If you like books with elements of mystery and horror with a gothic feel, you'll love this! I could not put this down and it felt almost like a classic novel. The author's writing style is right up my alley and I can't wait to get my hands on her other work!

Very fast paced and kept me on my toes, I enjoyed this. There are mystery and horror elements, mixed with romance, that keep the plot flowing. If you like the gothic genre/eerie atmospheres you will enjoy this one!

There is light in the dark. This book is so important to me. The way it explores grief, loss and seeing the best in people in the worst situations. I loved the book! The story follows Estela who has recently lost her parents and is the only survivor of a tragic accident. Estela is contacted by her last known relative in Spain and the adventure begins, which you may want to dust off your Spanish skills. Overall the book is fantastic to me it has it all! (Horror, supernatural elements, beautiful imagery of a Carnivorous castle and plot! You won’t be disappointed to visit the castle of the cursed!

Thank you so much to Romina Garber and St. Martin's Press for the eARC of this book to review. This was such a great book. It was fast paced and I couldn't put it down! You definitely need to give this book a read.

Castle of the Cursed pretty much has everything I love... with mystery, romance and horror elements that kept me intrigued throughout. It has a very gothic feel I absolutely adored which kept me eager to follow the character of Estela through all the twists and turns she experiences at her ancestral castle home of la Sombra after her life alterning tragedy at the beginning of the story. The reader is basically along for the ride as Estela unravels the mystery of la Sombra and its connection to that initial tragedy that brought her to the castle. This was a very enjoyable read I would recommend and especially for mystery readers that would appreciate a uniquely gothic feel to the mystery.

I've been itching for more vampire books and this one sort of dropped into my lap.

It immediately felt classic to me. In the sense that it could have easily fit in with 00's vampire YA. There's some mental health issues, and a slight horror bend, addressed that modernize the story, but for the most part it read like a classic YA vampire story.

I'd recommend it to the teenager who likes to think deep and also enjoys commercial vampire works.

This was a wild ride! I absolutely flew through the second half. Let me start off by saying I love a good creepy decrepit castle. There was murder, vampires, magic, crazy family members (iykuk), and love. The plot twists were actual twist. If you told me what happened at the end was going to happen after I read 30 pages I would have been shocked. Estela and Sebastian felt a bit insta love but I could not help but eat it up. The last line… tell me I’m not the only one that read the nickname Bast and did a side eye. Romina I need more!

“That is humanity’s true magic – our unabashed ability to hope.”

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC, which I received in exchange for an honest review.

The idea behind this book was solid and had all the makings of a good supernatural mystery – a hidden family secret, a cursed castle in a foreign land, and a creepy town with a monstrous history. I was very engaged for the first 20-30%. The magic rules were well-defined, the is-this-real-or-not folklore was interesting, and the family twist later on was pretty unique. The description of the house and its various rooms was vivid and helped put me right in the story. Each room had its own personality, and the concept for one of the rooms that plays a major role in the castle and the story was beyond creative (I'd read a short story just about that room). The trauma responses Estela exhibits are introduced in a way that made sense within the context of the story - in a world where monsters exist, you have to work even harder to discern what’s real and what’s inside your head – without having either explain everything Estela experienced.

Seventeen-year-old Estela survives a mysterious subway attack that killed both her parents. Traumatized, she seems destined to spend her life in a treatment facility before she’s surprised with an invitation to live with in a previously unknown aunt in her family’s castle in Spain. Once she arrives in Spain, however, it becomes clear that this part of her family was unknown for a reason, and her history – and the castle’s – is darker than anyone ever could have imagined. Using the tricks her private investigator father taught her, Estela needs to unravel the mystery of her parents’ death and her family’s past to survive – all while trying to find something worth living for.

I do think in trying to write a page-turner the author shoved too much in there. The second half of the book was one twist after another and there wasn’t enough time given to the characters to care about what happened to anyone. The author introduced Raul’s investigative rules as a clever way to break up the book and serve as a guide for how and why Estela acts the way she does, but they only come out periodically when Estela remembers she’s running an investigation. I was drawn to this book in part due to one description that mentioned Veronica Mars, and I wish the author had leaned into that part a little more.

Where the book really fell apart for me though was in the introduction of the monster romance. I’ll admit upfront I’m not a huge romance reader, so it may be that I just wasn’t the right audience for this one. But at one point the narrator says the entire story from Estela’s arrival in Spain to the “final battle” occurred with a two-week span, and while I know teenagers are prone to heightened emotions and illogical love life decisions, this felt like way too much way too soon. I groaned and nearly DNF’d when she suddenly decided she was infatuated with Sebastian and wanted to kiss him. Estela’s been haunted by visions of a monster for months – so terrified it’s a major part of the reason she’s still institutionalized at the beginning – and within days of meeting him she’s in love and wanting to pledge her life to him? The author didn’t build up the relationship between the two enough to make that plausible, and they didn’t seem to have much chemistry. I understand they’re both two extremely broken individuals, but I didn’t buy their sudden attraction to one another, even after the author revealed the history that set this all in motion. Having read to the end I understand why the romance was necessary to make the ending work, but there needed to be a lot more relationship building to make the payoff worth it at the end.

This book had a great premise and I’d definitely try something else by this author. This particular book just wasn’t for me.

Thank you NetGalley for sending me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Castle of the Cursed by Romina Garber is a gothic romance about a survivor, a silver-eyed vampire, and a haunted castle.

I really enjoyed the author’s writing style and how she approached our main character’s survivor guilt and mental health. However, because it was a little too dark for me, I gave it three stars. That’s not to say there was anything wrong with it, just comes down to personal taste. I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys a darker gothic horror read.

