This book is definitely a wild ride - and I think it was just too much. The author clearly had so many ideas, but trying to fit them all into one book, and a pretty short book at that, just made it overwhelming. It is less than two weeks from the beginning of this story to the end - so it all happened wayyy too fast, especially the romance. With such a short timespan, there's no buildup to reveals or events, so you've got no tension. There's reveals after reveals right up until the end - literally in the last 3 lines of the book, there is another reveal, and it just all felt like shock factor rather than anything meaningful.

Castle of the Cursed' is a well written ya gothic, that depicts topics of mental health and grief.
Sadly I didn't know, this was going to lean towards a telenovela, and I generally prefer my horror/gothic to be more serious.

Estela finds herself digging through the past of her family’s ancestral Spanish castle, la Sombra, for the secrets behind her parent’s mysterious death.

Received free on netgalley, this story creates an intricate and very unique world. It is filled with twists, turns and betrayals throughout.

This is one of the best books I’ve read this year and a definite new favourite. The writing was stunning and built the atmosphere page by page, so I felt really connected to the characters, setting and the overall story. I’m for sure going to read anything else this author has written next!

If I ever announced I was considering marrying an invisible vampire after knowing him for exactly two weeks, I’d hope at least one person would stage an intervention.

The sole survivor of the mysterious subway accident which killed both her parents, 17-year-old Estela is seriously suffering by the time she is sent from inpatient care in the States to live with her estranged aunt in La Sombra, a foreboding castle in the Spanish countryside. However, Spain is no reprieve from the mysteries following Estela. The village of Oscuro lives in thrall to La Sombra - and its ancestral owners, the Bralaga family - while a silver-eyed boy only she can see, Sebastian, claims he has been trapped in the castle by a powerful enchanter. Is Sebastian really there, or is he a hallucination? Why does Estela keep dreaming of fire and seeing ethereal black smoke? And what really happened to her parents on that subway?

Every website’s metadata appears to have a different opinion of which genre this book falls under - some say fantasy, some horror - but in actual fact, this is a dyed-in-the-wool classic Gothic romance, with a tone which flicks wildly between dark psychological mental illness study, and campy and unpredictable telenovela. There’s plenty of engagement with the Gothic tradition, and while there’s plenty of blood soaking through the pages, it never quite takes the leap into outright horror. In a reference only relevant to myself and a select group of other people, this one is really evocative of RESIDENT EVIL 4: Spanish villagers live in thralled terror in the wake of the mysterious, heraldic figure who holds them in their clutches, while a traumatised American outsider battles to get to the centre of quite what the hell’s going on at the heart of it (although the plot would have gone even faster than its already lightning-fast pace had someone given Estela a Beretta and some functioning medication).

CASTLE OF THE CURSED is packed with classic Gothic tropes and images which even newcomers to the genre are bound to recognise: Estela’s isolation is both geographic and psychological, secrets are buried both literally and figuratively, bloodlines are corrupted, castles are their own characters, and others descend into fits of maniacal madness on the verge of religiosity. On numerous occasions, it broaches into almost-but-not-quite Radcliffe territory, but obviously adapted for the modern age. For the uninitiated, Ann Radcliffe was the undisputed queen of the first wave of Gothic fiction in the 18th century, and pioneered numerous tropes which authors of horror and the Gothic still use today: her works, like THE ROMANCE OF THE FOREST, THE MYSTERIES OF UDOLPHO, and THE ITALIAN all utilise these rural European settings, virtuous and innocent female characters (who we often seen emulated in the pulpy Gothic paperback covers of the 70s and 80s, normally running away from foreboding castles in white nightgowns and carrying candelabras), rakish and sinister aristocrats (who seek to capture or otherwise ruin the aforementioned female characters), sinister secrets hidden in a) castles, b) monasteries or c) crypts, and curses buried into the DNA of families and genealogy. Fun fact: the reason why so many of these stories are set in countries like France, Italy or Spain, and centre around the degeneration of the aristocracy in the contexts of churches and castles, is due to 18th-century anxieties about the danger of Catholicism and the crumbling, rotting facades deemed to be held by the Church according to Protestant English-speakers (I have an English degree and everyone must know about it). Garber leans into this history wholeheartedly; La Sombra is described as cathedral-like on numerous occasions, Estela is at the height of her vulnerability upon her arrival at the castle, Sebastian - being a vampire - takes the inherent threat to Estela on his behalf very literally, and the narrative hinges around the curses embedded in the descendants of the Bralaga line. Even for those who haven’t read these older texts in the Gothic canon, it’s a vibrant usage of these tropes in a modern context - and for the rest of us, it’s fun to recognise them in action.

