My book review of Castle of the Cursed by Romina Garber. A creepy horror novel that will make your blood curl.
Title: Castle of the Cursed
By: Romina Garber
Genre: Horror
Pages: 304
Release Date: July 30th, 2024
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Rating: ★★★★☆
Summary from Goodreads:
A delicious and dark gothic romance from bestselling author Romina Garber!
THE HOUSE IS ALWAYS HUNGRY…
After a mysterious attack claims the lives of her parents, all Estela has left is her determination to solve the case. Suffering from survivor’s guilt so intense that she might be losing her grip on reality, she accepts an invitation to live overseas with an estranged aunt at their ancestral Spanish castle, la Sombra.
Beneath its gothic façade, la Sombra harbors a trove of family secrets, and Estela begins to suspect her parents’ deaths may be linked to their past. Her investigation takes a supernatural turn when she crosses paths with a silver-eyed boy only she can see. Estela worries Sebastián is a hallucination, but he claims he’s been trapped in the castle. They grudgingly team up to find answers and as their investigation ignites, so does a romance, mistrust twined with every caress.
As the mysteries pile up, it feels to Estela like everyone in the tiny town of Oscuro is lying and that whoever was behind the attack has followed her to Spain. The deeper she ventures into la Sombra’s secrets, the more certain she becomes that the suspect she’s chasing has already found her . . . and they’re closer than she ever realized.
Review:
The feels this book gave me were unreal. This read is definitely in my top 10 for 2024.
After the tragic death of Estela's parents, the only family she has left to take her in are strangers to her. She's moved around her entire life, unable to put down roots and never knowing why. After strange things start happening around her after moving to her families castle in Spain, she begins to realize her parents were keeping a dark secret from her.
Estela is a strong character, and she has to be. The author really made her struggles and situation feel real and relatable. It was hard not to feel her pain over the loss of her parents.
The creep factor was wonderful. It started off small and really ramped up in the end. Romina Garber really knows how to weald a blood curdling tale with ease and gusto.
There was one thing that kinda threw me off, and is the reason I gave the book 4 stars out of 5. The odd romantic relationship that showed up out of the blue between Estela and the creepy ghost man. It threw me, I'm not going to lie. I was knee deep in the muck of horror and then out of the blue, bam, Estela wants to jump ghost man's bones.
If the author wanted to put some romance into the story, maybe don't make it an after thought.
All in all, I really enjoyed this read and would love to see what this author has to offer next.
Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.
this sounds right up my alley. on the tbr it goes! :-D
ReplyDeleteI always love discovering some new spooky authors.