This is a lovely gothic tale of Estela who survives an attack that kills everyone around her. When an mysterious relative asks her to come and live with them in a castle she goes hoping to find out her families past. Instead, she finds a monster that appears only to her and comes in the night. Together they try to piece together the little she knows about her past. This book is dark and lovely. It is a quick easy read and one that teens are going to love.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books, and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

Castle of the Cursed by Romina Garber was a fun gothic horror romance story.
A riveting mystery that held my attention from beginning to end.
I thoroughly enjoyed and was hooked for the entirety of this story and can only commend the author on writing a very intriguing book.

Thank You NetGalley and Wednesday Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

This one started off strong, but then fizzled out for me. It seemed to get off track about 70% of the way in, when it almost had a completely different story within the story. I also wasn’t quite feeling the love story, either. It just didn’t feel like there was enough of a build up for the two characters to fall in love, and Sebastian never really had any redeeming qualities. It just all seemed disjointed and forced.

Honestly, I just wasn’t a big fan of this and I feel like the main character was having to deal with a lot in this story and I think the pacing was a bit strange.

*Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

Uhhhhhh what? I was expecting a lush setting with tons of fun rules for magic, and I got some kind of weird New Adult book with vampire romance?

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Star rating is 2.75/5 ⭐️

This book was…. A mess. The synopsis that the MC Estela travels to a mysterious castle in Spain that is a secret family legacy and tries to solve the mystery of her family’s bloody past.

There are some things, mostly at the beginning, that I really enjoyed. Estela is struggling with serious mental depression and survivor’s guilt. Her upbringing with a private investigator father and journalist mother gives her the conviction of solving the traumatic events of her past. Her investigation continues when she travels to Spain to live with her aunt in their creepy family castle. The use of trauma, and the Spanish environment, with Estela’s fish out of water conflict was intriguing.

But then suddenly there’s a mysterious beast (hunk) that Estela sees in the castle, and instead of that making things better things go off the rails. I think the issue with this book is pacing. It has way too much happening way too fast and it’s all over the place. The bulk of the book takes place over two weeks, and some crazy shit happens in two weeks. There’s some tonal inconsistencies as well, with the author struggling to stay in one lane.

This book reads super juvenile, which as YA is fine. But just be prepared for that going in. I think I’d be more forgiving as a younger and less experienced reader. The mysteries of the book kept me reading, but the answers sadly were not worth it.

This is a special edition book in an upcoming subscription box, and I’m skipping this one sadly since I ultimately did not enjoy the book.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this story.
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW

I really enjoyed this novel and even though I mistook it for a completely different vampire novel that's also coming out soon, I'm genuinely glad I requested it and was approved. The book had some pretty dark things which were mentioned on the trigger warnings page but even then I don't think I was really prepared for it. Estella's multiple suicide attempts got to me at times so those parts of the story were really hard to get through. I did enjoy Sebastian as a character too, although I felt their romance was rather fast. I never really came to like her Aunt Bea though. I understood where she was coming from and what she was trying to do to protect Estella but at the same time, I didn't feel bad when she died. I hadn't garnered enough sympathy for her for her death to really affect anything. I also fully expected for Teo to die too but... he didn't. The only plot twist in this novel that surprised me was when Felipe died. I didn't expect that and even though I didn't really care for him in the end, I was still saddened by his death.

Castle of the Cursed by Romina Garber is a gothic paranormal mystery that is unique and very interesting. It has an atmospheric setting that pulls the reader into it. It pulled me in for sure, and I just had to finish the book.

Estela loses her parents in a mysterious incident, and she is unaware of her past. She is surprised to find that she has an aunt and lives in a castle called la sombra. This castle is dark, brooding, and mysterious. More than that, Estela encounters more mysteries that are endangering her life.

This book has a lot going on. However, I not only finished it but really liked it. There are so many elements in the story that sometimes I was really not sure if I would be able to finish it. It's atmospheric, unique, and mysterious. The story is dark, though, and could be triggering for some readers, so please read the warnings that the author has shared.