This novel is one which is at its very best when exploring the numerous facets of grief experienced by its cast, especially by Estela. Following the deaths of her parents - who we get to encounter as readers in the very beginning, just prior to the subway accident, they are cleverly characterised by their absence, permanently giving the sense that Estela’s life is continually and noticeably missing something. We learn early on that Estela’s father worked as a private detective, and his established ‘rules’ for investigation are used throughout as section headers to divide the narrative and establish exactly what Estela’s aims are for the arc, in a clever way that demonstrates the continued presence of her parents in her life even following their deaths. As denoted by the trigger warnings in the very beginning, there are plenty of depictions of mental illness and suicidal ideation throughout the novel, and while it’s entirely understandable for the narrative arc and subject matter, it’s important to keep this in mind if this is something you’re sensitive to.

The key issue with CASTLE OF THE CURSED lies in how the romance of the plot is established, and in how we change in how we view Sebastian’s character as the narrative progresses. Sebastian, our key love interest, is a typical Byronic figure of darkness, a vampire prince from another dimension who is infamous for his bloodthirsty ways and the terror he has inflicted on his homeworld; however, he is very quickly defanged (no pun intended) by the narrative - he is established to have been trapped in the castle by a powerful Bruja, but only Estela can see him, and even when he tries to kill her, black smoke such as that seen during the subway incident comes to her rescue and prevents him - and this fearsome reputation never quite goes beyond stories told to Estela by other people. For the rest of the novel, he and Estela enter an enemies-to-lovers romance which gives the impression that Sebastian’s hatred was only there initially to start this romance, and which moves at absolute breakneck speed for the remainder of the already-limited page count, resulting in Sebastian turning into Estela’s personal attack-dog in the wake of new enemies arriving. The insinuation that a romantic relationship is enough to ‘cure’ Estela’s complex mental health issues caused by her trauma is a very uncomfortable one, especially in fiction aimed at young people. There’s also some really quite strange sexual dynamics at work too. Felipe, Estela’s initial friend and Spanish tutor who is harbouring an obsession with La Sombra (not to mention a desire to join the Bralaga family by aiming to marry Estela), assaults her by kissing her against her will (and for the remainder of the novel is given, frankly, far too much grace), but then Estela immediately does this to Sebastian, blaming this on her mental state and saying “Still, I though Felipe and I were friends. I can’t believe he would forcibly kiss me like that… Then again, didn’t I just do the same thing to Sebastian? I guess you don’t need to be a monster to do monstrous things.” (139) I would personally argue that sexually assaulting someone, no matter the circumstances, makes you a monster anyway, and would have liked to have seen Estela lean into her own personal flaws instead of those caused to her by external trauma. This novel - as denoted by the honestly strange rope scene in which Sebastian demonstrates on Estela how they’re going to tie up her murderous uncle, before it turns into a steamy scene which takes a wild left turn from the established tone - is aimed at the higher end of YA, so I would assume that readers from the ages of 16 and upwards know how to spot an unreliable narrator in first person. Also, why does Sebastian, a vampire who lives exclusively on blood, taste like mint ice cream and cinnamon when Estela kisses him? While in another novel I think this might make for a metaphor, Estela’s internal narration is very direct throughout, so it gives the impression this is a statement to be taken seriously.

Overall, this feels like a 400-page novel crammed into 300, with its pacing turned up to 1000 and consequently the sense that we never quite touch the ground and establish ourselves before we’re hit with more characters, more twists, and more narrative divides. One of the most poignant and interesting characters in the novel, Estela’s aunt Beatriz, is missing for most of the page-time in order to give Estela some time alone with Sebastian in La Sombra, but this also means that we never get the feel for her as a person, and her little redemption is never signposted as much as I would have liked. There’s a lot of worldbuilding for these other mentioned dimensions which is relegated to the final third, meaning that there’s a lot for the reader to get their head around following a slow beginning and middle. This is a book that would have really benefitted from some time and pages to breathe and settle as a narrative - alongside a main character who is allowed to be morally-grey without the narrative excusing her actions all the time. I don’t expect teenage protagonists to be morally perfect, even if they’re the ones talking to me directly.

