This book turned out to be addictive. Slow to start, I almost quit at 10%, and am so happy I didn’t. There was nonstop action and drama, and I loved that this explored how far a man would go (at great risk to himself) to save his family and put them first.

None of the characters were particularly lovable, but they felt real and incredibly gritty. The race through the Everglades…I could see it playing out in slow motion as it happened on the page, and felt the elation and terror all at once.

Read if you like gritty thrillers with tons of action, don’t mind some gore (in more ways than one), and are looking for a book with 20-something Cuban male MC’s who would do literally anything to keep their family together and avenge the death of someone they loved immensely.

CW for the book being set in a butcher shop with graphic descriptions of non-traditional meats being butchered.

I was really digging this book. It gave me Myan's MC feels. But then we got to the end and I was like that's it? Where's the rest of the book??

Iggy Guerra is released from prison and comes home to a beloved mother who is no longer alive and to a father that doesn’t want him around. Iggy’s family owns a butcher shop that is at risk of failure because of debt and a new shop going in down the street. Iggy becomes involved with a big-game hunter, Orin, to solve a mystery in order to lessen his father’s debt. The character development was great. The storyline worked, but parts of it were too much of a slow burn for me. There is also a lot of guts and gore and harm to animals that are shown so if that bothers you, I would stay clear of this one. I did love the blending of English and Spanish throughout the story. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was a great choice and honestly made the book for me.

Blood in the Cut by Alejandro Nodarse
Narrated by Danny Pino

Thank you so much Macmillan Audio, Flatiron Books, + NetGalley for the free audiobook. #MacAudio2024

Blurb:
Sharp as a butcher knife gleaming in the Miami sun, Alejandro Nodarse's Blood in the Cut opens onto a deeply personal vision of the streets and swamps of Miami, where the roots are crooked but strong as mangroves.

✨ My thoughts:
A solid read:listen that’ll have you engaged all the way through. I listened to this audiobook in one sitting, it was so good. Alejandro Nodarse has a skill for atmospheric writing and Danny Pino (audiobook narrator) did a phenomenal job executing this story. The characters, the setting, and the story are all compelling. I’m excited to see what Nodarse comes up with next! And I can’t wait to get my hands on a finished copy of this! Blood in the Cut is out today 6/4/24, you’ll want to give this one a read… or a listen!

Happy reading 📖

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for allowing me access to “Blood In The Cut” by Alejandro Nodarse to review!

When I requested this book, I was excited for a number of reasons…one: it is narrated by Danny Pino (definitely a big Cold Case Fan)…two: the writing is compared to SA Crosby (one of my favorite authors)…three: it dealt with very important topics such as gentrification.

The narration by Danny Pino was very well done as it stayed authentic to the story and the characters themselves with intonations and using Spanish phrases throughout.

And I am happy to say that the writing definitely reminded me of SA Crosby’s writing in which it was deep, gritty, unforgiving, and it left me feeling a whole range of emotions. I mean one moment I felt anger at the acts of racism and gentrification that was displayed against the family and the Cuban community; sadness for the family in their moments of grief; nauseous in response to a particular butcher scene(major trigger warnings here).

This book does explore a number of important topics such as gentrification, racism, animal butchering (illegal butchering explored as well) which I believe gave this book tremendous depth.

As much as I appreciated the writing and the character development throughout the story, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the plot…However, the ending was satisfying to me, which bumped up my rating of the book to a 3.5/5.

Alejandro Nodarse’s debut “Blood In The Cut” goes on sale today!

When Iggy is released from prison, he comes home to find out a lot has changed: his mother died, the family’s butcher shop is at risk of closing, and his father is deep in debt with some shady people. Iggy wants to keep his nose clean and make the most of his second chance at life, but to save his father and the family business, Iggy is willing to do whatever it takes.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Danny Pino, and he absolutely knocked it out of the park. He brought the characters and scenes to life even in moments that were not particularly eventful. I don’t think I would have enjoyed the story as much if I read a print version. The concept is interesting, and there is a lot of drama to keep the plot going, but the pacing was off at times. There were several parts that dragged on that I felt otherwise interrupted the flow of the story. The ending was abrupt, but it made sense for Iggy’s character and showed how far he was willing to go to protect his family. Thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Alejandro Nodarse for this free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I'm the type of reviewer that goes in blindly to books. I want to surprised from beginning to end. I chose Blood in the Cutprimarily because of the cover and the fact that it was a new to me author writing a thriller. Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

