Five teenagers in Puerto Rico come together to avenge the murder of one of their mothers. Visceral and very violent, Iglasias adds a supernatural element to this revenge tale, which works pretty well. I definitely want to read more of his work.

Thank you, Mulholland Group Publishing for the ARC!

3/5 Stars

This book immediately caught my eye, but I was not prepared for what was to come. I admit, I am one of those Americans that has extremely limited knowledge and understanding of Puerto Rico, and I appreciate Iglesias for his vulnerable and informative way of writing some of this history into his novel. Following a group of men living on the island, Iglesias weaves in the struggles of Puerto Rico as an annex to the United States and its tumultuous relationship with the world, as well as documenting what feels like a personal struggle with Hurricane Maria.

What felt off from me was the motivations for the main character and his relationship to others. He is hard-headed and has a one-track mind, while also keeping his thoughts focused on the bigger picture of his hometown. I sympathized for him as horrors ravaged his world, but I couldn't quite figure him out and thought his decisions were a bit too "out there." While I can get with vengeance as a motivator, some of the circumstances weren't quite dire enough for the results.

I also was a bit baffled by the creatures that showed up at the end, which did feel a little rushed.

Overall though, I thought this was a great book to delve into for spooky season, especially with a location I'm not familiar with.

Love Gabino. Nothing of his reads the same. And nothing by anyone else feels like it comes close to his specific style when writing a noir. I would never consider myself a crime fiction fan. But put his name on the cover and I am ALL IN. This one was no exception. Fantastic prose and a story that will have you tearing the pages trying to get to the epic finale.

“Old people die and we expect it, accept it even. It’s normal. Murder is different. Murder is a monster that chews up whatever expectations you had regarding death and spits them in your face.”

House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias


THE RUNDOWN 🖊️
A group of five teenage boys in Puerto Rico seek revenge after one of their mothers is murdered.


MY THOUGHTS 💭
The description for this one had me way more excited than the book itself. It took me two attempts to read this books. It’s super slow paced and a lot happens that I feel could have been omitted because it just made it drag on. By the end I really didn’t care and it fell so flat because of it.

A social commenting, folklore having, supernatural, raw, emotional, spooky book hates to see me coming, and this one was incredible.

When a group of best friends turned brothers set out to avenge the murder of one of their mothers during a hurricane in Puerto Rico, things get expectedly violent, but also spooky and supernatural.

Using the damage caused by hurricanes to highlight and force you to look at the inequities and evil of colonization, poverty, and violence, Iglesias paints an absolutely gut wrenching setting for this book. When you include the history, supernatural lore (as well as its historical roots), and you’ve got perfection, at least for me. I spent a good amount of time looking up various references to different religions, deities, and the history of the island and learned so much, further enriching my reading experience. I absolutely loved it and was moved by it.

3.5 for me. I love reading books based in Puerto Rico, I’m Puerto Rican so it gives a sort of connection. I also really enjoyed getting to read a bit more about the spiritualism of the island. It was a gritty revenge story mixed with magic (good and bad).

“Old people die and we expect it, accept it even. It’s normal. Murder is different. Murder is a monster that chews up whatever expectations you had regarding death and spits them in your face. Murder is an attack on someone’s life, yes, but also an attack on those left behind.”

Wow. What an incredible tale of a mash up of dramas!

Looking for a thriller? Horror? Supernatural story? This has it all, and blended so well together.

House of Bone and Rain follows a group of friends as they decide what lengths they are willing to go to support their friend after his mother gets killed. Is there a point that is too far and where does it end?

So well written and immersive story that is violent but also challenges colonialism, machismo and other social themes.

Thank you NetGalley and Little Brown books for an eARC to review.

This was spooky, interesting and worth the read.

This was first time by this author and i will def read more.

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review.

This book was so great. It was a favorite book of October. I love reading about Puerto Rico. I wish I could visit each year.

I’ve tried multiple times to read this book and I just can’t get into it. I was really excited for it but something just isn’t working for me.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me an arc copy in exchange for my review.

Gabino Iglesias has become one of those authors that within two books I will reading anything and everything that he puts out. "House of Bone and Rain" is a book that stays with you for a long time. Gabino has a way with his characters, and this one is a grand slam.

I received an e-galley from the publisher through NetGalley,

This is a story of friends seeking revenge during a really difficult time in Puerto Rico.

This book grabbed me from day one, just looking at the cover and title I knew I had to read it (even without knowing what it was actually about). But as soon as I read the first book I knew I was in for a different kind of horror, the horror that you knew is not far from what could happen in real life. I read this slowly, which sadly made me miss the release date before posting the review (by a lot) but I couldn’t binge this even tho I felt like I couldn’t put it down. Why? Because it felt too real. Maybe it was the fact that I’ve seen stories like this unfold my whole life (since I’m from PR) , maybe it was because it was very to the point with descriptions and atmosphere, maybe it was the fact that it felt real (the violence, the feelings, the sadness, the storms). I’m pretty sure it was a mix of all the above. I am torn between giving this book a 5 stars because it felt like a true horror to me or a 3 because it felt too real and forced me to put it down so many time to take a break from it (which I still think is not a completely bad thing lol). I cannot fully express how I feel about this book, which is the reason I took too long to review it, but I would say, read it if you really want to, just give it a try.

I would recommend this book to anyone trying to find a horror that feels real and not a creation of the imagination. But I would recommend for you to look for the trigger warnings before doing so. I’ll leave some here just in case murder, violence, rape, threats, hurricane damage/description, death of a parent/loved one (discussed on paper with details). I know I’m probably missing more triggers but these are the ones I think are the more prominent.

