This book started out pretty well and I enjoyed that the premise was a bit unique compared to most YA novels. The characters were also unique and interesting, and the author did a great job of describing the locations in detail. It helped set a certain atmosphere for the book, which I appreciated. The pacing was a little slow for my liking but overall, I enjoyed this book very much.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me a chance to read this book.

This book had so much potential for me but sadly it fell short for me I don't know if something was lost in translation or what, but I couldn't finish this book. What bothered me was the switching between first-person point and second-person point of view. This switch caused me a lot of confusion. Also, this book is under a different name Nation of the beast is the series name, not the book name which confused me. I had a lot of confusion with this book and could not finish I can't rate this book and maybe in the future I can finish this book only time will tell.

Unfortunately couldn't open the ARC and read only the sample. 

This is probably the biggest disappointment of this year. I had raved non stop about this book for months. I twitted at least twice and posted at least four times about it: when I learned about it, when I requested the ARC, when I got the ARC when I was planning to read it, etc. 

I REALLY wanted to like it because it is a Hispanic the author and I loved setting and how the premise sounded. 

First, there was no way to read the PDF once downloaded. No matter how many different apps I tried and I didn't find Netgalley's tips helpful at all. Then I tried to get another ARC and I was told that since it was already published I should just buy the book. That was definitely not the answers I was hoping to get, especially given how much I had promoted the book.

So, I downloaded a sample and unfortunately I found the writing a little confusing. I wonder if it is the translation that's why I'm giving it 3 stars.

Elisse has always seen these horrifying creatures around him that nobody else seemed to notice. He lives sheltered in a monastery in India but is forced to flee to New Orleans where he’s hoping for a new start.
Firstly, I have to say that the cover is gorgeous! I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. Sadly, the content did not wow me as much.
The book was promising in the beginning. Elisse was a captivating main character but quickly made me lose interest. The basis of the book is that Elisse travels to New Orleans to find his long last father but he seems to forget about him pretty quickly, which was odd. Also, the book gets pretty repetitive. Whenever something happened or somebody said anything, Elisse reminded the reader of his time of poverty in Tibet and India. The first few times this happened, it was interesting to understand the character and what he had to overcome but, after a few times, it just got predictable and repetitive.
Midway through the book, I got bored. The story was a mess and I had to skim the pages. Still, I was able to get an idea of what was going on but, sadly, after reading nearly 70% of the book, I had to drop it. I really wanted to like it but, unfortunately, this one was not for me.

I tried for many months to get into the book, to try and fall in love with a character so that the messy translation wouldn't ruin the story line for me, but I just couldn't no matter how many times I picked this book back up I couldn't get passed it and I absolutely hate leaving a book unfinished! 😞

I want to say thank you to net galley for providing me a copy of Nation Of The Beasts, Lord Of The Sabbath in exchange for an honest review. This is my personal opinion of the book.

Nation of the Beast pulled me in with it's dark and mystical atmosphere ! It makes a perfect autumn read and will keep the reader at the edge of it's seat !

This book was so deep but so confusing. I found myself having to re-read sections because I just wasn't sure what was going on or what I was trying to feel. Sometimes this was a good thing but as the book went on it became a not so good thing...I found this book very difficult to complete because things broke down so badly. I'm not entirely sure if this was due to a bad translation or if the translator was simply having a hard time putting into English words what the author was trying to express...which I get is a difficult thing to do...but it affected the books overall feel. The MC was cool and the world was beautifully painted but the story itself went from amazing to...ok, what? Really fast. Towards the end, I just couldn't keep reading. The different POV was interesting but at the same time, I'd have preferred just the single POV.

Holy. Cow. This book was dark yet so intriguing and overwhelming all at once! Thrill through the entire thing I simply couldn’t put it down I finished in one sitting!! Reminds me of Bone witch!

Combining a creatively littered literary experience, with plot-lines drawn directly from symbolism and imagery, Palova has effectively written a novel of terrifying creatures, and overcoming ones demons, by utilising tools always around.

I received this via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

OH MY!!! I loved it guys. This book was just what I wanted It to be. The world building was fun and enticing. The characters were very well flushed out. I loved the plot of this. I can not wait to read more by this author. I highly recommend this book.

Elisse has been haunted by grotesque, horrible and scary creatures no ones else is able to see his whole life. He runs from India (where he was raised) to New Orleans, USA in hopes of finding his father and an answer to this. He finds out more than he hoped for, that's for sure. An ancestral secret, a place where he might finally belong to and that there is something worse than seeing monsters...fighting them. 

