Member Reviews

Thoughts

I want to preface this with I love V. Castro. I have read everything she has written and try to get everyone else to read it as well. Furthermore, I will continue to do so.

However, this one unfortunately didn't work for me. I love women characters who can be naive and vulnerable, I loved that in The Haunting of Alexandra because it fit so well. And I believe all women stories should be shared.

In this book it just felt like it was there to make the book longer, to buy time. And that's what I didn’t like. I need it to make sense to the story. It didn't seem to fit the character she was describing. It makes sense that she would want all the things she talks about but she wouldn't be naive about it. If that makes sense?

I think there will be people who enjoy this book, especially the dark romance lovers. And I loved the historical aspects of it. I think if it is on your radar you should give it a shot.

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Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for this arc in exchange for an honest review. Immortal Pleasures by V Castro is the story of vampire Malinalli, an antiquarian who focuses on returning artifacts to their country of origin.

I love V Castro’s writing style and previous works, so I was really expecting to love this and was sadly disappointed. For a centuries old vampire, Malinalli seemed incredibly naive and immature. Her first love interest was fine, if a little boring. The second love interest was much more interesting, but unfortunately the pacing and the plot didn’t allow for any sort of relationship development outside of their initial “meet cute.” I also felt like the sex scenes were a little out of place, I’m not opposed to some good smut, but they were definitely a bit cringy. I was able to suspend my disbelief until butter was used as lube.

I loved the back and forth between the present and the past and the explanation of Malinalli’s desire for revenge, however her desire for ruthlessness didn’t seem to align with her actions, which paled in comparison to Cortes’ actions. I also would’ve loved more explanation of the vampirism and how widespread it was. My mixed experience with this book definitely won’t stop me from picking up more from V Castro.

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Thank you NetGalley and publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book has Central American indigenous roots, erotica, VAMPIRES, adventure and violence. With all these themes, I was so excited to go into this book however, it was a disappointment for me. I think this book could have been great, but the writing style felt very choppy and at times forced. Some of the dialogue between characters felt like video game, info dumping talk vs natural conversation. I want to read more by the author as she has rave reviews for other novels but this one was a miss for me.

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I have read a few other books by V. Castro, and I enjoyed them, so I was expecting to enjoy this one, too. Unfortunately, I just really did not enjoy this one. This story felt very surface level to me--I almost think that the pacing was just so fast that we didn't get enough time with the characters and the story. Because of this, the characters felt one dimensional, and their relationships just fell flat. I didn't really enjoy the tone shift between the past and present-day scenes, it was just jarring and the quality difference was rough. I have loved some of V. Castro's work previously, I think that this story just wasn't for me as I just needed a lot more depth from it.

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Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Let me preface this with I loved The Haunting of Alejandra and really enjoyed Goddess of Filth but Immortal Pleasures was not it. I was really looking forward to this one but sad to say that I just didn’t like it.

The writing was way too fast paced and I felt that there was no development of many of the characters and the relationships between them. They all felt pretty one dimensional to me. This made it so when certain things happened there wasn’t really an emotional impact. The redeeming piece for me is that the scenes that took place in the past but everything that took place in modern day felt like a completely different person wrote it. The sex scenes felt cringey and it just wasn’t for me.

Again I love V. Castro and hope to read more of her work and if you are looking to read her books I would recommend one of her other books over this one because she does have some great ones. Just not this one, for me at least.

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Centuries old vampire recounts the past, and battles the bad vamps while coming to terms with her own self-discovery. Yes, her!!! A female vampire's perspective through a human life of captivity, no rights, and slavery, to becoming prosperous and independent, to wondering about what is actually important. Title is rather misleading ...

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Thank you to NetGalley, Random House, and the author for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The first thing that attracted me to the book was the cover art. It is absolutely gorgeous. The second thing that attracted me was the premise. Whose interest wouldn't be piqued by an ancient Aztec vampire who becomes the avenger for conquered peoples while looking for love? So you can imagine my disappointment when the story did not live up to the premise.

The story is a bit all over the place. There are some characters that are introduced no little to no purpose and don't progress the story or aid in character development. Speaking of character development, there is none. The FMC is centuries old yet she doesn't act or think like someone who has seen centuries of years of history pass them by. But you know what there is a lot of? Sex. Plenty of sex. Including a scene where the main characters use butter as lube. I'm not a doctor but I think that's a yeast infection waiting to happen.

In terms of the conflicts in the story, they take a backseat to the sex so I found myself going "oh yeah I forgot she was looking for that artifact. I was too distracted by her questionable use of lube."

3/5 stars; 4/5 chilis because of the butter scene

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Thanks to Del Rey and NetGalley for this ARC of V Castro's 'Immortal Pleasures.'

Castro's 'Queen of the Cicadas' is one of my favorite books of the past few years and I loved 'The Haunting of Alejandra' as well but I'm afraid 'Immortal Pleasures' comes nowhere near the level of those two novels. It's almost like it's written by a different person to the extent that if this was my first V Castro book to read, I likely wouldn't go back for another one.

All of the right elements are there that I've come to love about her books - strong female characters, a deep connection with Mexican history and folklore, and the lustily portrayed erotica and the fact that this is a vampire novel should've been made it a slam dunk but those elements are not coming together in any impressive way.

Real historical figures - Malinalli, Cortez, John Hawkins, among others - are all vampires and the driving action is Malinalli's desire for revenge over Cortez for his abuse of her and her country and people and his desire to continue being a bad man. There's an Irish author who, in the space of seconds, realizes his lover and decides he's fine with that, no biggie. The action moves between Dublin, London, and Mexico and between the 16th and 21st centuries.

The erotica was kind of over the top and very clunky and didn't add much to the characters or the story in a way that she's done well in her other books, especially her short story collection Mestiza Blood.

