Bochica is a gothic horror featuring a grand mansion settled on the Salto del Tepquendama and a family that’s forever changed by it. We meet Antonia as she trying to live a normal life and leave behind the place that tore her family apart. You are immersed into the world of la Casona and the way it ingrains itself into the people and the horrors that come with it. I loved that the house was its own character and how it had a plot forward vibe. You get to know the characters and feel for them but really I felt more drawn in by the land culture and it was of tormenting the people involved. I did struggle some with the pacing as it was a little slower. The ending sped up some in the last few chapters. I loved the way it ended!


Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for my #gifted copy.

I loved the gothic and eerie atmosphere.
Very much a slow burn.
The most interesting parts of the story were more tell than show.

Es 3.5.

Me gustó mucho la ambientación y la construcción de los personajes. El storytelling/edición fue el que no me convenció tanto porque daba muchas vueltas innecesarias y fue reiterativa. Me hubiera gustado que la prosa fuera más fluida. Pese a esto, no me aburrió y lo terminé disfrutando mucho.
Me encantó el misterio (a pesar de que vi venir lo que sucedió), hubo tensión suficiente para hacerme continuar leyendo y mi parte favorita fue el folclor que la autora tejió con la trama.
Por supuesto que leería algo más de la autora.

A gothic horror that is atmospheric and vibey. Antonia is haunted by her traumatic past. She must face her fears and much darker things when her father is accused of murder when they return to the home that took everything from her.
Antonia is a young woman yearns to find freedom that she has had to set aside to care for her father. She pushes against the social structure of her time and resents the place that she has been stuck in. As she fights to clear her father’s name and expose the truth, she finds that the darkness that follows her is only an indication of a bigger evil.

The book is dark, creepy, and immersive. The description of this big, expansive mansion tucked alongside a waterfall is so detailed and creates a gorgeous backdrop for the book. Most of the side characters are intriguing and help create stakes for Antonia. The horror scenes are vivid and scary and truly haunting. The inclusion on indigenous practices and how they can be bastardized by those who chase power was a good addition. I like how Alejandro is there as a support for Antonia without being too much of a distraction, but the romantic hints felt more like a trauma bond than anything promising. I do feel that the pacing was just a bit off, and that several revelations were foreshadowed too soon. Instead of finding out with the character, we know before her and it feels less climactic. Overall it’s a good book and I’m looking forward to more from this author.

I love gothic books so I was really excited to read Bochica. While Flórez-Cerchiaro excelled at setting the mood and the real-life setting of Tequendama Falls Mansion in Colombia is so atmospheric, I felt a lot was missing in this book, especially in character development. It was also quite repetitive - the characters thought and said the same things many times. I definitely will check out Flórez-Cerchiaro's next books though. Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC.

Bochica was a quick and easy read with a bit of magic, romance, and some twists. I’d recommend it for younger readers.

The writing was gorgeous. I loved how the author described everything. 💚

This book will be on sale May 13, 2025. A big thanks to NetGalley and Atria/ Primero Sueño Press for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I'd like to thank Netgalley for the ARC, in exchange I am providing my honest review.

The premise of <i> Bochica </i> is interesting. I love a gothic horror with a cerebral heroine. (If this is also your thing, may I recommend anything by Isabel Cañas? She's incredible.) Unfortunately, this book feels more like a rough draft. Coming in at 256 pages, it definitely could have been fleshed out with more details.

The romance between Antonia and Alejandro was lacking in build, and I am not sure it was necessary to really hold the story together. I think the space used to shoehorn in their relationship could have been used to build description or more character development for Antonia.

I think the plot has promise, but unfortunately it wasn't carried out as well as it could have been.

A twisty, Gothic thriller that will leave you wondering what's real and who to trust. With its locked room mysteries, repressed memories, and a woman's desperate search for the truth and her own autonomy, Bochica harkens back to canonical Gothic stories, bringing with it both nostalgia and new twists.