Thank you to the publisher! Author and NetGalley for an eARC of this book.

I read this book at the perfect timing in the wake of Hurricane Helene. Being the type of book that it is I knew some characters would be sacrificed but ugh the ones that were had my heart breaking. For the sake of spoilers I will leave names out. But their futures were promising only to be snuffed out. The added spooky aspects were perfect for this time of year.

Thank you to Mulholland Books for the digital copy to review!

What a story. I did not expect the horror element, which I should have known had I not gone in blind, and it was so well written that you could feel the emotion coming out of the pages. Bimbo has lost his mother to murder, and only knows retribution will resolve his grief. But he cannot do it alone and takes his childhood friends Gabe, Xavier, Tavo and Paul down the road with him, and it is a very dark and dangerous road that they cannot come back from, but Bimbo has always been there for each and every one of them so they all agree. Bimbo soon becomes unrecognizable and the boys are torn as they do not want to continue on with him, but they know if they do not, none of them may not make it out alive. What ensues is a crazy ride as they are hunting down members of Puerto Rico’s drug kingpin, oh and all of this is happening right in the middle of a major hurricane.

I felt for these boys, including their pain and I could understand their reasoning, as messed up as it was. This is a very descriptive story, both the Puerto Rico setting but as well as the violence that occurs throughout. There is a supernatural element in here too that adds a scary component, and overall combined with the hurricane I thought this one just worked so well.

All that being said, I don’t think this book will work for everyone given the violence and horror elements, however it is very well written and if you don’t mind these elements, I do recommend this one.

Excellent book about a group of young friends in Puerto Rico, looking for revenge on the drug dealers who killed the mother of one of them. All of this just by chance is happening while Hurricane Maria is laying waste to the island. Iglesias does a great job of limning out the friendships and the sense of "I'd do anything for my brothers" feelings between the boys. If I had any complaint, it's that their mission of vengeance almost seems to easy and doesn't seem to have any real, lasting effects on the survivors. There's a lot of violence and some very creepy horror at work in this novel and I really enjoyed it. Looking forward to what this author does next.

Gritty, violent, and spooky. The writing is brilliant, original, and Iglesias amazed me yet again. I took my time with this one because the story was so genius and addictive. A story of deep friendships, and loyalty between a group of childhood friends where a murder of a family member starts quite the storm. Gabe gets thrown into, by his own accord, a slippery slope of loyalty to a friend and maybe vengeance. Ghosts, supernatural, and the spirits of past and present tug at him and in him. Then a storm, a Hurricane comes. As a reader, you'll feel this one deep in your soul. Like you are there.
My favorite lines from the book are, Gabe: "For people who cry regularly, it can be a way of exorcising small demons, a way to cope with the ugliness of the world." And from Gabe's grandmother: "The ghosts are all around us."

This book is a ride. Get in, hold the Fuck on, and dig in.

Hurrican horror, vengance and beautifully written prose. This book is brutal, very violent, and yet hauntingly beautiful. This was the second book I've read by this author and I absolutely loved it!

HOUSE OF BONE AND RAIN – by Gabino Iglesias

‘We all grow up surrounded by creepy stories. Some are made-up tales about kidnapped children and awful accidents told by our parents and grandparents to keep us safe and afraid of the world. Some are made up by our friends to scare us just for the fun of it. Some are always around . . . . As you grow older, reality pushes those stories out of your head. But sometimes those creepy stories find you and invade your life again. And the second time around, you’re old enough to know they’re not just stories.’

‘“Estamos rodeados de fantasmas.”’

My Heart! I did not expect that ending! Love the story, Love the Characters!

The biggest issue for me, and keep in mind my review is of an uncorrected proof, is the large amount of repetition throughout the book, specific to the rehashing of past events—information the reader is already privy to, and the main character, Gabe, as he continuously delves into Bimbo’s mindset.

However, the narrative may have been tightened up prior to publication.

Thank you, NetGalley and Mulholland Books (Little, Brown & Company), for providing me with an eBook of HOUSE OF BONE AND RAIN at the request of an honest review.

pretty cool book with some interesting fantasy/horror and regular elements that fit together gorgeously, it's interesting

"Death swallows words. Or at least, shows you how fucking useless they are."

🩸🩸🩸

HOUSE OF BONE AND RAIN by @gabino_iglesias is a harrowing crime thriller set in the sweat and rain soaked streets of San Juan, Puerto Rico with Hurricane Maria raging in the background adding a disastrous level of anxiety to an already treacherous sequence of events as a group of long-standing friends blur the line between loyalty and a death-wish.

Thank you to the author, @netgalley and the publisher, @hachetteus for the e-ARC.

🦴🦴🦴

With a self-aware nod to Stephen King's coming of age books (think THE BODY, IT), HoBaR features true ride or die friendship where the "die" part is more than plausible. Gabe and his four closest friends are propelled into an underworld of violence and drug lords after one of their mothers is murdered and revenge bleeds from their pores only to find there is a much older and darker force at play than the kingpins and drug lords they think they are up against.

A finger biting balancing act between loyalty and sanity that the bonds of friendship keeps pushing full steam ahead, this story is steeped in Yoruba traditions, Orisha folklore and a whole lot of heart-thumping action. Erratic, haphazard, reckless, and full of heart, this story is the epitome of found family with an excellent eat-the-rich twist. All the stars.