*CASTLE OF THE CURSED was released by Puffin Books on the 1st of August: remember to support your brick-and-mortar bookshops, especially indies! Thank you to Puffin for an eArc in exchange for an honest review.

Due to health issues cannot write a proper review now even if I enjoyed this book. as it's well plotted, fascinating world building, and entertaining. . I liked the good storytelling
A more extensive review will follow
Recommended.Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I hate to write this, but I have mixed feeling about this book and at the end, I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed because the story had so much potential...

Let me say this first: I loved the first half of the book! Estela is in my opinion a great character with many sides to her personality. Following Estela through her trauma after the tragic death of her parents and her journey to small Spanish town to her aunt who lives at their ancestral Spanish castle, la Sombra, was really fascinating. I loved the gothic, paranormal vibes - the author definitely knows how to set a great atmosphere. I could really picture and understand the castle and the feeling of isolation. And through all of this you also get a Spanish lesson - seems like a great deal!

Unfortunately the story unfolds a little bit after we learn more about the murder mystery and the history of la Sombra. It seemed like way to much story for a standalone novel and I even felt a bit overwhelmed at times. And while I loved Sebastian as a character, I felt as though their love story developed way too quickly, but this could just be my opinion. The reveal and twist at the end was lost on me, too.

There was such a huge rift between the first and second half of the book. The first half was amazing! That's why I would still pick up another book from the author, but this one wasn't my favourite read of the year.

I enjoyed the setting of this book and how much spanish was incorporated in the dialogue.

The atmosphere is eerie but could have been darker for me personally.

I loved our FMC and MMC the duo were fantastic, but I wasnt too sure on the ending. All in all a good read!

Well... where do I even begin?

This book felt like a Spanish lesson - there is so much Spanish used I feel like I learned a fair bit! So there's a plus point straight away.

As for the story, it is really quite intricate the further the book progresses. Tela and Sebastian are a fantastic duo and I love how their relationship blossomed. The sinister side of this book left you feeling haunted and I really like how that flowed from the page.

The ending... that doesn't make sense. How was Sebastian not sense that this person isn't his blood bound? Makes zero sense.

The book was doing well until that point and I'm quite disappointed. Why couldn't it just have been a happy ending? I don't get it.

Castle of the Cursed has great gothic vibes and paranormal elements. The whole concept was great with family secrets and mysteries to be solved. I enjoyed the plot and its development, I felt it was well paced. The setting - a small town in Spain - was amazing. I was not personally sold on the romance but it was a nice side edition. The representation of mental health was done well. Overall I would have preferred a darker atmosphere, it was all there but the FMC just didn’t get scared and this took away that chilling aspect for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

I wanted to enjoy this book a lot more than I did - ''The House Is Always Hungry'' drew me to request this but the more I read the less excited I felt.

This was okay., but nothing special. I think it had a good premise and started off promising, but as the story went on it just got too messy and was a let down. The plot was very confusing, unclear and hard to follow. Therefore any plot twists or reveals fell flat or were just ridiculous and didn’t make sense / missed the emotional landing that Garber was striving for. Additionally, the romance was not believable nor was there any chemistry. I can get on board with an insta-love if there’s chemistry but there was nothing other than reasons for them both to not like each other? I’m quite disappointed really as this book did have an excellent premise and a really good portrayal of grief and the beginnings of a good exploration of feeling like you’ve lost a part of your identity/heritage but it seemed to trade this all in for cheap drama and confusing plot lines.

More of a 2.5 rounded up.

***As with any novel that provides trigger warnings, please make sure you read them and are comfortable before proceeding!

Please be aware that my review is based on the ARC I recieved through net galley. This is an advanced reader copy review. Thank you for providing it for me net galley.

I have mixed feelings about this book at current, it had a lot of potential. For me, it felt that there was too much content shoved into one novel for it to be considered a stand alone. Whilst COTC did have some dark gothic elements alongside some haunting unsettling supernatural moments, I felt that it couldn't decided whether it was following the formula of a gothic or horror. The writing overall was very atmospheric which I did enjoy. For example; there were moments where I could visually picture the interior of the castle, its layout and every single room Estela described. The descriptions and the haunting narrative of the castle was interesting too and I enjoyed those parts. However, saying this, there were some moments that just felt a bit flat and it also did not unfold in the way I anticipated it would.

