I didn't really know what to expect from this book, but I ended up really enjoying it! YA isn't usually my thing, but I loved the gothic atmosphere and see-alive castle. The world and magic system were intriguing and I would've loved to learn more about it, but this book was definitely edited to strictly share what was needed for the plot. I found that I was very engaged and invested in the characters throughout.

I'm glad I listened on audio, as I was able to hear the pronunciation of the Spanish throughout (It is translated to English, too, though!) The narrator did sound a little too young, considering the MC turns 18 and has some borderline spicy scenes.

Also, that ending?!

Gothic telenovela meets Twilight in Castle of the Cursed!

I wish I had known going in that this was intending to be over-the-top, almost campy much like a telenovela. I knew it was a darker gothic romance with vampires, but there were some twists that kind of threw me tonally until I figured out what the book was doing. I think I especially wasn't expecting it because the book begins with content warnings- the main character deals with major mental health issues including suicidal ideation, grief, etc. So it's an interesting blend of serious and over-the-top.

I liked the idea of this book, but I have mixed feelings about the structural execution. The beginning is a little rushed with a lot happening that's important, but doesn't feel like it gives us quite enough setup. Then in the later part of the book, there is a big twist that kind of info-dumps a lot of information and history with a mechanism I'm not really a fan of. I don't want to spoil anything, but I think there is a world where this could have been a much better book by seeding some of that information earlier without revealing what it actually meant. It is on the darker and sexier side of mature YA romantasy and I kind of liked the relationship element. I feel like this one is going to be polarizing, but it's decent and had even more potential. I received a copy of this book for review via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

This book is what The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo tried to be. Really interesting and fresh take on the vampire mythology. Thought the twist was really thought out.

3x listening speed was not fast enough to finish this book. This is my second time reading this author and I am very sorry, but I think her writing is just not for me. This was kind of confusing with the magic and the castle, and it kind of had the dumbest instalove romance I've read in YA in a long time.

This was a bittersweet story about a girl who moves to Spain. after she lucks out. The romance was cute, the characters shone bright, and the plot was engaging!

I think I have a love hate relationship with this book?! The audio was amazing and the story was so dark and interesting it was hard not to love. There were other things that made me a little uncomfy, so check your trigger warnings. Overall I think the story was great.

This new YA book is set to release at the end of next month. I could not stop reading until I finished it.

The story is set in modern time and the main character Estela losses both of her parents in a mysterious way. After months in a psych ward, she is invited to Spain to live with her aunt in a a castle.

While there, Estela comes across strange things and people. She soon realizes that the castle is actually alive and she was brought to it for a reason.

Now I need to know-is it a series or was this all we are getting. So so good!!

The narration was very good. The reader did a wonderful job.

♡𝐀𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 &| 𝐞𝐀𝐫𝐜 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰♡
3.5 🌟
-
𝑰𝒇 𝒋𝒖𝒅𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒃𝒚 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏. 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝑴𝑬! This cover is just gorgeous 😍 to me! The cover peaked my interest, and I'm happy it did.
The audiobook production did a good job. The narrator, Ana Osorio, did a phenomenal job. This is mostly 90% in English and 10% Spanish! Ana did a phenomenal job translating and switching languages. Highly enjoyed the audiobook.
The storyline itself could be a little confusing because in the beginning the language switches between English and Spanish and if you don't understand spanish it could be a little difficult which I think the audiobook is a great additional to the book. It's also a slow-medium pace and could be a little dragging, but once you hit 50% of the book, the speed pick up and increased my interest in the book. I do recommend if you enjoy gothic ya romance.
-
𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬 :
•duel timeline (past and present)
•gothic YA
•YA romance
•hidden secrets
𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 :
•grief
•mental health issues
•death of a parent
•suicide
-
𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 July.30
-
Thank you, Netgalley, and MacmillanAudio for the (ALC)-audiobook and St.Martin Press for the (eArc)-eBook for my honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

Castle of the Cursed is a dark, enthralling gothic romance with wonderful character development and a beautifully written setting.

This one was lovely. Romina’s writing is simple but beautiful, and I loved the descriptions and romance. The characters were so fun, and the character development was wonderful. The pacing was overall great, though I felt the beginning was a little slow. The story was dark but hopeful, and although it occasionally read younger despite the more adult themes, it was a very fun read with many interesting aspects that will enchant fans of Gallant, Dracula, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s novels.

Ana Osario has narrated multiple of my most recent audiobook reads, and her narration of CotC has been my favorite. She captured the story and characters beautifully. It always takes me a few minutes to adjust to her voice, but I have a great time listening once I do!

Thank you to the publisher for the free ALC!

I would like to thank NetGalley for giving me an audio-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was PERFECTION.

The gothic manor, the secrets, the magic, the monster... the romance. I loved Bastian. From the moment we meet him, I enjoyed seeing him on the page, and his mystery along with Estela's own history was fascinating to uncover.

Estela wasn't what I expected. She was smart and clever, she was filled with grief and rage and I feel like I felt her pain as she worked through her own emotions.