This is a jewel among YA urban fantasy. The story gets more exciting with every page turn, the characters are very logical and their actions make sense to their ages (which means Elisse can get to be a dramatic teenage boy but he is just not stupid or irrational) and it's very well-written.
What out stands the most is Mariana's unique way of describing these creatures, I was both amazed and grossed out and genuinely excited and scared for when they might show up next.

I liked very much the fact that this book was so complex constructed and very explicit with solid details, filled with reality and magic, but I cannot get over the fact that at first, I was very confused with it and also, there were numerous parts where I felt bored with it. It was kind of slow-paced, which is not exactly what I love about books, but I really want to say that despite that it was very good constructed.
Thank you, NetGalley for the reading copy!

A lot of ideas and feels about this book and really need to process them a bit. First will start with something that annoys me. Many people  that are into or knowledgeable will trash authors over depictions of Deities and belief systems,,same with screen series or movies. Get a grip guys, that is fantasy entertainment be it AHS [anything really] Coven or any witch show/movie versus practice and what you know. Actually, the same can be said with perception and experiences. Now that's out of the way, when I started this book with the exception of spirits, I felt it would be nice if you had a clue who was thinking/speaking/doing as there was no first tense qualifier which made things confusing/disorientating with some of the characters in situations. I can understand doing that with spirits, to leave them up in the vapors creates more real life and mystery and shouldn't be necessarily known until a point but people would work to note. It seemed to happen much less after the very beginning or I got use to it and could intuitively tell after a bit but that was a first impression drawback.  I liked the nuances of play throughout the book which included an underlying forbidden kinda love affair that was tangible but not touched on. author did her homework and utilized her novel to present a thriller horror fantasy surrounding a immigrant orphans introduction into his new home in New Orleans. That area has so much magic you can take it like syrup and cut it with a knife. It is old old old and has seen much beyond in both peoples and activity. To me, all the spirits, entities and Deities there have always been warm to hot like good spicy food and hard liquor and wild revelry but can be sharp as razors if you cross over the boundaries set and some best left alone. I have always liked Baron Samedi but with a respect and knowledge of his dark aspects and realization of how much energy he received from trauma and desperation both in Haiti and in that area. I don't see him as evil so much as the evil done to people in Haiti in particular that's energy manifested and far lesser in New Orleans area. Definitely a good read and at the end realized it was base for future stories in the series with new or other people and a cliffhanger. I look forward to actually seeing where the bayou tales go.

This translation was beautifully done. I think the world was really cool and different. Too bad I was super confused in the beginning wondering if I picked up the second book. This is the first. Also I just got bored. I wanted to like this book but I didn't. 
Three stars for NetGalley because maybe somebody else likes a slow build up. 
Two stars for Goodreads because I thought it was ok because the world is cool and the initial world building was vivid, I just got bored.

I DNF'd this novel at 20%. It is obviously well-written but I am the wrong audience, this is a clear case of "it's not you, it's me". I'm very happy to have been given the chance to read this, and I'm very sorry that it wasn't for me. My rating is based on what I've read and what I think it's worth objectively, regardless of my own tastes.

(4.5) That cover! *heart eyes* The night terror aspect was the only bit that I wished for the author to delve deeper into, but maybe I just have a weird obsession with creepy stuff like that. I found this to be wonderfully atmospheric and fresh feeling.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I enjoyed reading this. An interesting story with fun characters. Well written.

Written by Mariana Palova, I was really excited to start reading this novel as it sounded dark, intense, and just overall interesting.

However, it was so hard to move through this novel. It had nothing to do with the characters, for they were interesting enough, it was honestly the writing. Both the main character and our 3rd-ish person omniscient being view points were difficult to read. How things were described and the logic behind them was very hard to follow.

Now, the plot line was really interesting, dealing with people that I had no real knowledge of was fantastic. It just was so slow.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

<i>ARC is provided through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I begin to understand that nothing in this world is truly mystical – religions, myths, history, legends. Everything fits into a logic suitable to those who have had the honor to understand it from both magical and spiritual perspectives. And I can’t let go of the fact that there are people who dedicated their whole lives to unveiling many of these mysteries, to know the background of human existence, of this life and the other. In just a blink, almost everything has been revealed to me. Maybe I am lucky after all.</i>

Mariana Palova is a Mexican author whose first literary work – Nation of the Beasts – is scheduled for publication in both Latin America and the United States. It was written in Spanish and is now being translated into English – which is the version I read because my Spanish is far from good enough to read a whole book, try as I might.