Alejandro Nodarse sets the story with Iggy being released from prison only to find his family is more broken than he originally thought. His mother has passed away quite questionably and now they are about to lose the only income they have with their butcher shop. For a man just trying to get back on his feet, he feels the weight on his shoulders, without anyone to help him. There are questions surrounding everything and we are left to wonder if any of these things are connected. But there is so much more to his family and what they are willing to do in order to survive. And those are the parts that are intense and graphic. Almost too graphic in nature for me (simply because of the animals).

I listened to Blood in the Cut by audiobook and Danny Pino did a phenomenal job of portraying not only Iggy, but the various other characters that were featured in Iggy's journey to saving his family and finding answers to his father's dealings. Pino reads in a way that is very cinematic and brings the story to life and has the audience feeling the Miami nights. With the setting of Miami and the dark swamps of the everglades, the dramatic atmosphere was set and was perfect for what transpired. With a great setting, a diverse cast of characters and an intriguing yet unique plot, this had great potential but I felt it lacked strong execution. The pacing felt off, but it was the ending that left me with my mouth ajar. There had to be more, right?!

Overall, I did like the uniqueness of the story, but found some of the butchering of the the "exotic" animals to be more graphic than I would've cared for. I did like the fact that it dealt with relevant topics such as gentrification, socio-economic situations, racism and especially grief all in Miami. A solid debut that may not be for everyone, but has a distinctive voice. I look forward to checking out Nodarse's future books.

Slow burner, but gritty and engaging

Very much enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook - Danny Pino, who I adored on Law & Order SVU as Detective Amaro

Set in Miami and the Everglades, there is a mix thrills, drama, character development... a little bit, lotta bit of gore. As someone with high tolerance, I did find myself wincing a wee bit at times.

Thank you for the ARC!

Thank you @macmillan.audio and @netgalley for an early listening copy of this book!

Synopsis: Set in Miami, Iggy has just gotten out of prison to find out his mom is dead, his dad is a mess and the family is on the verge of losing their butcher shop — La Carnicería Guerra.

My thoughts: This story dives deep into the complexity of Cuban familial culture, honor and the things one will do to protect those they love and I couldn’t get enough! Iggy is a complex character — headstrong and prideful yet conflicted by his emotions, everything I expect from a Cuban man and his dad is exactly the same. You get two extremely strong characters, filled with regret and grief, that must learn to navigate their current situation together.

The setting was everything for me in this book. The descriptive details @nodarse gives Miami, and the Everglades, made every bit of the book familiar to me. I could close my eyes and picture streets mentioned, could smell the café Cubano and taste his moms Arroz con Pollo. Nodarse did such a phenomenal job describing our city for all she is — gritty, beautiful, cultural, and filled with crime.

** The family owns a butcher shop, so be prepared to encounter some detailed descriptions regarding processing meat.

I did read this book in audiobook format and let me just say that @eldannypino killed it! His narration was spectacular! I especially love that he has a Spanish accent and was able to bring that to Iggy — if you are from Miami, you have an accent (even though you don’t think you do 😂) so to hear that authenticity in Iggy’s voice made it real for me. I especially love that every single Spanish word was said properly and was read in Spanish. If there’s one thing that really gets under my skin, it’s when narrators don’t speak Spanish and mispronounce words, so kudos to @macmillan.audio for nailing it!

If you are a fan of SA Crosby’s Razorblade Tears, pick this one up on June 4th!

Iggy Guerra has recently been released from prison and must now figure out his next steps. Having just lost his mother, he soon learns that his cold, stern father is spiraling. The family store is in trouble and Iggy’s father has involved himself with the wrong people trying to stay financially afloat.

Blood in the Cut was a dark, gritty family drama filled with tense emotions. I was a fan of the narrator and Iggy’s character. I appreciated the window into the family’s Cuban culture, but more focus was placed on the gory aspects of the butcher shop than on character development though. I would have loved more time spent on the characters’ relationships versus solely the plot itself.