And that was the biggest thing for me -- the emotions I'm this book are raw. The gothic atmosphere was heavy. And la Sombra was utterly terrifying and amazing to unravel. This was a book I thoroughly enjoyed getting lost in.

And I loved the audiobook narrator. They did a wonderful job bringing this world to life.

I really enjoyed this intriguing book filled with heartbreak, mystery, romance, spooky gothic vibes and so much more! The narrator was great and easy to listen to! I thought it was well paced and kept my attention from start to finish! The very last sentence threw me off though, so I'm interested to see what that was about or if there could be a sequel in the future! I look forward to reading more of this author's books!

Ok. I want to start by saying that I enjoyed the majority of this book. I loved the setting, the description of food and the integration of Spanish language. Lovely. What I did not enjoy was the rushed romance between a 17 year old mentally ill girl and an immortal vampire prince with mixed feelings for her sister and a large body count. Not a fan. There were so many things jammed into this book that it was just too much. It became ridiculous. Why not make a duology? Why not make a longer book? Also im the epilogue 18 year old Estela is now the town doctor? Lol

The narrator is fantastic. She does an amazing job distinguishing between characters.

I was lucky enough to read "Castle of the Cursed", by Romina Garber, and I feel equally as fortunate to have been able to listen to the audio book. Let me start out by saying the narrator set the mood of this story perfectly. This audio book is full of modern, spooky, gothic goodness. It is full interesting characters, and twists and turns will keep you guessing until the end.

This book was amazing, right up to the last word! Estela loses her parents to a mysterious black smoke on the subway where 25 people die...all except her. She goes to live with her estranged aunt in Spain in her family's castle, la Sombra. This book contains so many fantastical beings, curses, and ties. As Estela learns about the castle, she realizes that her parents' deaths are connected with the supernatural happenings at the castle. This book was clever and imaginative. I absolutely loved all the twists and turns that got thrown the FMC's way as she learns about the diabolical events that have unfolded and the will of the beings including the castle itself!

Castle of the Cursed (audiobook)

This is about a girl who moves to another country to live with her aunt in a castle. The circumstances surrounding her parents’ death were strange and had me second-guessing whether or not I understood what it had just listened to.

The girl is a teenager and she is coming of age. Is she imagining what she is seeing or is it real? Sometimes, I couldn’t differentiate the two.

I wasn’t a fan and it made me uncomfortable at times. It is supposed to be a dark gothic romance but I struggled. Maybe if i read the book, then it would hit me differently about how I feel about it.

The narration was good but also made the FMC sound childish. I just wasn’t a fan. I kept having to stop and start again. I picked this one because of the cover. There is always a 50/50 chance I won’t like something by this method.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #MacmillanAudio for the #ARC to review.

think I may have to sit on this one to gather my thoughts so I may amend this review in a few days but here goes.

I want to thank NetGalley and St Martins Press for the audio ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.

I’m not sure what I just listened to to be honest. This definitely was not what I was expecting from the description. This may be a very old throw back but when I read the description I got the movie “Casper” with Christina Ricci vibes but that was not at all the outcome.

The book is listed as YA/Teen, which it is as the female protagonist is turning 18 (although at the beginning and sprinkled throughout, she comes off much younger), but it doesn’t really capture that this is full on (gothic) Fantasy.

The narrator did a decent job but I think that may have added to the feeling that Estella was younger than her stated age. I also have a feeling that this book would have hit much differently had I read the prose rather than listening to it. But I think this is a me problem and others will enjoy the recording.

Overall I think that the fantasy gets too convoluted. Things are added out of left field rather than a natural build.
I do appreciate that there are trigger warnings at the start of the book for those that need them.

I rated this snack in the middle as I think those who like this type of fantasy will dig it, it just wasn’t for me. Lastly, I did enjoy the cultural connections.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

I read this as a book and I got confused and put it down but I loved it enough to give it a listen. I am so glad I did. Oh what an experience! What a story. It is sto weird. Our girl has to move to her aunt's castle in Spain after the mysterious death of her parents and months in a mental health facility. Her aunt is not warm but she is doing her best to keep her alive and healthy. There are supernatural beings, twins, romance, and deaths. What a good time!

“Castle of the cursed” is a gothic YA tale surrounding Estela. When her parents fall prey to mysterious circumstances surrounding their deaths, she is sent overseas to live with her estranged aunt in a Spanish castle.

Soon she becomes suspicious of her parents past, old family secrets, tales and mythology that she begins to suspect are actual truths, however she can’t tell where she is suffering from delusions or if certain events and individuals in fact exist in reality.

I enjoyed the mysteries in the plot and the search for answers and discoveries to uncover the actual truths of the town. It was unclear who had good intentions and who could be trusted.

I also enjoyed the side romance plot that didn’t take away from everything else going on. There’s a lot of cultural references and use of languages and translation within the book and I enjoyed the escape into another country rich with history and intrigue.

The audio narrator did a fantastic job and was excellent in going back and forth between English and Spanish as well as voicing alternate characters

Thank you to Romina Garber, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ALC!

Publish date: July 30th