3.5 Stars
THE HOUSE IS ALWAYS HUNGRY...
After a tragic accident that kills her parents, Estela accepts an invitation by her estranged aunt to move back overseas to her ancestral Spanish home, la Sombra.
But la Sombra holds many secrets and unlocking them might just lead her to discover the truth about her past and her parents death...

Genre - YA Gothic Fantasy Romance

I enjoyed the premise of this story but overall the execution really didn't work for me. This is going to be a chaotic review because, honestly, don't even know how I would rate this one. I didn't dislike it as a whole, at moments it was so ridiculous but not necessarily in a bad way...

The plot is campy/quirky and I actually enjoyed the chaos of that to a degree. Almost like a fever dream,

It was the relationships between our characters that really didn't work for me. I think you needed to feel the tension or at least a connection between our love interests to make this ending work and unfortunately, I felt nothing between them and therefore the ending just felt like a chaotic mess for me. Some of the jumps between chapter were slightly jarring. A few times I had to actually go back and make sure I didn't just miss a page or chapter chapter and that feeling took me out of the story a few times.

Things that I did like...
The setting/atmosphere were awesome. I could feel the vibes of the castle. It was creepy and over the top giving me camp vibes. I really enjoyed the start if this book, focusing on Estela's mental health after the loss of her parents. Her questioning her sanity upon arriving at la Sombra...but as the story progresses I felt that story line got lost and overpowered a bit.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books for the eARC of this book! All opinions are my own.

Well-written, with dark suspense and vivid detail, I adored this spooky, bloodthirsty story. Estela is the sole survivor of a strange attack that took her own parent's lives. Her loss and guilt are written so poignantly, I felt that loss too. When she moves to Spain into an actual castle, albeit a very scary castle, she thinks the trauma she went through is finally making her lose her mind. She believes everyone is lying to her. There's a boy only she can see. And the house is somehow alive.

There are many plot twists in this novel and I only saw a few coming. Then there was a very BIG plot twist and I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. Without revealing any big spoilers, all I will say is don't trust anyone.

But I will also say that my favorite part of this book is the character development of Estela. Her internal struggles and growth in this are very relatable, even if her external circumstances are less realistic. The backdrop of the dark and gothic serves to intensify Estela's (and other characters) resilience and ultimately, the idea of hope.

I highly recommend this book and eagerly anticipate a sequel!

3.5 ⭐️ rounded up.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It took me awhile to get invested in this one. It’s marketed as an atmospheric paranormal romance and I would agree. It started out with such a wild mystery of Estela’s parents death. I was gobsmacked and dying to find out what happened. The excitement tapered off for a little bit but by midway through it picked back up.

I did have to translate a lot in this book, which is fine BUT I was listening to the audiobook and some sentences I was unsure what was being communicated because I was driving or unable to look it up. Not really a problem though.

I alternated between the audiobook and egalley of this book courtesy of the incredible publishers at Wednesday Books and Macmillan Audio.

Thank you to Net Galley and Wednesday Books for the ARC. I don't know why I was so hesitant to start reading this one because I instantly fell in love with this book. The gothic vibes and cursed nature of the castle were everything. I loved the first half of this book, the darkness and the question of whether Estela is hallucinating everything was everything. And for once, I was creeped out, I was scared, I was nervous, and I was excited by the mystery. Estela had a lot of secrets to uncover. The second half was not bad, it's just that I liked the attraction part of the romance, but it was a bit simplistic compared to how complex and deep everything else was. Estela was such a great character and I loved her investigative nature, but the romance was quite juvenile and really took away from her character. I still liked it, I mean the love interest was hot, so at least that was there. Everything else was really really well done, so I don't mind too much, the prose was also beautiful.

4.75 rounded up

I was intrigued by the premise of this book. It sounded like it would be a gothic and creepy story and I couldn’t wait to read it. While I did love the gothic vibes in the story, there were too many teen angst, lovesick, instalove moments that made me cringe. I mean, the main character just met this guy less than 2 weeks ago and she’s already madly in love with him? It doesn’t make sense. I think I would’ve enjoyed this story more without the added romance.

