Vampires of El Norte

Gothic historical romantic fantasy taking place in 19th Mexico where estranged childhood friends, Nena and Nestor, find each other again while their country is attacked by Americans, pushed back by Anglo settlers and where people are getting mauled by horrific night creatures. 
What a great sophomore novel by Isabel Cañas!  Like her previous book, the author did a great job recreating the historical setting with a lush and vivid prose that gave the setting a gothic and creepy atmosphere. I loved the supernatural elements, the parallels between the vampiric creatures and the invading Anglo-Americans.  I really liked the main characters and their friendship and love story was deliciously angsty. The side characters weren't particularly compelling, except Beto, and I would have liked to see more of them and also the vampires.  The plot was engaging and a page turner though pacing wise I felt the final denouement was a bit too abrupt, as well as the resolution between Nestor and Nena. 
I will definitely be looking forward to read Isabel Cañas's next novel with her talent for writing historical gothic fiction. 

This was a stunning and well crafted story. I loved the descriptive prose and use of analogies. They brought the setting to life making it feel so rich and palpable.

While this isn't a romance book Isabel does a lovely job of creating romantic tension. The longing and angst between Nena and Nestor is all consuming. I found their love story compelling and their chemistry electric.

Then there's the monsters in this story. The creatures that stalk the night and once attacked Nena and the Anglo settlers that preyed upon the ranchos in a desperate attempt to claim their land as their own.

Both are scary albeit for different reasons however the threat to their livelihood remains the same. Isabel wove these elements together seamlessly. Every element fit and served the purpose of expanding the underlying themes of this novel.

I really enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to reading more of her work in the future!!

4.5 ⭐️

For my full review check out my blog post: https://www.kathleenhaagenson.com/vampires-of-el-norte-by-isabel-canas/

Because without work and a distant goal, he did not know what else he was living for.

A smattering of beautiful prose and an incredibly unique take on the vampire myths, in the frame of a forbidden romance wrought with miscommunication. 

Unfortunately I don't think I was the target audience for this book. While some of the writing was genuinely poignant, the plot lagged behind, weighed down by chapters of misunderstanding, added to by one of the more frustrating MFCs I've read in a while. Her inability to see through any eyes but her own was infuriating and I slogged through the first 200 pages waiting for the horror I went into this expecting. 

This journey felt as if they were crawling through a nightmare together, a dream that tricked the helpless dreamer into thinking it had ended, only to twist in a new direction and gallop away.

we get our happy ending

He loved looking at her. He wanted her to be the last thing he ever saw, the first thing he ever saw, his heavens and his earth.

Instead of real growth, we get a flash in the pan event where Nena finally stands up to her parents, but we don't get the satisfaction of seeing her actually address their poor communication. I still don't know if Nestor was telling the truth or not about his sordid past that they'd quarreled over, since it is never again addressed. This is just one example of places where the story just trails without satisfying resolution,at least for me. And for goodness sake,the miscommunication!! The parents WERE RIGHT THERE to act as the space between Nena and Nestor, but nah let's just have Nena misunderstand or actively refuse logic again. Girl,you got some problems but you're 95% of them.

Concept is great - vampires vs cowboys! But there's not much time spent on either. Not enough horror to be horror, not enough romance to be a good romance. We're told again and again how much the leads love each other but never shown any actual chemistry. More time spent on the issues keeping them apart than making me care if they get together. 99% of all the tension in the “romance” would be resolved if they just talked for 5 seconds. I did really like all the implications that the white invading North American army were the true vampires.

3.5 !

Good book. Kinda slow, but I liked the setting, themes, romance, and for me it had a great spin vampire lore compared to what I'm used to.

3.5 stars

Great spooky read for October. Like a richly detailed historical romance with the suspense of a horror movie.

Beyond words. This was just so good from start to finish and I was blown away by the sheer brilliance of every aspect of this novel.

I do not even like horror stories. I tend to shun them as I am easily frightened. But this had me turning page after page in sheer awe.

The beauty of the writing made this a story about vampires that I WILL recommend to friends and family alike. The love story intertwined alternatingly had me yelling at the characters and crying when things went awry.

Desperately awaiting a third book from Isabel Cañas. Any wait is much too long...

Thanks to the publisher and Libro.fm for the alc!

I liked it. I wanted horror, romance, and history from this book. I got a little of all of them and not enough of any of them? I think it's a very solid choice for people dabbling in those genres, but maybe not for heavy readers of any of them. I found some parts to be a bit repetitive and slightly over-written. That being said, I really liked the two main characters. I was rooting for them! I also love when audio productions use two narrators for the two POVs, it's more engaging that way.