Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC. This book was very good. I enjoyed the history and backstory of our main character Mali. It was easy to picture the time and place of this story. The writing was wonderful and the spice was just enough.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House - Ballantine/Del Rey for letting me read an eARC of Immortal Pleasures. I loved the way V. Castro weaved historical characters into a vampire story. By focusing on Malinalli and building her up as a complex character who is deeply affected by her past and the decisions she has made in order to survive for so long, it makes the story that much more riveting. The character development only heightened the violence and gore of the story and really stressed the villainy of the antagonist. I can't wait to read whatever V. Castro writes next, as this was a great follow-up to The Haunting of Alejandra.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me a chance at reading this book.

V. Castro's Goddess of Filth is one of my favorite exorcism / possession books. Absolutely loved the girl in that. While her last release (before this one) wasn't a winner to me, this one seemed more along the lines of a Aztec Queen of the Damned story about a vampire who continues to remain alive and finds love, and danger.

I saw the reviews. I saw the reviews of those who read the book and highlighted the quotes that were certainly 'eye-popping', and it made me even more excited to read this. So I quickly geared it up... and finished it almost in one sitting.

The book is a fast paced story, told from various first person narratives, but focusing on the story of our vampire protagonist. She is on the search for the artifacts that were claimed / stolen by white profiteers or people who could at the time and would. Meanwhile, she becomes involved with a guy who she starts having a sexual thing with... which is where those quotes came from.

THE ONE THAT GOT ME ROLLING was when he was baking something in the kitchen, she takes the butter, lubes herself and his cock and fucks him reverse cowgirl... taking it in the ass. I just sat there and I thought 'am I going to be able to eat something with butter the same way, or see a stick of butter the same way again?' And then, the metaphor to all that was like a squid pulsing. I had remember seeing this quote being mentioned but DID I KNOW IT CAME FROM BUTTER LUBE.

Oh yes, the story. The story after getting through so many sexual bits with this random guy that shows up, and then she stops fucking when he decides to go all Interview With the Vampire on her when finding out her secret (he starts writing a book about a vampire who wants to be mortal), has her with a bounty hunter who has been paid by Cortez (yes, that Cortez who is also a vampire) to take her out... you start asking yourself, why does this guy seem familiar?

Girl starts screwing Judas. Yes. That Judas. Apparently after hanging himself, the rope broke and he starts wandering the desert. He comes across someone who turns him into a vampire, which allows him to change his name and live as a bounty hunter - getting more than those pieces of silver. Judas has now found his true match with our protagonist, which leads him to pair up with her in taking out Cortez once and for all.

There is a A LOT of things happening in the story, and people too, but it just feels disjointed and weird and the story itself about these artifacts and how Cortez is after her is more or less she isn't a white woman and how dare she live type story.... So it all comes down to Sex Sex, Sex Sex, Butter Lube, Sex, Judas, and lets kill Cortez.

I was entertained but I wish the book was far more entertaining with the plot instead of the wild sex scenes. Or maybe the book should have been about the woman literally on a world wild fucking spree and using the most wackiest stuff to help her out.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Del Rey via NetGalley for providing me with this ARC! Overall, I really enjoyed the premise of the book! I think that the book demonstrates a style of frequently used within Latin America: testimonios — something that I think many reviewers are overlooking. Many stated that the author was “telling rather than showing,” but testimonios are about telling the racial, classed, gendered, and nativist injustices suffered by the speaker. I recognize that isn’t what traditional writing may do, but given the origins of this character, it makes perfect sense to me why this style was chosen and I don’t think the book should be penalized for a lack of understanding. I will say, the romance aspect of the novel did fall a little flat for me—I was not really invested in that aspect of the novel and at times it felt out of place. I felt most invested in the ebook when reading about the MC thoughts and previous experiences. For that reason, I’m rating it 4/5 stars. I think if you enjoy V. Castro’s work, want to read more Latine authors, and enjoy gothic literary themes you will enjoy this book.

DNF @30% I wanted to like this, but I don’t think I can tell people to spend money on it in good conscience. The dialogue and prose are both clunky, and awkward. This book is a master class in telling, rather than showing. The main character acts like a 22 year old, despite being described as a 500 year old vampire. There were a lot of things that happened that I know I was supposed to take seriously, but were so outlandish that I couldn’t- for example, the main character can’t even look at Cholula hot sauce, because she was present during a massacre of the Cholulan people at the hands of the Spanish. On that note- SURELY there’s a better avenue to talk about the harms of colonization than in a vampire erotica novel?? Right? It just felt like neither topic was written well, and one was constantly undercutting the other….

I was so excited for the premise of this and I enjoyed The Haunting of Alejandra. But this just did not do it for me, unfortunately. For lack of a better description, it was just too much.

I absolutely loved the ideas this book brought forward but not so much the execution. It fell flat in bringing to life the largeness of the story and felt often like I was being told and not shown. Another review remarked it as a bit of a history text and reads more like historical fiction and I think that rings very true.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey for the opportunity to read an advance copy of Immortal Pleasures. I had a difficult time connecting with the main character and found her unbelievable as a vampire. Her voice was too contemporary for my taste. The writing was mostly telling and not enough showing, as is one tenet of good writing.

