These Vengeful Wishes by Vanessa Montalban is a captivating blend of Southern Gothic, horror, and romance that will keep readers spellbound from start to finish. Set in the eccentric small town of Santa Aguas, the story follows aspiring artist Ceci as she uncovers dark family secrets and confronts the legend of La Cegua, a vengeful female spirit.

Plot and Atmosphere

Montalban expertly weaves together elements of mystery, horror, and local folklore to create a rich, atmospheric tale. The legend of La Cegua, a wronged witch who lures untrustworthy men to their deaths, adds a deliciously creepy layer to the narrative. While some readers might find the beginning a bit slow, the steady build-up of tension and mystery throughout the book is well-executed.

Characters and Relationships

Ceci is a well-developed protagonist, both naive and intelligent, whose journey of self-discovery is compelling to follow. Her growing connection with La Cegua/Soledad is particularly intriguing, offering a nuanced exploration of the “monster” trope. The romance subplot, featuring Ceci and Jamie, is a pleasant surprise and adds a lighter touch to the otherwise dark story.

Writing Style

Montalban’s prose is lyrical and easy to read, effectively bringing the eerie atmosphere of Santa Aguas to life. The author skillfully balances horror elements with character development, creating a story that is both chilling and emotionally resonant.

While These Vengeful Wishes may not be the scariest horror novel out there, it offers a perfect blend of spooky atmosphere and engaging storytelling, making it an ideal read for the Halloween season. Fans of YA horror and Southern Gothic will find much to enjoy in this compelling tale of family secrets, vengeful spirits, and the power of wishes

This is the first time I have read anything by Vanessa Montalban. This book was a interesting combination of plot, characters, romance and horror. The characters were well written, especially Ceci. The book was well written, but I was expecting more creepiness. I feel like it would be perfect for a school library. I will be recommending this book to the YA crowd. Thank you Net Galley ARC!

What a thrilling read. I was unfamiliar with the folklore before reading and I have been devouring whatever information I can find now. Interesting YA plotline that holds interest from start to finish.

Oh my gosh guys, This book is pretty good. I enjoyed reading it and I am so grateful to Netgalley. I will deff put this on my shelf when ti comes out.

This is just a fun, well-written YA horror story. There’s an old Nicaraguan ghost legend, dark family secrets, mysterious woods, a plucky heroine, and a family curse. The plot is familiar enough and the author drops just enough hints to let an attentive reader figure out some of the twists while keeping a few more hidden for some fun moments at the end.

I can’t get too much into the plot without risking spoilers, so I’ll do what I can to keep things vague. Cesi and her mother have a contentious relationship, with her mother often absent, leaving Cesi alone in the giant house that’s all they have left after Cesi’s step father’s ponzi scheme took all her mother’s money, and Cesi’s college scholarship. It’s overly convenient, but it’s such a trope for teenage horror that it didn’t bother me overly much, but it did make some of the resolutions between Cesi and her mother feel unearned when the two of them hadn’t actually had that much time together in the course of the book.

There’s a plot thread left dangling and unanswered, and that did annoy me, especially since it felt like it either belonged in a different book, or with just some small adjustments might have been worked into the story. I did, however, like the final confrontation with the ghost woman, where Ceci shows compassion and cleverness in equal parts.

This was just fun, and makes for a good autumn read. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for giving me an ARC.

I was looking forward to reading this one, and was hoping for/expecting a really creepy unsettling tone with lots of hispanic folklore elements. But while the folklore was there, the creepiness was missing. There was quite a bit of borderline "cringey" YA cliches. The characters felt trite and underdeveloped, and the circumstances were very unbelievable. I was not a fan.

These Vengeful Wishes was an easy, casual read with an intriguing mystery and steady pace. Montalban's prose is easy to read. Ceci and La Cegua's story offered a tragic narrative arc and I found it a compelling mystery. Unlike most people in the reviews, I couldn't have predicted the way the story unfolded and Montalban did an excellent job of building steady tension and mystery. I also have to give at least one whole star to Jamie, I adored the banter between Ceci and him. Honestly, they were easily one of the most fun couples to root for that I have in a while.

All in all, These Vengeful Wishes was a delightful read, although I did find the beginning a little bit slow. This is exacerbated by the later pace of the book. Despite this, I still had a blast. Easily a 4/5 star read! Best of luck to Montalban on release day!

I had so much hope for this one but i was disappinted. Tho plot was kinda obvious and i couldnt really connect with the protagonist or any of the other characters. It did not gave me this creepy vibe i was hoping for. The ending did not really make sense for me. I still think people could read it if they are looking for some unsettling vibe and a kinda creepy atmosphere.

