Quick as a snake bite, this one. But I'm left feeling a bit dazed and confused. This is the first in a trilogy, but I needed a bit more in the way of setup. (Or maybe I'm not the target audience.) At the end, I'm not sure if the protagonist Matea is coming into her own, possessed, mentally ill (hope not ... ), or something else. The author leans on lore from Mexican culture but without much explanation, such that it would take some effort on the part of the unacquainted reader to familiarize themselves with it. On top of that, I'm not really sure what the point was. Esme, Brandon, Gina ... I guess these characters were merely vassals to Matea's own development, but aside from Esme, there wasn't enough to go on. And Esme only gets depth in the end. There's a creeping horror underneath it all, but it's occluded by the character drama, which just didn't have enough going for it. Well-written and a lot of original elements, but not enough for me to go on or stoke a desire to continue with the series to find out more.

This book was truly something special. Combining witch craft, religious trauma, Mexican folklore and mythology, and complicated relationship dynamics; Sinner was a book I enjoyed immensely. Sometimes I found myself questioning the motives of the characters, but that only added to the mystery and horror of what was occurring.

I accessed this book via Netgalley, after seeing the cover and being hooked by description. The book mostly follows Matea, but the narrator, seemingly omniscient, follows all of the other characters in the story.

The story revolves around Matea’s journey as she slowly unravels and is on the path to becoming possessed by La Santa Muerte, basically a Mexican deity of death, similar to the grim reaper.

The writing was addicting and filled with beautiful imagery, and at times gruesome. I would classify this book in the horror genre with some fantasy elements. I could easily envision this book as a graphic novel or animated/live action series. I loved the incorporation of the Spanish language. As a Latina, I love seeing Spanish in books and I thought the author did a good job of giving enough context to non-Spanish speaking audiences.

That being said, the book is very short, maybe classified as a novella, so we don’t sit long with all the characters and are limited time with each of them. I wished we got more backstories on some of the side characters and even the main ones because they didn’t seem fully fleshed out. The book does end on a cliffhanger, and with a sneak peak at a sequel, so the story is set up as a series, not a stand-alone. I would definitely read the next book in the series to see what happens next with the characters.

The idea was lovely, there are few books that cover the subject of Mexican culture and what's more important, are inspired by it. I adored it. However, the characters came out a little too dull in some moments. For example the purpose of Gina and Brandon is just to look pretty and kiss the MC, no other thoughts behind their eyes. That's why I think the romance subplot was unsatisfying. In my opinion, Esme and Matea had bigger potential to have an enemies to lovers relationship than putting Matea in the relationship with either Gina or Brandon. Overall, the book was gripping, fast-paced and easy to get into and get through, what I would avoid is so many POVs that sometimes made the book confusing.

Matea has always felt different and separate from her peers; plagued by a growing black smudge on her hand, and visions of rattlesnakes following her. She can't explain what's going on, but all Matea knows is that the darkness calls to her and she struggles to stay away.

Sinner starts with Matea at the age of 9 being forced to go to church with her mother. She was marked by Santa Muerte (the Holy Lady of Death) before entering a church and ever since that moment, she started to see rattlesnakes, and her mother and grandmother started treating her differently.

As Matea grows into her early 20s she starts working at a distribution enter.

At the center you are introduced to 3 more main characters - Esme, Brandon, and Gina. While Brandon and Gina become her close confidantes and lovers, Esme quickly becomes her sworn enemy as they both practice Brujeria.

Matea harbors a deep-seated hatred towards Esme and does everything in her power to harm Esme. Matea gets her wish and realizes just how powerful she is when Esme ends up losing a finger at work and eventually a toe. Throughout the novel, Matea's grandmother's religious beliefs are explored, revealing why Santa Muerte plays such a significant role in Matea and Esme's lives.

I enjoyed the story a lot. I had a vague understanding of Brujeria before I read this novel and I enjoyed how it was incorporated into the story - it gave me a great opportunity to go down the Wikipedia rabbit hole on the topic!

What I didn't like about the book was how many POV's were involved - off hand I can think of 7 POVs. Each chapter will contain 4-5 POVs and sometimes it got weird and didn't flow. At least 5 of the POVs, I thought, were unnecessary. If you just had Matea and Esme's viewpoints, it would have made a more cohesive story. I wish there were most chapters just on Esme, her story was more interesting than Matea's.


This book is great if you're dipping your toes into the horror genre!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book.

There were parts that didn’t make sense since they were details that came out of nowhere. It was as if two characters who never interacted in a work environment suddenly had a decades-long friendship. I missed the subtle setup that would have made those details pack more of a punch.

This problem leads to no one of the book’s downfalls: there’s a lot going on. We are following four different characters pretty well and then get POV scenes and chapters from other characters. It wasn’t consistent and felt like too much in a book that short. I don’t know if it would have been better to let those POV people have more or get rid of them entirely. The one character that I would have loved more POV from was Esme. You have to make me care that your villain may succeed.