I really wanted to like this book. A heroine in the Bronte tradition living in a mysterious mansion/hotel? A combination of Mexican Gothic with The Shining? That gorgeous cover? Catnip for me. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. I loved the descriptions of the house, the waterfall near which it sits, and the jungle that surrounds it. I enjoyed the background on the Native Muisca people and their art and religion, but the rest wasn’t for me. Antonia, the main character, was also supposed to be a modern woman ahead of her time (1923); but she just sounded like a brat. The rest of the cast wasn’t fleshed out. Normally, I can root for someone I dislike but my real problem was the plot. I have specific examples but they are spoilers so please beware. <spoiler>Someone is accused of something heinous. Another character was there and witnessed everything but everybody covers for him because they don’t want him to lose his job. Then, Antonia goes undercover to the hotel, with a reservation and all but nobody knows she’s there? Didn’t she have to check in? Where did she get the key?</spoiler> Maybe it is no big deal but if it bothered me so much it means that I wasn’t invested in the plot. Antonia seems to really need her position as a school teacher so much but she’s wealthy and hates her job so I just didn’t see the problem. The whole book is riddled with these inconsistencies. Also the dialogues didn’t seem to belong to that era (a sheltered young woman from a good family cursing?). So anyway, I think the idea was brilliant but the execution wasn’t great. Too bad.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Atria Books.

I loved the Gothic & Eerie vibes but it was just too slow for me.

The ending did not disappoint me.

I am so sad that this book just didn't work for me.

I got about halfway through the book and was just... utterly bored. The main character and her motivations and personality traits feel very flat and ill-suited to the story and I had a hard time following the romantic angle, in particular.

As it stands, the book reads as very formulaic and doesn't offer a lot in terms of "pulling the reader in to listen closerly". There is no chemistry between Antonia and Alejandro and the romance element seemed unnecessary. There is a lot of telling vs showing in this book which left a lot to be desired, most significantly with the villain and understanding the motivations the antagonist had.

There are a lot of plot holes and there is also never really a true point of climatic tension.

I do believe that this book will work for some people, but, unfortunately, it did not resonate with me and I had really high expectations.

Thank you to Netgalley for this arc. This takes place in Colombia in the year 1923. If you enjoy gothic horror and haunted mansions, this is the book for you. It was creepy and thrilling. Such a good read. Reminded me of Mexican Gothic.

Bochica was a quick, straightforward gothic horror. It had elements of magic, romance, and a few twists thrown in.

The writing was beautiful. I loved how the author described everything. The story flowed so quickly. I always love a good “haunted house” book, and this one was no exception. I was drawn in right away and had a hard time putting it down.

I loved Antonia’s character from the very beginning. She was strong and determined to find out the truth about what caused her mother’s death. I also really enjoyed Alejandro and Carmela’s characters.

Thank you Atria Boooks for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Bochica is a gothic mystery set in Colombia perfect for fans of haunted house stories and folk horror.

In 1930s Colombia, Antonia revisits her childhood home, a sprawling cliffside mansion that was haunted by a malevolent force. Her mother's tragic death, and her father's attempt to burn down the mansion, has haunted Antonia her whole life. When she finds herself back within its strange walls, the past comes back to haunt her, deepening the mystery of her mother's death.

This story was based around Colombian folklore and mythology, infusing a typical story about rituals and dark magic with a cultural perspective. Indigenous cultures, sacred land, and abuses of colonization are explored in the story, using the supernatural as a way to bring to light social justice.

Overall I liked the story even though it was a little predictable. I thought the pacing was good and the suspense kept me on the edge of my seat. I enjoyed reading about a culture I don't know a lot about which added to the eerie pagan vibe the author created.

Spooky and rooted in an ancient civilization, Bochica is a unique contribution to the Gothic genre.

This book's biggest strength is its writing, which I already suspected since Carolina is a wonderful writer. As someone who lived close to Soacha (where the book takes place), I was very excited to read it, and God, it didn't disappoint. The characters' voices were very strong, and the dialogue was very distinctive. The atmosphere was superb, and I quite literally couldn't read this book at night because I was so scared, which is, you know, the biggest compliment one can give to a horror author. I would've really loved it if we were shown things more than told, as well as having a little more development in the romance aspect, but overall, it was a very enjoyable read! I can't wait to see what Carolina does next!

If you're a fan of gothic/haunted house (and sometimes people) stories you will most definitely love this, the prose was lush and immersive, our main character was captivating and I found myself unable to put it down, I will say this author has their own style and I personally enjoy it but it may not be for everyone, there is a lot of telling and not necessarily showing, to me it felt like our protagonist is reading out loud to us but I loved it, felt very personal and intimate

As a new horror fan, I was so excited to read this book. The cover is gorgeous and the premise sounded incredible. Everything sounded promising, but I don't think it was well executed

First, this book did not seem like it was ready fro be shared with readers, as there were so many issues with the grammar and writing. This is likely due to the fact that this is a translated work, but I think another round of edits was needed before being shared. It was very choppy and the grammatical errors and clunky wording often pulled me right out of the story.

