Tag: Paranormal

I had never heard of La Llorna until I got married. My husband who is Hispanic of course knew all about La Llorna and I absolutely fell in love with the Mexican ghost story. If you aren’t Hispanic you will likely be unfamiliar with the legend but you might be more familiar with the song La Llorna from the movie Coco! I am a big fan of horror and ghost stories and the folklore story really intrigued me so when this book came up for review, I had little hesitation before I screamed YES.

The horror or paranormal genre might not be for everyone and that’s ok. I know that I love a good ghost story and for me personally, I would rather read it in the fall when it’s the ‘spooky’ time of year, but I am usually up for a good ghost story any time truth be told! I read The Hacienda last year and absolutely loved it, after reading that book, the legend go La Llorna was the first thing on my mind. La Llorna isn’t a well known tale but it sure is creepy and I thought it would make for a great mainstream-ish story if executed properly.

Author V Castro has written other horror stories seeped in Mexican history and culture. If there was anyone who could make this story come alive, it’s Castro. I haven’t read any other books by her but I have seen Queen of the Cicadas around the blog-o-sphere and know that she has an established fan base. Needless to say I was thrilled to be asked to review this one and check out Castro’s storytelling style for myself!

When this book came out, it promoted me to go back and read Ninth House so I could be ready to read this one. I had this whole drama around why I didn’t read Ninth House until now and you can read all about it in my review of Ninth House here. Bottom line, I suspected that I wouldn’t be able to read this latest Leigh Bardugo book before reading the first book in the series and that is absolutely correct. Do not read this book without first reading Ninth House. This book is basically an extension of the first book and it will leave readers disorientated within this book if you read it out of order.

I burned through Ninth House and was eager to start this one immediately following since Ninth House ended on such a cliff hanger. So I cleared my reading schedule and hunkered in with this book, while I didn’t read it as fast as I anticipated, I still read it fairly quickly and found a lot of the things that I loved about Ninth House, still held true in this book. This book also ended on a cliff hanger and I hope we get the next Alex Stern’s book soon! It sounds like this book series is going to be a trilogy but I really hope it’s more than that. I think there is a rich world to mine here and I would be sad if it ended after only three books when there is so much more to unpack and learn about.

If you are thinking about diving into this world of strange dark academia but aren’t sure yet—-I would say go for it. While I had some issues with Alex as a main character in the first book, overall the rich world and strong storytelling made up for the fact that Alex was at times an unlikeable character—while at other times you could cheer for her. Bardugo is an incredibly talented writer so in that you can’t go wrong. I would recommend Ninth House and then immediately follow up with this latest novel to get the full experience!

When I first started reviewing books, I really shied away from the horror genre. I always thought to horror as ‘slicer dicer’ or ‘zombie’ books and it just wasn’t my thing. But I quickly came to discover that the horror genre has really grown in popularity and variety over the years and I have branded out into more and more horror as time has gone one. I especially love ghost stories so naturally the title of this book grabbed my interest. Plus I have read Grady Hendrix in the past and know that his books always seem to stick a good balance between horror and something for the more mainstream readers who maybe want to try something in the horror genre.

The horror genre isn’t for everyone. It’s truly a niche genre and either it’s your thing or it isn’t. For me, I acquired a love for the horror genre though with that said, I don’t love all the traditional horror authors. For example, I have tried to love Stephen King, but I simply do not. I personally prefer my horror novels to have some cross over in other sub genres—for example, Simone St James is a favorite of mine. She writes paranormal horror but also factors in things like a murder mystery.

I am always on the lookout for horror authors who make the genre more accessible for new readers or fans. For me Stephen King is just not my thing and his books are often lengthy and daunting. His books were my only exposure to the horror genre for a long time and I honestly never wanted to read horror books because I feared they were all like that. But after finding some other horror authors that blended other genres really made me love the genre as a whole. That’s why I was so excited for this book!