Nothing I say about this collection of short stories will do it justice, absolutely amazing and everything I love about the horror genre.

I loved Goddess of Filth by V. Castro so eagerly picked this one up. Unfortunately, this short story collection was disjointed and repetitive. It’s extremely horny which isn’t on its own a bad thing, but the characters are so indistinct and the prose much weaker than in Castro’s other work that it got annoying to read similar sex scenes over and over and over again where little seemed to change regardless of character and context. None of the short stories particularly stood out and the longer piece dragged.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Pink Agave Motel by V. Castro is a novel that struggles to find its footing. The first eleven chapters consist of short stories that feel entirely disconnected from the main plot, leaving readers confused about their relevance. This fragmented structure makes it challenging to follow the narrative and engage with the overarching story.

Additionally, the book suffers from frequent grammatical errors, which disrupt the flow and diminish the reading experience. These issues, combined with unclear transitions and convoluted storytelling, make the book hard to read.

While Castro’s ambition to weave together different narratives is evident, the execution falls short. Moments of vivid imagery and intriguing ideas hint at the potential for a compelling story, but they are overshadowed by the book’s structural and technical shortcomings.

Overall, The Pink Agave Motel feels disjointed and poorly edited, making it a frustrating read. Readers who value coherence and polished prose may find this book disappointing. With more refinement, it could have been a stronger work, but as it stands, it’s difficult to recommend.

A hypnotic mix of sex and horror, this is a very solid short story collection. It focuses on the monstrous, and the appeal of the monstrous as well. This is great for all the monster fuckers out there. I think the balance between gore and love is what really makes it work. There's sorcerers against flesh-eating beings, there's vampires trying to escape their dark corners of existence, old gods in the new world, and mermaids. All of it maintains a delightfully queer and anti-colonialist perspective. V Castro is an exciting voice in horror.
My only problem with it was that some of the writing, especially the dialogue, was sometimes clunky and unnatural sounding. Aside from that, the ideas present were interesting and well-executed.

This motel is not everyone! Whether you go there to kill or be killed. Both done with a lot of pleasure.
Welcome to the Pink Agave Motel!

This book is split into two.

The 1st half of the book is made of short stories that tackle different creatures individually like vampires, aliens, demons, zombies, ghosts and my 2 favourite stories feature a mummy and an AI sex doll.

The 2nd half is about Valentina, the owner of the motel.
How she became who she is, the friends that she surrounds herself with, and the motel she built for creatures like herself where she hosts feeding events.
As if this wasn't enough there's still a story of greed and treason that will twine together with her love story.

This book brings you love, gore, blood and lots of spice. With no boundaries!
So definitely check the trigger warnings.

...and if you're interested in spending some time in this motel you'll have to wait for the release date which will be March next year.

I will preface this by saying, I don’t normally love short story collections. This was a solid conglomeration of stories, but I will say not one in particular really stands out. I will still always check out what this author creates. Thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy.

I love the author and her previous works. This did not disapoint. When I saw this I had to have it, Thank you netgalley and to the publisher. I was captivated by the authors writing and the plot of the story. From the very beginning I was taken in. I found the pacing to be mid-level and it was perfect. I can’t wait to see what else the author writes.

V. Castro's "The Pink Agave Motel & Other Stories" is a horror short story collection about monsters, specifically female cannibalistic vampires, having sex, dreaming about sex, seeking sex, fantasizing about sex, and lusting after eye-catching males. It's not smut, though it has many spicy scenes; it's true horror, full of gore, brutality, some vulgarity, and all kinds of violence. People get distressed, depressed, beaten, bitten, eaten, disemboweled, and both physically and emotionally cut open.

The female monsters act wildly (there are males, too, but they act pretty much predictably), their self-confidence both admirable and embarrassing. What stood out for me, however, was the writing: constantly brimming with life, passion, sin, and desire. No matter what Castro wrote about, it sounded sensual and carnal. Under these circumastances, the choice to narrate everything in first-person was wise! I loved the flash fiction stories, but my favorite ones were the ones conveying a feeling of completeness: primarily the opening story, "Carnival of Gore," which is pretty much what the title implies, and "Mako," a nice lead-in to the titular novella. Highly recommended!

The Pink Agave Motel is a great collection of stories from V.Castro. Each one I could see becoming its own novel.
If you enjoy dark and dangerous reads then this is definitely one to add to the TBR, I can't wait to read more from this author.