Like I said, all the bits are there but the writing (usually so good from this author) is just not capable of pulling it all together in any engaging way. Disappointing.

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I did not finish the book. I was really looking forward to reading Immortal Pleasures based on the premise however, I was not a fan of the writing or the plot. I wasn't able to connect with the characters. I've heard amazing things about this author so I would love to read her other works but I don't think I am the audience for this one.

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interesting but the main motivation is a hair inconsistent. still, gorgeous prose and a really interesting person. thanks for the arc.

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I just don't think I'm the target audience for this one 😭

Listen, I was so excited to dive into this book because I heard such great things about the author. When I stumbled upon this book on Netgalley, I didn't even hesitate to request. I was so ready! The concept alone was so interesting--vampires, historical figures, the concept of love and desire through an immortal lens... I was hooked! However, once I started reading, I was left with so much confusion

I'm still unsure what the plot even entailed. Our heroine Malinalli was set on retrieving two skulls from the time she was turned into a vampire. Then that was disregarded for her brief human affair. Then she was ready to leave this poor human man out in the dust and remembered she had skulls to retrieve. Then we meet Alexander, another vampire (and to keep this review spoiler free... his real identity had me thinking "what is going on here?"). And then we have Hernán in the back stalking her and wanting to kill her, and it was personal with him. And apparently he had a vampire skincare line?

So many things happened, and I kept wondering if certain scenes were even necessary. I also did not understand a few flashbacks, specifically with Catherine. Unless this is meant to be like a hint at a future installment? Either way, I'm just left so confused.

At the end of the day, I realized I simply wasn't the target audience. The concept sounded so good, but the execution wasn't for me. But I know this book will resonate with those it's meant for.

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Overall, I enjoyed this book. Gave me quite a bit of history I wasn’t aware of. I felt like the romance with Colin was more fleshed out and believable than the one with Alexander. It would’ve been nice to see it be the opposite.

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Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

Immortal Pleasures is a story about womanhood, colonialism, and revenge. It is also a story about a woman trying to find her purpose and her joy. Mali is a vampire who has experienced a myriad of terrible things as a result of the Spanish invasion of Mexico. In the centuries since her human death she has begun working to take back the artifacts of her people. She travels to Europe, present day, for the first time in search of a pair of skulls that are particularly meaningful to her.

V. Castro has created a sensual, dark tale that explores themes of trauma and personal growth. This is not my favorite of her books but it is definitely a great read.

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A modern yet unexpected twist on a classic idea of what it means to be a vampire. It had a slow beginning but once I got into it was quite enjoyable. I would definitely recommend people to give this author a try.

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Unfortunately, I did end up DNF’ing this book at about the 45% mark. I personally was just not vibing with the style of writing. It felt a bit jumpy in terms of the dual timeline. Some things from the past I felt could be clumped together more towards the beginning of the book so that we understand more of Mali’s background from the beginning. And then having Cortes’ POV thrown in there as well was just throwing me off. No hate to V. Castro, as I’m absolutely open to reading a different book this author has written, I was just not motivated to read or finish this particular book.

Thank you NetGalley and V. Castro for the eARC!

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This book was different from what I normally read. This may be a reason why it took a while for me to get into the story. The beginning chapters were just a bit of information dumped, and her getting involved with a random guy, which I don’t see how he was supposed to fit into the story. It made more sense for Alexander’s character to be involved and help Mali to understand and accept each other choices and position in the modern world. Reading about the history of the conquests was okay but at times confused me because it just jumps between the past and present.

Honestly, I was expecting a bit more from it but it was an interesting read. I would still recommend this to people who enjoy a spicier-than-plot type of book.

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This was a quick easy read, kept my attention and was interesting. I would say it's worth a read if you're looking for some spice and something easy and quick.

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Spice, violence and brown vampires nothing else is needed😍.
We go on an epic love journey filled with tragedy, stolen treasures, death and sex. The middle got a little slow but the ending brought it home. I feel one part might be looked at as controversial but I didn’t mind it, especially after you look into the history of certain aspects. Great read!

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I received a copy from NetGalley for review.

First and foremost I struggle with how to rate this book. On one hand I struggled to put it down. The writing and the story kept me entertained for hours on end, but on the other hand it felt like it needed another round of editing to work through some of the pacing and story telling elements. I definitely enjoyed how the history of the conquests in the Aztec world were told and how that fueled the rage of Malinalli in the present day. I like that we get a story of lust and the start of a story that I'm confident will be of deeper love eventually. Though the Judas story was kind of our of left field, I did really appreciate that the author gave Mali a counterpart that could understand the choices that were made in the past and made to look like something else in the current times.

The author does a great job of showing how the past can be rectified with returning artifacts to their rightful locations and I hope we one day get to see more from this world that the author has created.

Two things honestly keep this from being five stars. 1. some of the pacing was a little slow and 2. butter being used as lube. Do with that information what you will, but I still recommend reading this story.

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I’m honestly really confused by this. It’s unlike V Castro’s work in many ways. Her usual writing skills do not shine in this novel. The entire novel is written in show not tell and is truly a chore to read. I’ve never had such trouble reading a novel by Castro. Typically I devour them in a day or two.

There are a lot of comments that are anti-indigenous or perpetuate stereotypes like cannibalism. I am a mesoamericana archaeologist and the depiction of cannibalism and minimization of sacrifice was extremely disappointing. If she was going to mention this, there should’ve been the added context necessary to work against the stereotype that is NOT TRUE. I would’ve never expected that from someone like Castro, who usually writes against stereotypes. This one really missed the mark which saddens me. I was highly anticipating this one but unfortunately it left me feeling sad and my culture looked down upon.

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