Just when I thought I'd read every kind of vampire story there was Castle of the Cursed comes along and blows my mind.

A haunting story of loss, redemption and even love set in a gothic castle that set my imagination free to make it everything I ever dreamed of.

Estela goes through so much in this story, with her parents, her aunt, the people around her, and then that twist, ohh I felt for Estela, she had every reason to look at the world the way she does.

Thank you to St. Martiin's Press and NetGalley for providing a copy of this e-book, I have volutarily read it and all thouhts and opinions are my own.

Unfortunately, after reading the Author’s Note at the beginning of this book and seeking out trigger/content warnings, I decided this book would not be for me based on its content.

The premise of this book sounded so intriguing and I wish it had been a good fit for me as a reader. Regardless, I appreciate St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books for sending me an eARC!

I will not be rating or reviewing any St. Martin's Press titles until they address the racist comments one of their employees made in October. See @readersforaccountability I read this in July 2024 while boycotting SMP. I did not enjoy this book. It wasn't really young adult but was still written as if it was young adult. The plot was very thin and kind of cheesy. I didn't write a review after I read it but I remember not liking it and rated it 2 stars.

I thought the synopsis of this book sounded intriguing, but unfortunately the story fell apart about halfway through.

The book starts with a huge tragedy and our FMC Estela spends a lot of time dealing with that trauma and her recovery. Then she goes to live with an aunt in Spain she doesn't know in an old familial castle she knew nothing about.

The author spent a lot of time on mundane things about Estela's day to day life to the point I was pulled out of the story multiple times. I was so sick of all the detailed food descriptions & how much/how little she eats. Like, it's so prevalent it's distracting and adds nothing to the story, it just feels like it's just giving the author the opportunity to describe Spanish cuisine.

The flavor of the story abrubtly changed from a paranormal gothic feel to include an unexpected sci-fi element that comes out of nowhere. Then we see that part of the story in passive third person flashbacks, as if Estela is watching a movie, so not engaging at all.

The characters are 1-dimensional and don't show any growth. I felt like they were just confused and reacting to events vs thinking things through and then taking action. I felt nothing when tragedy would strike because there was no depth in the relationships.

The author stoops to using villain sililoquies to explain the magic system, the worlds and historical events, without which Estela would never figure anything out in spite of her self proclaiming to have detective instincts.

And the insta-love makes no sense, since neither of the characters explains what they even like about each other. One minute they don't know anything about each other then all of a sudden they're "making out" and declaring their love. I mean the guy's kisses were described as tasting like a weird mix of blackberries, chocolate and mint icecream (yuck) but he's a vampire, so how??? And the "romance" in the last 10% of this book was unbearably cringeworthy and felt so forced.

Speaking of the end, it was trying to be twisty, but ended up feeling rushed and confusing. Unfortunately this book was not for me.

While this book has mixed reviews, I personally love Romina Garber and will devour anything she publishes, this book included. I love how spine-tingling it is, the paranormal and romance elements, and the gothic elements. I enjoyed the overall story and the characters. I truly enjoyed this book and love Romina Garber.

The setting, a spooky and seemingly cursed castle, adds an exciting layer of tension throughout the story. Loved the mystery elements. The characters, particularly the protagonist, are well-developed and relatable, and you can’t help but root for them as they face unimaginable challenges.

Garber’s writing is immersive, with vivid descriptions that paint a clear picture of the haunting world. I loved the details painting the world.

Thank you for providing a copy for me to read and review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was very creepy at times. I really enjoyed the mysteries this story was built around and how Estela has to unravel these mysteries to figure out what happened to her parents and why. I loved the supernatural elements in the book and how intricate they were.

Castle of the Cursed is perfect for fans of Twilight and Crave looking for a fresh and unique spin on YA supernatural romance with a gothic horror romance twist. Sullen, haunted girls, angsty, cursed boys, and moody atmospheric settings make this a swoon-worthy and satisfying treat. There was mystery, suspense and a compelling premise along with all the lovable tropes that come with dark YA Fantasy. I really enjoyed it!


Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books, Netgalley , and the author for a complimentary copy of this ebook. I am leaving a voluntary review. All thoughts and ideas expressed are my own.

A very interesting read. Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this book. It wasn't really for me, but I am sure that it will be loed by the right audience.

This was a unique read. It started out engaging and fast-paced, but as it got further into the story, all kind of outrageous things started happening, causing me to kind of lose interest in both the characters and the story. I struggled to finish the book, but others may enjoy it more.

Hhmmm….the first half of this book was actually decent. The paranormal mystery intrigued me and I kept wanting to read. HOWEVER. Once I hit the second half, there were a LOT of weird random twists that didn’t make sense, lots of reveals that didn’t quite add up.

Romance was interesting, but not overly compelling.

I felt like the plot had way too much going on.

I ended up skimming to the end bc I wanted to know what happened, but this isn’t a book I’d read again.

Romina Garber’s The House Is Always Hungry sets out to deliver a dark and atmospheric gothic romance but ultimately stumbles under the weight of its ambitions. While the premise is promising—a grieving young woman unraveling family secrets in a haunted Spanish castle—the execution leaves much to be desired, resulting in a story that feels uneven and unsatisfying.