Nation of the Beasts is a book filled to the brim with voodoo, mysteries, and mythical creatures. Our main character, Elisse, has traveled from India to New Orleans to look for his father, but instead, he finds what he has longed for as long as he can remember – a family.
Upon being taken in by two different households, Elisse learns that his nightmares and terrors are a lot more real than he thought, and his very existence is about to be turned upside down. What he thought he knew isn’t relevant anymore, and he must settle into a whole new reality where he learns about himself and the world around him.
As time goes by, danger shows up more frequently, and as it creeps closer and closer, Elisse is forced to make choices that might just tear him away from his newfound family. But is he willing to risk it all when he’s finally gotten everything he ever wanted?

I enjoyed this book a whole lot! It has its ups and downs, but I am a sucker for the ‘not belonging and meeting a family of your own choosing’ theme – I live for this stuff. I think this theme is something everyone at some point in their lives can relate to, and this is one of the reasons as to why I become so invested in hidden gems like Nation of the Beasts.

My absolute favorite character was Tared. He’s a complex character with a lot of page-time compared to the others, so we get to spend a bit of time with him. I loved the dynamic between him and Elisse, even when they didn’t see eye to eye – which happened quite a few times. Throughout the story, I found myself wanting to learn more about him, and I am dying to see where the relationship between him and Elisse ends up. Are they family? Brothers? Do I sniff a bit of romance in there? It wasn’t resolved in this book, so I’ll have to read the next!
Sadly, I didn’t care too much about the other characters. They weren’t present as much as Elisse and Taren, and I did not care about them when they were off the page – not too much when they were on the page either, to be honest. This led to the impression that Elisse’s relationship with them was flat. He was disappointed to feel rejected from one of the elders, but his interaction with said person was so limited I found myself not giving a shit.

I loved the worldbuilding and the history of the varied species. We didn’t get to see too much about the world itself, but I found the backstory, legends, myths, and creatures to be well written. When the book is set in our world, even when it’s a fantasy or paranormal, it’s not as important to spend lots of pages describing the landscape.
A few times it became a bit of an info-dump, and even though I loved to have the world explained, it also became difficult to keep sorted. It was probably too much for one book, and I honestly think it would have benefited to keep some information for the second installment of the series.

The pacing was pleasant, and the first half of the book was a good mix of slow and fast scenes. The second half took off, and I couldn’t put it down until I was done. Towards the ending, it became clear the story would progress into a second book, and I am absolutely going to read it. The plot of this book wrapped up nicely, but it somehow ended with a minor cliffhanger anyway, so if you’re not into that, you should probably wait for the second book to be released before reading.

The premise of this novel was amazing and when I saw it, I just had to hit that request button. The cover was amazing and it had a relatively high score on Goodreads so I was definitely going to read this regardless of whether it was an advanced reading copy or I waited until its English release date. Going in I was hopeful. Unfortunately, while it was an OK read, I didn't find it to be fantastic. 

The main character, Elisse is an androgenous 18 year old who grew up in India but has travelled to New Orleans in order to find his missing father. He was raised in refugee camps and hopes to have a better life. Once arriving in the United States, he meets a Voodoo practitioner who is determined to sway him from his Buddhist ways to her religion. Referencing wereanimals, voodoo, Buddhism, Baron Samedi and various other religious/mythological characters, Nation has some real potential.

While reading through I found the storyline was above average but the way in which is was told was disjointed. To start there are a few chapters of current day and then a random chapter from the past thrown in. Sprinkled throughout are chapters from the viewpoint of an unknown being which seem completely out of place within the timeline of the narrative. Not until the final few chapters is the reader able to discern what and why the entity is involved.

As stated previously, the storyline is one which, had it been better put together (relating to flow) slightly better, could have been amazing. The author explores legends and religions frequently seen in New Orleans, utilising its famous catacombs and Bourbon St to further the tale. The outer reaches of NOLA are used to further the tale, playing residence to Elisse's adopted family while the inner city of New Orleans houses his main home.. I however wish there had have been more description of the scenery - having visited the city, I know it has a personality of its own, one which seemed to be lost within the narrative.

Although it had its low points, the skinwalkers and voodoo practitioners provided a redeeming feature. They were described in such a way that the reader can relate for the most part. I could feel the evil rolling of Baron Samedi at every interaction, the anguish when certain characters perished or went missing.

While not the most fantastic novel, it was still adequate in its pacing and portrayal of its main characters and I am intrigued as to where Elisse's story will be taken in the next instalment