The small-town creepy vibes were interesting, though the plot was predictable. The first half had too many details and the second half feel rushed, but I enjoyed the writing style and the concept of revenge across generations. Overall, a solid idea, but the execution could’ve been better.

Though a bit predictable, this was a good read.

I loved the focus on Nicaraguan culture and legend – the book definitely sent me to the web to find out more.

Our main character is likeable. While there’s a touch too much angst for me, she definitely read as a real (angst-filled) teen. I also found her relationship with her mother realistic and emotional!

The story is nicely creepy and it kept me reading.

I’d definitely read the author again and would love more stories about Nicaraguan culture/legend!

*ARC via Publisher

Wonderful story. Everything this author writes is lyrically beautiful. I am a very huge fan of her work. Highly recommend it. 10/10

These Vengeful Wishes was the perfect mix of atmosphere, romance, and horror. If I worked in a high school library, I would absolutely purchase.

Cecilia is a well written character--naive, but intelligent and self-aware. Instead of wishing for material things, Ceci wishes for family and a sense of home. This cemented her connection with la Cegua/Soledad and made me truly feel for the character, where I normally wouldn't feel sympathy for a "monster." I feel like Montalban handled the myth of la Cegua well, creating a connection that would humanize the monster and showcase how often women are used. All of the relationships that Ceci develops through the book are sweet and I loved seeing her lean into healthy friendships, despite never having experienced those things before. This was such a great horror story that also had really solid character development and a nice ending.

I greatly enjoyed the writing in this book. Never once did I feel like I was reading a book that was geared toward young adults; it felt like it was a book meant for anyone who wanted to enjoy a good book.

The lore in this book was amazing and fascinating and I thought it was very interesting. (Especially the truth of it.) I liked the storyline and the cast of characters and I felt like the main character was very human and relatable.

Even though this book had somewhat of a cliched ending, I found that I didn't mind it at all. In fact, I was happy with it and satisfied with how things turned out. I'll give that credit to the author and their ability to weave a storyline together.

Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot and would recommend it to anyone looking for a spooky story of revenge.

Although I don't read a lot of young adult anymore, there was something about the premise of this one that just hooked me in and I had to read it. I did take this into account when considering my enjoyment of the story, knowing that I might not totally connect with the characters. I loved the fantastical horror elements. The dark atmosphere was well-crafted. The folklore was intriguing and engaging. I loved the author's writing and, overall, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed the story.

I don't typically read many YA books because I have found a very large bookish pet peeve of mine is the asinine, if not accurate, decisions and attitudes of the characters. It is very hard to read as an adult. That being said I absolutely love folklore horror/mystery so that really drew me to this one. I will give grace where it is due since I did know it was a YA going into it, but I think this story heavily relied on a headstrong, haphazard main character.

This one was hard for me to get into and to finish. But I really wanted to finish so I did. I feel like it was just missing something to make it a higher star rate for me. I was confused at times.

These Vengeful Wishes delivers an engaging story, though I found much of it to be predictable. The mother-daughter dynamics felt a bit overdone and cheesy, like something you'd expect in a Lifetime movie. On the other hand, the romance subplot was a pleasant surprise and ended up being one of my favorite parts of the book!

The writing itself was a bit of a mixed bag—there were moments when I really enjoyed the atmosphere and direction of the story, but at other times, I was pulled out of the narrative by cliché or cringey depictions of teenage characters. Despite these issues, the overall vibe of the book was enjoyable, especially for the spooky season. It's not the kind of book that will linger with me long after finishing, but I would still recommend it to those looking for something spooky without ever crossing into truly scary territory.

Definitely not what I thought it was going to be but I loved it anyway! Loved the cover. It gives off spooky vibes which is great for spooky season

It did spooked me.
Sometimes i need to remind myself that im not a teenager anymore, so reading from teenager MC is a different perspective. However, Ceci does behave like a teen throughout the whole book, making not the best decisions and acting from the emotions of the moment rather tan thinking things through. This also means she was believable as a character.
I thought the whole lore of the small townwas very intersting and engaging. I do love a small town with creepy stories and ghosts in the woods.
The first half felt a bit overfilled with explanations and bits that didnt contributed too much to the story, this also made the second half a bit rushed and i thought some parts needed more explaining. Specially at the end. However i did enjoyed the story arc and its root on a woman done wrong by men and taking revenge on generations.

Loved everything about this book, the characters, the mystery, the twists, the quick paced story it was just amazingly well written!