I was extremely excited to read this. Unfortunately, it was very disappointing. The staff had promise, giving us a sensual view of Malinalli as a vampire. The impulsive sexual chemistry between her human companion was steamy at first, but became a rushed mess to use him as a object to push the narrative forward with the antagonist (who was cool in concept, but extremely boring)

Her vampire companion came in extremely late in the story so their interest in one another was also rushed.

Also, the cuts to the past were extremely distracting and pulled from the events happening. It was interesting to see how Malinalli became who she was and what she experienced in her human and early vampire life, but a lot of it was dry and uninteresting.

I was very much wanting to like this book. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be.

I want to thank the author for giving me the opportunity to read this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

THOUGHTS:

I think that this book deserves more credit than it is getting. I enjoyed this book a lot. It got an easy 4 stars from me. If you are a fan of books based around revenge, gore horror, strong FMC’s and a love story within then this book is absolutely for you. I had never read anything by V. Castro before and I am glad that I found their writing! I jumped right into this story and emerged myself into this world. I enjoyed how the author switched between present and past in the novel. I didn’t set this book down until the very last page and now I cannot wait to see what else this author comes out with next. This book may not be for everybody but def place this author and their books on your TBR if you love this genre.

So, I checked out “Immortal Pleasures” by V. Castro, right? (Thanks for NetGalley and Random House Publishing, you're the real MVP). The idea behind it is super cool – it’s got vampires, a fight against colonization, and some spicy scenes. Honestly, what’s not to love? But, I’ve gotta tell you, I just couldn’t get into the author’s writing style. I had to stop reading halfway through.

The book kicks off with this huge info dump about the main character. It felt like overkill, especially since a lot of that info kept getting repeated later on. It’s like, okay, I get it already! And the characters… I couldn’t really get a feel for them. The writer does a lot of telling you about them, instead of showing you through their actions, you know?

And the spicy bits? They kind of fell flat. They just happen without much build-up, and the comparisons used were kind of weird, totally took me out of the moment.

Honestly, if the book got a good edit, it could be amazing. The foundation is there, it’s just the way it’s told that didn’t click for me. With some tweaks, I could totally see myself giving it a higher rating. But as it stands, not really my cup of tea.

The premise of this book is amazing. Sadly, the writing felt a bit below my reading level and even campy at tims.

2/5 Stars

The description of the book seemed interesting, so I wanted to check the story out. Unfortunately, I have since lost my initial interest in the story. I may try and find a physical copy to add the my library when it is released, though, because I think my readers could like it!

Ok but do yall remember that movie “Queen of the Damned” this is that but with a Spanish flare. I absolutely loved this from the MC being a seductress and owning her energy, to the magical world and how detailed it all is. This book was a home run I loved it so much and the cover is gorgeous. I’m definitely buying a copy for myself when this is published.

Round up to 2.5

Thank you for an arc of this! I was genuinely excited for this because the idea of dealing with colonialism in a vampiric story was extremely appealing. However, the execution of this book did not go well as I had hoped and it left much to be desired. The writing was just okay as well. There really isn’t anything memorable about this book unfortunately.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Ballatine for this opportunity to read rate and review this arc which will be available April 16,2024!

What an incredibly sumptuous lush vampire novel. Again I was sucked so deep into the story it would not let me go. The story interwoven with the bloody history of the reality of the Nahua peoples was perfection.

I have always loved V. Castro and her work. Immortal Pleasures is no exception! I’ve never seen an author combine history, folklore, and contemporary social issues so well. I feel like I know who V. Castro is as a person and how much she values her culture when I read these stories.

Immortal Pleasures by V. Castro is a wild ride. Basically it’s La Malinche vs. Hernan Cortés only they are vampires who reencounter each in the modern day. I kind of love this concept and reclaiming the narrative of Malintzin’s story.

Having loved Goddess of Filth I was super excited to dive into this world. This will probably be a bit polarizing for readers and as much as I enjoyed it there were times the story veered into unintentional(?) absurdity especially earlier on in the novel. I’m looking at you butter lube scene. Look, I didn’t hate it but it didn’t really fit the rest of the tone of the story. The strength of the story for me was in Malinalli’s past and the vampire lore and world building. The characters were really interesting and complex, excluding the milquetoast Collin and over the top Hernan Cortés. The relationship between Malinalli and Chantico was a high point and the characters of Cuahtémoc and Alex were really intriguing, I also wish we could have followed Catherine more and dived deeper into her story.

Despite the inconsistency in the tone this was a fun and wild ride and I wouldn’t mind exploring the characters and world more should the author choose to continue with it. This would be a great read for those looking for a fresh take on vampires and their lore.

I received an advance review copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.

I've read books by this author before and absolutely loved them. This is one I wouldn't include in the "love" category. More often then not, this book read like a History textbook which isn't really something I enjoy. If you like reading historical fiction, I think this book would be right up your alley. The erotic horror scenes were good and I do like the idea of a strong FMC who does everything in her power to not be oppressed by men. It was a powerful message, but it just seemed to get lost in the context. I also didn't enjoy how flat the last 2 chapters fell, I wanted a lot more from this ending.

I really enjoyed the Latinx flair of this story, and the light it shone on colonialism. I love the idea of this story...but, that was about it.

I had a hard time with the dual time narrative. I typically really enjoy when it's split like this, but had a hard time transitioning between them in this story for some reason. Additionally, the descriptions of many of the spicy scenes are simply laughably bad, like the most terrible sea creature metaphors bad.

Overall, loved the idea of this story, struggled with the execution.