A review by cassiecollins
Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

This was a smidge disappointing for me. The romance here, much like in the author's debut, is excellent. Néstor and Nena's relationship as they deal with their grief and rebuild their connection is very well done and emotionally gratifying. However, I was sad to see the titular vampires were a more tertiary focus in light of the romance and the historical narrative. The author mentions in her author's note that she wanted to use them as a metaphor of sorts, which is fine. But, it didn't feel like she really committed to utilizing them in either a literal or metaphorical sense. They were just kind of...there. Same with the American settlers representative of said metaphor. Everything outside of the romance just felt flat and underused. I still think the prose is strong, but I really wanted more out of this than I got.