From the beginning of the novel we are hooked into the storyline in the first few chapters. We delve into Estela's trauma right from the very start; the immediate loss of her parents during the subway accident, survivors guilt, an experience in a psych ward, and then how she ends up in Spain with her estranged aunt. The first portion of the book explores who Estela is through her trauma, early PTSD from the accident and her isolation living in the Castle. We learn that her main goal is to find out what happened to her parents, she also discovers things about herself that she needs to investigate. However, there are so many moments where we change direction from this focus throughout the story.

We continue to experience Estela's frustration in not being able to understand her native language, and some back and forth dialogue with her aunt who's fairly vague and confusing. She is later sent to have Spanish lessons with Felipe, from the local library. We learn also about The Brálaga family story. There is a lot of historical lore. We have several chapters of her exploring the mystery whilst learning Spanish lesson.Whilst I thought it was a moving way to explore the diaspora she felt, the haunted history mysteries of the Castle, the odd town, and those who reside within it - this is where the story starts to stall.

From then on, we sway in multiple different directions learning about the la Sombra Castle. There were a lot of references to hallucinations also that I often found were a bit nonsensical. We also meet Sebastian the vampire, who seems to have some form of amnesia. He's trapped in la Sombra and Estela is the only person who can see him. The romance that kindles between them feels a bit too on the insta-love side, things are very rushed between them - he goes from loathing her to making her meals and 'suddenly' falling for her. I just felt the chemistry wasn't there and it was a forced. It feels more lusty than anything else. I'm not a fan of this but others might be.

By around the 50%-70% mark I started to feel a bit lost and the plot starts to fall apart. There is a rather large pivot that occurs in the story, which threw me off. We often slipped between the past and present very quickly. This may just be an editing comment - there was too much italic font used in the flashbacks. Personally, the reveal towards the end completely lost me, the 'twist' at the end was just felt so pointless? and why did we bother going through several chapters of those dynamics for it to end the way it did? from 60% onwards it just gets too messy and chaotic for me.

The first half of the book I genuinely enjoyed and I felt like it was really going somewhere. Which is why I've said there are elements of the book that were strong and others that just fell short of the mark.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC.

The first third of the book was amazing-we had mystery, an isolated village and a secluded castle-everything I would wish from a Gothic story. Unfortunatly, the later 2/3ds let me down. The pacing was all over the place, the plot twists were just 'meh' and I hated the the romance storyline (13days to have this kind of attachment-not in my wildest dreams).

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin for providing me with this arc in exchange for my honest review.

The cover and title, made me excited to start reading this YA book! I’m always in for a spooky read. And a dark haunted castle? Yes please!!

When I started reading, I noticed and loved the beautiful writing, the great bond the main character had with her parents and the quirky activities she did with her dad. But I also got a sense of a secret past, her parents kept hidden from her.

When the event that takes her parents from her happened at the start of the book, I was shocked and intrigued! The story kept getting more and more mysterious while Estela’s mental health got worse. I was so happy when (eventually) a family member turned up. An aunt who makes her move to a gothic castle in Spain that I loved exploring together with her, even if it was actually forbidden for her to do so. Or maybe because of it ;).

The writing stays great and there were even some very cozy small town moments in between the dark and mysterious parts but.. (this might be a minor spoiler) the moment Estela started seeing shadows in her dreams and in reality, which are supposed to be mysterious, scary and even become dangerous, and she called them “her shadow beast” felt completely ridiculous to me. She uses the name a lot from then on and it made me roll my eyes every time and it completely broke the tension. That and the pacing being more and more off, made me lose interest. The lack of believability, needed to keep taking the supposedly scary parts serious was probably the main reason I started contemplating to keep reading or not. I eventually had to DNF because I just couldn’t get that mysterious, dark and haunting vibe back, that was needed for me to really enjoy the story and take it seriously.

I didn’t rate this too low because I didn’t finish it and it did have some great writing and I really enjoyed the beginning and some parts further on but overall not a great read for me.

Thank you to Penguin and NetGalley for my review copy.

2 stars.

What in the telenovela? This was so melodramatic that it took me completely off guard and I was expecting a twisty, lovely gothic thing from the blurb and the melodrama campiness I found myself reading was jarring. I know I went into this with expectations set by the blurb and cover that, ultimately, the contents did not reach.