I did love the setting of the story and I thought the mystery was intriguing. I also thought the ending was pretty good and I liked the author’s writing style.

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC of this book via NetGalley for review.

I love vampire books, and admittedly, I'm a lot more lenient with my book reviews when vampires are involved. They're my kryptonite. However, this book would be rated a lot higher if the FMC was a bit older. The age difference was Twilight-level cringe.

This work started off quite strongly. The setting and castle were written well, creating a strong and gloomy atmosphere that had me excited. There were also several spooky and mysterious things happening that kept me waiting to see what would happen next. By about halfway through, these elements had completely disappeared, including the atmosphere, which was massively disappointing. The work then took a weird, multi-dimensional turn that felt out of place and odd.

The characters were very YA. They fell into standard tropes without adding anything new or interesting to the mix. Unfortunately, there’s also a standard YA romance that is massively insta-love (13 days from not knowing each other to being the only thing worth living for). There were also some explicit on-page spicy scenes that felt out of place and added nothing positive to the read.

I did love how the author chose to end this one, but it and the strong beginning weren’t enough to save the other 80% of the book. Read this if you’re looking for an odd YA read with insta-love and standard characters. My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read this work, which will be published July 30, 2024. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Mixed feelings on this one.
I loved the gothic elements, and the world Romina Garber constructs is dark and intriguing, but the story itself didn’t feel well executed.
And while I liked Estela and Sebastián, their romance was incredibly rushed and instalovey.
Overall, I don’t regret reading this, but I can safely say this one isn’t for everyone.
However, if you think you would enjoy a gothic romance mystery with supernatural elements and a vampire, you might want to check this one out.

This was definitely a unique take on the haunted house story, and I definitely enjoyed it! Estela finds herself shipped off to Spain, months after a terrible tragedy took the lives of her parents and everyone else who was on the subway with them- everyone, that is, except for Estela. She's obviously going through it- survivor's guilt, horrific grief, the unbearable pain of wondering if she could have somehow saved them. It's bad. But after a stint at an inpatient facility, apparently some long-lost family of her mother's is found- only, those folks are in Spain. And they live in a town that can best be described as... eerily unusual.

At the center of said town is the big ol' titular castle. And as the title also clues us into, there is something cursed going on. Estela's family isn't exactly giving her the warm fuzzies, despite the fact that she's been to hell and back, they just keep giving her vague warnings to basically tamp down her curiosity. It's as if they never encountered teens before, and think that "don't open any doors or investigate anything" won't just make her do the exact opposite.

But obviously she's going to dig, because who wouldn't? I would, and I am an old. So. The townspeople are also a little... different, so Estela is really unsure of who, if anyone, she can trust. There are a lot of great twists and turns, which I appreciated, but also some more introspective moments for Estela to try to figure things out. There is a romance, which did seem a bit insta-lovey to me, and is probably my only complaint. There are times it is quite dark, but there is also some humor to balance it out. Basically, another solid novel from Romina Garber!

Bottom Line: Creepy and dark, but with enough humor and heart to balance it out, this was an atmospheric adventure that I quite enjoyed!

I was initially drawn in by the mystery and gothic vibes. This book is a bit slow and then toward the end it starts to give more, which I think works well with the story in order to keep you interested. I was able to guess some of the plots because I start to jump to conclusions as soon as a little piece of information is given. I felt like the romance was a rushed and I wanted a bit more chemistry. The story did not go how I initially thought it was gonna go and I was shocked at some revelations. Sadly, it did not turn out to be a new favorite of mine. There were certain things I would have loved to happen differently.

This book is perfect for a fall/spooky season read. I wish I could have loved it more but I’m confident that other people will enjoy it.

Thank you to the author, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for this e-ARC.

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 on Instagram.

4.25 stars!!! I really enjoyed this book! It was a well done gothic romance that kept me turning the page over and over again! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read an eARC! I really felt like I was able to completely immerse myself in this book and it was just so enjoyable to read!