First off, thank you for allowing me to read this book in advance. I struggled with this book. I am unsure if it is the part where you jump right into the story or if I just am not good with gothic fantasy. Over all though, a great read once you power through. Excited to purchase this one so I can read the full finished story.

I really loved the plot of this book. I thought the concept was incredibly creative and not just a cookie-cutter vampire or magic story like the others I read. I was engaged throughout my entire read just waiting to see what happened. Unfortunately, character development is probably where this book fell flat for me. While I adored the plot itself, I struggled to feel the development of any of the characters, which made the romance feel forced. That being said, I would still recommend this book to anyone looking for a light and easy mystery read.

A lush gothic mystery that kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading it. I stayed up til 3am to finish it, I couldn't put it down. I loved the story, the descriptions, the mystery, everything. Brilliantly done.

My review at the point where I had only read the book's first half: Order this book! It is so good. I received an advance copy of it, and although I’ve never read any of Romina Garber’s other books, but I was quickly enchanted by her detailed descriptions and wonderfully woven words. Garber writes so beautifully that even her description of the main character putting jam on bread is easily imaginable, almost like I’m seeing the story as a movie and not reading words in a book.

Then, when I got to the second part, I was disappointed that the book started going in many directions. The pacing was too quick near the middle and end, and there was room for more character development. Also, I didn’t love how there were a bunch of book genres near the middle. There are vampires, monsters, spellcasters, different dimensions, and more. The book starts going all over the place, making finishing it less enjoyable. Closer to the book's end, I had to push myself to finish.

"Castle of The Cursed" was a binge-worthy atmospheric read.

The storyline was unique, rather than sticking to one genre it felt like I was reading a mashup of my favorite genres and I think it worked really well.

-Gothic / Supernatural Elements
-Vampire
-Castle
-Enemies To Lovers / Forbidden Romance

Overall this was a really enjoyable read and I'm planning on pre-ordering a copy for myself.

Thank you Romina Garber, Net Galley and St. Martin's Press- Wednesday Press for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Where to start on this book? I normally wouldn’t read a book like this, but I am so glad I did! This book takes you through a journey with Estela and Sebastian trying to figure out her family legacy and what draws them to the castle. This books includes it all! It has romance, gothic feel, mystery, murder, and more. Definitely adding this to five star reads for 2024. 😊

“…I’ve felt like I’m missing a kind of anchoring to the world that others are born with.”

“Castle of the Cursed,” by Romina Garber

Estela is now an orphan after her parents died in a mysterious accident in a train station. After being stuck in a mental hospital, Estela is being sent to her only living relative all the way to Spain. The town, her aunt, and the spooky castle she now lives in only give Estela more questions to her current reality.

I loved this book so much. The Spanish lore and setting were so unique from anything I’ve read. The characters were interesting, and the mental illness aspect of the MC was relatable. Romina Garber writes in a way that when I was reading it the descriptions of scenes were so easy to picture that the movie my head made was so good. I loved every second of the book and can’t wait to read more of Romina Garber’s books. 5 out of 5 stars.

-Spanish Heritage
-Ghosts/Vampires
-Magic
-Orphan
-Enemies To Lovers
-Who Done It
-Slowburn
-Curse/ Chosen One

Thank you for the ARC.

4 stars closer to 3.5,

Thanks to NETGALLEY and Wednesday Books for eARC

This is a gothic blend of scifi, fantasy/romantasy (hetero), and supernatural. It's told in first person POV through Estela (17, then 18, female), with time-jumps and flashbacks. We also get a quick blurb in third POV through Estela and Sebastián (second main), and her dad's list of rules for investigating sprinkled between chapters. It's set in New York, Washington DC, and northern Spain, where the fictional castle and town are. Since Estela doesn't know Spanish at first, we are treated the same; little to no translations that then expand as Tela begins to learn the language. I thoroughly enjoy when the author does this in things! What I found, was that I loved the author's wit and creativity. I think that Villain no.2 was sometimes comedic in said villainy and a bit unhinged, which was jarring or icky at times, but them aside, the characters are mostly likable, the book fairly enjoyable. Is the romance dramatic? Yeah, but I kept reminding myself that Estela is still a teenager, one who has been traumatized, at that. It helped pacify myself for the most part, heh. The lore and Garber's writing style kept me going. A lot of twists in this one, too!

A heads up, this is not a standalone, since at the time of this review, it is not presented as a series or duology.

TRIGGER WARNINGS! - Content warning note from author in the very beginning.

This book was an insta-request for me the second I read the blurb. Gothic castles, supernatural elements, and romance? YES PLEASE. The romance drives more of the plot than I was expecting going in, but honestly, I think that only made me enjoy the story more. By the end, I was dying to uncover the mysteries with Estela. Overall, a wholly enjoyable read for me!

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for granting me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Castle of the Cursed is a dark gothic romance with a lot of supernatural elements. Estela is the only survivor of a subway accident that killed 25 people including her parents. Dealing with mental health issues and trauma, Estela is in a treatment facility when her aunt sends for her to come to Spain. Her new home in Spain is full of secrets and a horrible darkness along with a mysterious, smoky figure named Bastion. While learning Spanish, Estela begins to uncover secrets about her home and her family. Evil comes to play and Estela’s life is on the line. Unpredictable and thrillingly dark, I read this story in one day as I became entranced in Estela and Bastion’s story. This is the third book I have read by this author and they all have been enjoyable and interesting to firmly add this author’s new releases to my must read shelf. My voluntary, unbiased, and non-mandatory review is based upon a free review copy from NetGalley.

This book unfortunately wasn’t for me. I wasn’t expecting a vampire plot line from the synopsis. The romance felt forced from the start. I made the decision to DNF at 38%