V. Castro’s The Pink Agave Motel is a striking collection of stories that elegantly weaves together elements of horror, fantasy, intimacy, and cultural heritage into a hauntingly intoxicating narrative. Set against the backdrop of a seemingly innocuous motel, Castro invites readers into a world where brutality and desire entwine, creating a tapestry rich with both dread and allure. This collection is not merely a series of tales but a profound exploration of unrequited love, identity, and the primal urges that shape us all.
Throughout the anthology, Castro’s voice, deeply rooted in Mexican folklore and imbued with feminist perspectives, shines through. Each story serves as a vessel of raw emotion, blending Gothic terror with biting humor and unexpected twists. From a woman struggling to find her place in a seaside honky-tonk to guests exploring their sexual liberation under the shadow of supernatural forces, Castro masterfully draws on a diverse cast of characters to illustrate the many ways desire can manifest—and distort—human experience.
Castro pushes the boundaries of genre, she carves out an exploration of lust and violence that feels both thrilling and poignant. The motel serves as a microcosm of society's darker impulses, a space where the allure of the forbidden invites reflection on the nature of human relationships, connection, and carnality. Her prose shimmers with a unique allure that leaves one both aroused and unnerved; each page turn is a leap into the unknown where you are never quite certain what horrors or pleasures lie ahead. The stories blend seamlessly, creating a cohesive atmosphere where the line between reality and fantasy blurs, mirroring the chaotic essence of human emotion.

This delightfully dark collection of short stories is a wonder! All that is dark and dangerous in horror is expertly woven into stories which are completely unique and take us on journeys into lives and snapshots of existences both speculative and fantasy. Standouts for me feature vampires and merfolk; superb, excellent lengths for an afternoon read and very very memorable.

Many thanks netgalley for this perfect collection of very adult, horror filled stories,

V. Castro is an auto buy author for me. Her books are always rich with history that refuses to be forgotten. Pink Agave Motel is no exception. Every single one of these short stories could be full fledged novels, they were so good. Each story pushes the reader into perspectives they may not have reached without this books. I loved where these stories led me. This author can do no wrong.

A collection of short horror stories that were just so wonderfully strange.
Carnival of Gore was my favourite, I would read an entire book about that alone.
All of them left me with a feeling of uneasiness and that's exactly what I'm looking for in the horror genre. I really enjoyed it!
Thanks again to the publishers and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

The book sounded interesting but unfortunately the writing style wasn’t for me.

The beginning of the book contains multiple short stories, some of them only a page long. The first one seemed interesting, but just stopped abruptly without resolving the story. The other ones honestly weren’t great.

The Pink Agave Motel story itself was just confusing and jumped from one event and time period to another.

I really struggled with the writing style and couldn’t get into the stories..

This short story collection gives the reader so much. The horror part is nice but there is something else that lingers and gives you another level of unease. I highly recommend!

(3.5) Rounding this one up because of how ruthless it got at times, and even though there were many errors in my ARC copy, it really didn’t ruin the reading experience! That being said, I really enjoyed the horror aspects within these stories, when the author really let loose with bloody imagery. Unfortunately, I did find the level of, for lack of better words, ‘horniness,’ a bit tiresome at points, whereas the story I was reading didn’t really need all of it if that makes sense. Either way, I do look forward to reading Castro’s other work one day!

Thank you NetGalley and CLASH books for the ARC ebook!

Castro’s collection of stories is intensely intimate and gorey. The titular story shows us Valentina, who runs a motel and grapples with her appetite. Many of the stories portray aroused characters who are (mostly) in tune with their sexual side. Castro does a wonderful job exploring people’s interests and points of arousal.

I went into the collection thinking it would be an exploration of sexuality with bits of horror in it. However, I wasn’t expecting nearly every story to have a creature feature. I wish that there had been some variety with the horror attributes that were incorporated, but, unfortunately, many of the stories fell flat for me.

I wanted to like this collection more, but the writing style and the characters were not my cup of tea. Also, it would be wise to look at some content warnings before diving into this collection! The stories I liked most though were “Carnival of Gore”, “Corpus Christi Nights”, and “Mako”. This collection is perfect for those who like a romantasy moment where there are romantic and sexual relationships between species.

Historical, supernatural, murderous sexy fun!!!
10/10, 5 stars, 20 chile peppers!
Perfect for VC Andrews/Gothic Horror fans
13 short stories plus the main story line, its actually incredibly hard to discribe this amazing woven story!! You have the man storyline of Valentina running the Pink Agave Hotel and the sotries around it
There is something for every horror fan!
The end is such a mind blown crazy moment!
Please check tw/cw as this is a very dark but amazing book!!

This was such a wild experience! I loved the short stories and overall concepts of them. This is HORROR not just oh fall vibes, but actual HORROR, I'm all here for the cannibalism, blood, witches, body gore, and an genuine scary time. Loved this!

(3.5 stars rounded up) I love the title and the cover and I had such a good time with V. Castro’s novella ,“Goddess of Filth.” Her writing is visceral and descriptive and sexy. I had the problem with this short story collection that I have with most short story collections - I loved a few stories, felt so-so about others, and disliked a couple, which makes it a bit hard to rate. The two page story, “Bruja Barbie and Her Ken” and “Full Nude” were my favorites. I did like the title story, but also found myself confused by it at times. But I really vibe with V. Castro’s writing. She writes erotic suspense in such a lush way. She describes bodies and sex and death and violence in beautifully rich language. I’ll happily read whatever she writes next.