Thank you to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for an ALC of this title in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed Danny Pino as the narrator for this story. This was an excellent choice and I would definitely choose more books narrated by him in the future. I love the way it blended English and Spanish together. Overall this story in general was just okay for me. I definitely continued on due to the narration and likely would have DNF’d if I had been physically reading. The narration really carried this story in my opinion and that’s a big factor in my rating.

My favorite part of this audiobook was the narrator. I am a huge fan of Law & Order: SVU, so of course I am familiar with thee Danny Pino! When I saw that he was the narrator for this, I immediately jumped at the opportunity to listen because I think he is just great at what he does and this was no different. I thought he was a great narrator. He told the story with empathy and conviction, which I felt was important for this story. I also appreciated that the narrator was bilingual, I loved hearing some of the context in Spanish, which I think showed the importance of the culture and language of these characters.

The story itself was okay for me. It felt a little choppy in some areas as sometimes I got lost to what was happening and felt like certain moments were fully fleshed out. Overall though, a good read.

What a phenomenal debut! This book is gripping, gritty and so, so good!

Set in the Everglades, under the scorching Miami sun, we follow Iggy Guerra, who returns home after his release from prison. His mom has recently passed and his father is an absolute mess. With his dad at risk of losing their family butcher shop, Iggy wants to take over the reins, do something good for his family, but it is proving more and more difficult…

A rivaling shop is set to open soon and the competition is proving a nuisance to Iggy. His main concern is his father, though. He has got himself tangled in the illegal dealings of Orin, a big game hunter, who is carving out his own operation in some scary ways… The more his father becomes enmeshed with Orin, the more difficult it is for Iggy to reach him.

With a pulse pounding plot, incredible characters, a searing backdrop and Iggy just wanting to do right by his family, I loved this book. There is redemption, secrets and lies, and even the possibility of love. How far will Iggy go for a second chance… and to protect those he loves?

I just finished this book on audio thanks to Macmillan and it was a juicy bite.

At its heart, the story is about family and the things you're willing to do for them. Orbiting around that center is vintage cars, drag racing, the Everglades, and a ton of butchering of animal meat. The standouts for me were Iggy and his brother, Carlos, and the focus on community in Miami. The writing was so detailed; at times you could feel the heat/humidity, the tension, the grief.

3.5 slabs of meat (stars) for this one!

Blood in the Cut was the wrong book for me. Or I was the wrong reader for the book.

The story is filled with long, detailed scenes from a butcher shop, with specifics about cutting up the animals. Lots of scenes like this. Way too many. I didn’t need more than a short one to get the picture. And I’m a vegetarian, so yuck.

Pacing dragged through unnecessary scenes (like the butcher shop), but then sped through or barely skimmed more interesting details.

The ending was rushed

I just didn’t connect with the writing.

Danny Pino, the audiobook narrator, did a fantastic job immersing me in the story.

Audio Book Review

Blood in the Cut by Alejandro Nodarse

Pub Day: June 3rd 2024

Read if you like: S. A. Cosby & Stephen Graham Jones

My thoughts: This gripping thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat. Constant tension and numerous unsettling details ensure you’re always anticipating the next twist. Despite their flaws, the characters are compellingly unlikable, making you appreciate them even more.

This was a debut! At first I didn’t believe it. 🤯 I am shocked because I do feel the writing very was advanced, intense and well written! The author surely does have talent! I saw it compared to the style of S. A. Crosby and I can get on board with that comparison as far as style goes. I will say however this book and content wasn’t really my jam. It was pretty gruesome at times and set in a butcher. Hi. It’s me, the vegetarian. 😂 It didn’t end up being what I thought it was going to be but wholeheartedly think this is a ME problem not this books problem. It has all the makings of a noteworthy book….a solid plot, exceptional writing, and well developed characters so I most certainly encourage you to try this one! If you’re a lover of audiobooks the narrator in this one was the perfect voice to help paint this picture!

This was a very thrilling read, and so well written. The ending was satisfying and the cover art was eye catching.

Thank you @macmillan.audio for the gifted ARC. Danny Pino did an incredible audio narration. Iggy is in prison and he’s about to be released. While incarcerated, his mother dies, and his father is losing the family butcher shop. In his quest to save the shop, he will discover his father‘s dealings in the exotic black meat market and more. I loved this unique story and the setting. This is available June 4th.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* took me awhile to get into the story but in the end i was pretty invested lol not something i would reread, 3.5 stars.