The pacing felt very off. In the first 30 percent, there was a lot of lovely gothic slowness, and then suddenly, it was super fast paced for 30 percent. I absolutely enjoyed what we were set up with in the first part that then when the bulk of the story didn't hit it, I was disappointed.

There were a few chapters that were from the POV of a young child and whilst I was reading them, I felt like there was something off in how they were handled, like they made me feel minorly uncomfortable.

The relationship between Estela and Sebastian is something I found myself having issues with. Estela is supposed to be around 17/18, and a lot of her actions made me think of someone who was closer to 15/16. And then we don't know the exact age of Sebastian (or at least I don't remember it being mentioned, but I interpreted him as like a Darkling coded type of character (I actually hate that I have typed that in a review). And they suddenly have an insta-love relationship that goes from 0 to 100 very quick.

I know I am a reader who loves an immersive world, with a detailed magic system and I found a lot to be desired from this, especially with how much camp and melodrama there ended up being.

There were very little depth to the relationships between the characters and a lot of plot twists that happened felt like they happend "just because" and that they weren't as satisfying and gratifying as they could be.

I will admit, however, that I got insane food envy from the descriptions of the food. They made me so hungry whilst I was reading and wishing I could be in Spain.

This isn't to say the book is bad. I know there will be someone out there who this is made for, bu sadly this isn't for me. I think I had ideas of something that I got from the blurb and then the atual book did not deliver from the vibes of the blurb.

I really enjoyed Romina Garber's last book, particularly her writing style and although this next story isn't at that level, this is still a really enjoyable read that I would recommend.

●Castle of the Cursed by Romina Garber●

*I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

Releases August 1st!

Going into this book I had expected a YA darkly gothic romance with supernatural elements due to the trigger warnings and blurb, and whilst this book did have all of that, it didn't feel the way I'd anticipated.

This isn't a bad book, it's enjoyable but just felt scattered and a lot. The beginning chapters hook you, making you question what is going on, but then the pacing fades out and nothing really happens for a while. We get introduced to Estela's estranged aunt and the castle she owns in Spain. There's a odd town and even odder residents, and I enjoyed the atmosphere.

When the story begins to unravel and more questions and characters pop up around 30 percent in is when things become confusing. There's a lot of mystery and a whole magic system to learn, Estela is a flawed character which I liked, but she also makes some dumb decisions despite her having a 'detective' mindset. In the middle the plot begins to focus on the romance with a mysterious figure trapped within the castle, known as Sebastiàn.

The romance sadly wasn't my favourite part, it's enemies to lovers but felt rushed and sudden. Within two weeks the characters are madly in love with each other and willing to do anything, whilst this worked for the resolution and getting it done within the book, I personally felt like forced.

The last quarter of the book is...a lot. We get a massive info-dump along with some plot twists I didn't expect but didn't really care about, at this point my brain was kerfuffled. It kind of goes a bit sci-fi with different dimensions and timelines and such, and it just felt out of place for a gothic novel.

The ending seems to wrap up everything quite easily, but it does hint at a possible sequel with some troubles still unresolved. Overall this was entertaining and had the moody vibes, but I personally felt like it wasn't what I anticipated and was led to believe.

3/5 🌟

I really wanted to push through but at 71% I just couldn't continue anymore.

First, I really couldn't stand the romance at all. Spoiler: The main character goes from being mute (because of trauma) and suicidal, to being in love with a "shadow beats", who wanted to kill her a day ago, in two days. You may think it's because of her mental health and need for another person, any person, but it's not written that way at all.
There is zero emotional connection between the characters and I really couldn't understand why they fell in love immediately ... I didn't got an answer from the main characters inner thoughts and monologue either...
I continued reading because I absolutely enjoyed the atmosphere. A creepy, gothic castle surrounded by a small secluded village, with residents full of ancient superstitions? That's right up my alley! I loved the mystery around the small spanish town and that only those who believe in the old stories and secrets stay there.
Sadly that was the only thing that I liked about the book. I maybe could have overlooked the fact that I din't like the romance, if the writing would have been better. I often found myself confused by it and had to reread passages to make sure I didn't miss anything. For example, there are three characters in a scene, but suddenly one of them isn't mentionend anymore, even if they should have a reaction to what is happening.

Although I didn't enjoy the book I want to thank NetGalley and Puffin Books for giving me an arc in exchange for an honest review.