This is the first book in the series and so my question at the end was “Would I continue this series?” The short answer: no. I really wish I could, but it didn’t latch onto me as well as I wanted it to.

Thank you netgalley for this arc!

Ay dios mío! I want this to take off. I want this to be a smashing success when this drops. Fantasy as a whole, horror as a whole…stories in general aren’t diverse enough. We know this. But this satisfied a need of mine. To see someone like me, people like me, this was spectacular.

This is an honest review, thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

This was the first introduction I had into La Santa Muerte, and I found this book to be quite accessible. In fact, I'm thinking of doing some of my own research into learning more.

As someone who grew up with similar feelings toward religion as Matea, the beginning was a breath of fresh air, even with many scenes being church scenes. I'm glad there's a character like Matea who was surrounded by religion, but felt like a black sheep since she didn't and couldn't understand what was so great about it. I appreciated that in her development.

However, the pacing was a little off for me. It starts when she's a kid, then around her teenage/adult years, then college and it continues from there; however most of the time is when she's in college, but not really going to college. Just saying she needs to find a way to pay for the next semester. There is an instance from a previous semester involving a teacher and snakes, but that's the only time she's really there.

There is a witchy feud between her and another character. *Warnings for bullying, body mutualization, and death*

Overall, this was one of the few horror books I've read and I look forward to reading more in the genre.

3.5 Stars

I requested this book because of the title and summary. I was not disappointed. This was a fun and quick read for sure.
Definitely gets dark, but I'm a big fan of that. Though not all readers will love the religious, occult and dark aspects of this book, I really enjoyed it.

Matea's connection with Santa Muerte grows as this story goes on and so does the war between Esme and Matea. Marshall did an incredible job writing the characters so that I was rooting for and against each character throughout the books. Though the fact that I root for a bruja might say more about me.

This one is scheduled to come out May 31 and I'[d recommend giving it a read if you are into withches, culturally rich stories and a little darkness. I would have rated higher, but feel that some parts could have been a bit more flushed out. I am looking forward to reading the second book in this trilogy.

I received this ARC for free from NetGalley and am providing my own opinion of this book.

I unfortunately had to DNF this title. It was really not what I was expecting. It has a very interesting plot premise but the execution was not working for me. The writing wasn't super clear, there were many paragraphs with contradictions and sometimes even in the same sentence. It made it very difficult to read and get immersed and it was really confusing. But what really got me was how brutal and dark the story got. It just started to feel icky to me and I wasn't willing to keep reading.

I may come back to this review and put in some thoughts behind spoilers but I need to think on it.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy. It just wasn't the right book for me.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'Sinner - Santa Muerte Book 1' by Carol James Marshall. The story follows Detective Gabriel Orozco as he investigates a series of gruesome murders in Los Angeles that seem to be linked to the Santa Muerte cult. As the case progresses, Gabriel finds himself drawn deeper into the dangerous world of the cult and must confront his own demons in order to solve the case.

The author does an excellent job of creating a dark and gritty atmosphere that really immerses the reader in the story. The characters are well-developed, and I found myself invested in Gabriel's journey from start to finish. The plot is fast-paced and kept me guessing until the very end.

One thing I particularly appreciated about this book was the way it explored the Santa Muerte cult and its practices. It was clear that the author had done extensive research into the topic, and I felt like I learned a lot about this fascinating but often misunderstood religion.

Overall, I would highly recommend 'Sinner - Santa Muerte Book 1' to fans of crime fiction and thrillers. While there were a few moments where the pacing felt a bit uneven, the overall quality of the writing and storytelling more than made up for it. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing where the series goes from here!

Rating: 4/5 stars.

While scrolling through NetGalley the striking and beautifully illustrated cover of this book caught my eye, it wasn't until I clicked on it that I noticed the name of the author, Carol James Marshall. Having read some of her previous books I knew that this had the potential to be a genuinely dark and disturbing tale , and I could not wait to dive right in.
From the beginning it grabbed my attention as we are introduced to the main character, Matea, as a nine year old girl being brought back to Mexico by her mother to visit her grandmother. In a few brief sentences the author shows us what it feels like for Matea, living between two very different worlds and not quite sure where she really fits in either. She also knows that there is something different about her, she is drawn towards darkness, despite the best efforts of her mother and the nuns at her catholic school. Something strange happens on this visit and Matea's life is forever changed. As the book progresses Matea's story unfolds and we see just how different she is as she grows from a confused teen who fears she has a psychiatric illness because of the things she sees that no one else does to a young woman who is trying to come to terms with her strange abilities , figure out what she wants in life and deal with a former friend who has betrayed her.
This book was deliciously dark with elements of body horror that were chilling rather than gruesome and lots of nods to the author's Latina heritage and traditions but done in a way that felt very fresh and original. I found myself fully invested in Matea's story and keen to know what will happen next , and if the sample chapters from the next book in the series are anything to go by, I will not be disappointed.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.