes the captain’s other feelings and emotions) but I’m a bit unsure on what I think of the actual message it brought forward, as it kind of felt a bit as if the book was saying to deny one’s own “forbidden desires” (the forbidden desires here are being gay). I hope I understood it wrong because I was a bit sleepy when I read it and I’m not sure I grasped everything.