Besides issues with grammar and sentence structure, the plot itself felt underdeveloped. The author tells the reader a long, with long descriptions and details, but rarely shows the reader anything. This would get repetitive and I didn't feel like i was reading anything all that interesting. I was told that Antonia loves gothic novels, which felt at times as a stand in for actually creating any gothic atmosphere. I was told which gothic novels and authors i should be thinking about, but nothing gothic was conjured beyond this.

I left this book with more questions than I started it with. The cast of characters was large and individual characters were not fully fleshed out. I didn't connect with anyone and didn’t understand anyone's motivations. People would help or hinder Antonia and i couldn't understand why they were helpful ot harmful characters, since most of their actions seemed random. I had this issue with Antonia herself, who would flip flop in her resolve constantly. It was unclear if this was on purpose, and she was supposed to be an unreliable narrator, or if these were simply continuity errors. One moment she was fiercely loyal to her father, the next wanted him to suffer, and round and round again. I think if the story and the stakes had been better fleshed out, I would have better understood everyone's motivations.

I also found the romantic subplot of this to be underdeveloped. Antonia meets a young reporter, Alejandro, and we're never shown any romantic tension build but at one point they are suddenly kissing. I was shocked when this happened, since i did not see any chemistry on page between them.

Alejandro was another character with unclear motivations. He would randomly show up in a scene with a clue or piece of information to very conveniently move the plot along, but we didn't get any explanation as to why or how he ended up with the information. He's just used as a plot device and very little about him is explained or fleshed out. I had this issue with Alejandro and many other characters. They would show up with answers and plot points would get explained away in ways that often felt too convenient or predictable.

Despite my issues with the book, I really enjoyed the discussion and history of the Muisca people that was depicted in the story. It discussed colonization and it's impacts in important ways. I also enjoyed the discussions and depictions of different aspects of this Muisca religious practices. In this depiction of Bochica, she is a woman, but in further research I learned that Bochica is usually depicted as a man. It was interesting that the god was gender bent for this book, but I don't understand why that was done. i would have liked bochica to make more of an appearance in the book since it is named after her, and for this decision to maybe be fleshed out.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this book.

The most honest opinion: I don't know how this is getting published.

All Antonia does is *tell* us things. I didn't feel any of her fear or suspense because we weren't immersed in scene with her. We were just told, constantly, that she's afraid (and that she likes Gothic novels). Yes, the Gothic is an interior genre, but this was such a mess. Half the time I didn't know what Antonia was supposed to be doing because she kept disappearing into her rambling and extremely repetitive thoughts. That doesn't a Gothic novel make. The narrative was choppy and uncohesive, the romance unnecessary, the characters flat and boring. I don't know why people keep saying this prose is lush—if you want truly beautiful prose and legit Gothic atmosphere, read Isabel Canas.

This was one of my most anticipated of 2025 but it was a massive let down. Especially compared to Mexican Gothic and The Shining—which, y'all, it is neither. I can't honestly recommend this to anyone. Actually read Mexican Gothic or The Shining instead.

**Thank you Netgalley and Atria for a EArc of the book in exchange for my honest opinion***

I truly think the author picked a very interesting topic but how it reads feels like a first draft.

I had an incredibly hard time keeping my attention invested in this book. There was an excessive amount of telling and that snagged my attention and made it difficult to read.

The transitions to different scenes would surprise me? I'd be reading the end of chapter and BAM we are somewhere completely different, nothing smooth about it.

The author kept bringing Gothic up.. I also felt this with Daughters of Block Island. You are writing something Gothic so there is no need to constantly bring the word up. It's up to the author to create a unique and creepy world.. you shouldn't have to rely on using Gothic to describe what's going on.

At the beginning of the book she switches between using Mama and Estela along with papa and Ricardo. That can be confusing when first starting a book. It interchanges randomly. Along with flashbacks to the past. In the middle of a paragraph from the present Antonia thinks back to the past.

I didn't mind the romance aspect but it really could have been explored more.

Overall it's choppy and reads like a first draft.

I will say the setting is very unique and I haven't read anything similar it just needed some TLC in transitions and character development.

I am a sucker for gothic stories and this is one of the best I’ve read in a long time. Will appeal to lovers of Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Isabel Canas, but with its own distinctive style that I absolutely loved. Antonia is a fantastic, strong main character and she makes smart decisions and figures things out in really clever ways, which doesn’t often happen with gothic heroines. From the opening pages this book really pulls you in and I finished it in just two sittings (would’ve been one but I had to go to work). I will definitely be on the lookout for anything this writer comes out with in the future!