The biggest issue lies in the pacing. The novel starts off with a strong hook—Estela’s parents’ tragic deaths and her subsequent move to la Sombra—but quickly becomes bogged down by excessive exposition and meandering plotlines. The central mystery, though intriguing, unfolds too slowly, with long stretches where little happens to advance the story. Instead of building tension, these lulls make the narrative drag, diluting the suspense and horror the book is aiming for.

I loved the gothic elements in this book and how plot develops! I did struggle a lot throughout the book to connect with and in turn with the story as much as I would have liked. Overall an enjoyable creepy story that I recommend trying out!

I received a free copy of this novel on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

If you liked Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic (and/or Twilight), you will love this paranormal, Young Adult, gothic telenovela - and I mean telenovela.

Romina Garber’s novel address a lot of serious topics such as grief, survivor’s guilt, suicide, death of a parent and mental health issues. Though the messaging is deep, the story is surprisingly camp and not to be taken too seriously. Just go along for the ride.

At every turn, we learn something new about Estela, her family, or la Sombre. This could become overwhelming to some readers. However, if you view each chapter as an episode of a telenovela, it’s a lot easier to jump from a spooky and mysterious town, to enemies to lovers, to a long lost uncle just showing up doing magic.

Estela is also completely infuriating. She doesn’t listen to any of the rules and then wonders why bad things happen. Ugh. Teenagers.

Overall, Garber excels at blending genres, though purists of gothic romance or supernatural mysteries might not fully embrace the mash-up. Still, the fusion works if you like over-the-top drama and campy fun (Death Becomes Her/Beetlejuice/Heathers). The romance, while charming, veers slightly into “insta-love” territory, but it’s tempered by the mystery and the stakes surrounding Sebastián’s curse.

This book had a lot of potential and I am certain it will find it's people but it did not hit the mark for me. Certain parts are over done which leads to a feeling of campy vampire telenova. Certain characters personalities completely implode for the sake of pushing the plot forward and the plot twist/cliff hanger at the end of the book doesn't make sense and not in a "I just didn't see if coming" way but that it was thrown in there for shock factor and only shock factor. Would love to see what is next for this author as I think they will be able to iron the wrinkles I found in this book.

Overall, I didn't find it "gothic horror" like it was marketed - it definitely fit the gothic part, but not the horror part. And despite being a "gothic romance" I don't think we needed the romance - I think it would have worked without the two vague scenes and the wishywashy shadow love interest.

I read fiction for a reason, but I would like my fiction to make sense. I understand plot wise WHY the author did what she did; just because it makes sense plot wise doesn't mean it's always the best idea.

The book hooked me at first, and I was super involved with wanting to know more; as the story hit about 50% of the way through, I think there was too much of... everything and it diluted the story. I think the author put a little *too* much supernatural aspects in this book. If it was straight family legacy, haunted/cursed castle and magic, I believe the story would have flown better, but once you threw in additional supernatural beings that really don't make sense in the setting, I lost me.

I personally didn't care for the twist at the end, or the ending per say; just wasn't my cup of tea. Despite it's flaws it was an easy read and I did really like the fact we did learn Spanish with the character!

Castle Of The Cursed
Romina Garber
4.5⭐️

Pub Date: 7/30/2024

Woosh! That was a freaking good read!
That prologue was already OMG-worthy. It nabbed my attention right away! 25 people just froze and dropped dead in the subway with only 1 survivor? Black smoke all around without fire? What was happening?! When Estela (FMC) moved to Spain and had to live in a family castle rumored to be cursed, she started experiencing more bizarre events. There were so many things and events that I didn't expect about the castle, the history of the family, the characters and the town itself. I had a lot of mixed feelings for certain people. It was so twisted but in a really good way. There were so many things happening because of the dimensions and the other mysteries, but they were easy to follow and I didn't really feel like I got lost in any way. This feels like a YA book. It has romance but minimal spice. It didn't take away from the plot though. The only thing I noted was that there were so many Spanish sentences and words (which is understandable as this was set in Spain). Yes they're mostly translated but there were times when I thought some weren't. It may be a little challenging for people without Spanish language background. I had to Google a few.
Overall, this was well written and I definitely enjoyed every part of it.
Fantasy, Gothic, murder, mystery, romance with a sexy entity... what else can we ask for? 🤭

Thank you @netgalley and @wednesdaybooks for a gifted e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This YA Gothic Horror was quite the ride. I definitely felt entertained, and if I had gone into this story thinking it would be more serious, I might have disliked it. Instead, I found myself almost laughing my way through the twists and turns (kind of like when I watch horror movies). Structurally, the book is a bit all over the place, but the story still makes sense. If you want to feel like you're watching a vampire telenovela, this is your book.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I have quite literally never read anything like it.

It took me a couple days to write this review because this book was so unique, and frankly a little dark, which isn’t always my cup of tea but this one really held my interest.

It’s one of those books where you really don’t know what to believe or entirely what is going on, but in a clearly intention and honestly thrilling kind of way. It was my first time reading Romina Garber and I would read it and her again.

If you’re a fan of mystery, twists, and some dark magic - this one might just be for you!

Fat-friendly rating? 🩶 neutral

I had high hopes for this gothic paranormal vampire thriller, horror, romance, but the execution let me down. This book was trying to be so many things and so it got lost and didn't fully achieve any of them in a fully fleshed out way.
The one thing that this book did really well was vibes, so if you are okay with underdeveloped characters and a plot that could use a bit more cohesion you will be satisfied with the vibes.