This novel is a slow burn, let me say that right up front, just in case that's not your jam. If you're looking for a constant stream of action or violence, you are going to be disappointed by Pinata. What this novel does have is character development, a rich cultural history, and strong storytelling.

Is it a classic possession story? Yes. Have you read it before? No. Gout takes his time weaving an exquisite tale filled with Mexican and Nahua history and culture. He uses this folklore, history, and mythology to create a believable scenario in which the possession occurs. The imagery he uses is both beautiful and haunting set against the very real backdrop of modern-day Mexico and New York.

If you're in the market for a story that takes it's time - I highly recommend checking out Pinata.

It’s good to get in touch with your roots, but sometimes those roots don’t want to stay buried… Apocalyptic Aztec gods and the vengeful spirit of a murdered Nahua woman threaten to enact a bloody vengeance for the horrors of colonialism in Piñata by Leopoldo Gout, a Mexican horror novel that came out last month.

Carmen Sanchez, a Mexican-American architect and single mother, is equal parts thrilled and nervous to be returning to her homeland for the biggest project of her career: restoring an old Spanish abbey for a new life as a luxury hotel. In addition to the usual misogyny that she always has to face on job sites, her work on the abbey is continually stalled by corrupt bureaucracy, shoddy under-the-table dealings, and sabotage from resentful workers. But Carmen’s biggest challenge is keeping her two daughters both safe and entertained in a town where the streets are littered with posters for missing young women and it seems like a new body is found every week. Surly sixteen-year-old Izel is more interested in texting her friends back home than exploring the markets or her Mexican heritage, but eleven-year-old Luna is as exuberant and friendly as ever, absorbing the world around her like a sponge. Such openness can be a dangerous thing, however, when there are people and entities with bad intentions about. A young Nahua woman warns Carmen that she’s seen visions of a dark entity who is drawn to her daughter’s light, but Carmen brushes off such superstitious talk. Then everything changes after Luna takes a Nahua artifact from the construction site—her bubbly demeanor disappears, replaced by sullenness punctuated by surprisingly violent outbursts, and something deeply unsettling lurks within her gaze. Even back in New York, ominous portents seem to follow the Sanchez family—grasshoppers appear from nowhere and dark clouds of pitch-black butterflies swarm the air, while bizarre accidents and mysterious deaths strike Luna’s loved ones and her enemies alike. Carmen remembers the young woman’s warning, but how can she stop an ancient evil from using her daughter as an instrument of vengeance?

Piñata is an example of the ever-popular subgenre of possession horror, reminiscent of such films as the classic The Exorcist or the more recent Hereditary, yet expands this genre out from its Christian context. Luna is not possessed by a demon from Christian cosmology, nor can she be saved by crosses, holy water, and the ministrations of a devoted priest. Instead, her affliction is drawn from the history and mythology of the indigenous people of Mexico. And the centuries of oppression and erasure that have passed since the conquest of Mexico make it that much harder for Carmen and her family to even know what they’re dealing with. The neighborly Catholic priest, Father Verón, tries his best to keep an open mind and look outside his own faith for answers to help his friends, but no representative of the very church that oppressed the Nahua and sought to eradicate their religion is going to defeat these monsters. Instead, Carmen and Luna’s best allies are Yoltzi and Quahtli, two Nahua locals who have maintained a strong connection with their culture. But with so much of their history lost to time and violent erasure, even they struggle to understand the forces that have taken over Luna.

Adjacent to the possession subgenre is the horror film trope of the creepy child. There’s just something about the heightened contrast when the most innocent of people become so far corrupted. This trope is used to great effect in Piñata. At the beginning of the novel, Luna is a particularly loveable character as a gregarious tween with a sunny disposition. So her slow drift into something moody, violent, and otherworldly is all the more distressing. Luna’s condition goes unnoticed for perhaps longer than it should because her change in behavior is dismissed as the natural differences between childhood and adolescence. And indeed, Luna experiences her first period partway through the book—a milestone that has frequently been associated with vulnerability to the supernatural throughout the horror genre (think: Stephen King’s Carrie). But while changing hormones can certainly do a number on kids, a sudden shift in personality and behavior is worth taking a closer look at. Luna’s insatiable curiosity leads her into dangerous territory, but the lack of curiosity in those around her nearly seals her fate.

If you’re interested in the growing trend of post-Colonial horror novels, Piñata is another one to add to the list, beside Mexican Gothic and She Is a Haunting.

This book did a great job at keeping me engaged while reading, however it just didn't pack the punch that I was wanting and expecting. I loved the gore descriptions and the family dynamic aspects, but I am not a huge fan of heavy lore descriptions and/or historical explanations in my horror books. This book was a solid read, just not my cup of tea and did scare me at all (not that that is necessary in rating a horror book high) !

Carmen is an architect on assignment restoring an old abbey in Mexico with her daughters Luna and Izel in tow. When the family attends a party at the construction manager's home, Luna has a spiritual experience that catches the attention of a young Nahua woman acquainted with one of the craftsmen. When an ancient artifact is uncovered, Luna becomes possessed by an indigenous spirit bent on revenge for the crimes of the colonials who conquered the native people.

I was excited for the opportunity to read this book. The plot had a lot of potential and I liked the idea of an ancient haunting involving unfamiliar cultural traditions. It was unexpected that the story was so slow-paced.

The first two-thirds of the book consists of a few plot progression scenes interspersed with character-provided background on pre-colonial mythology. While these ancient traditions, history, and folklore were a key part of my interest in this novel, the delivery was unfortunately dry. The final third of the novel did pick up with more action and tension for an exciting finish, but I wish the entire novel had been as evenly paced.

This novel might be for you if you enjoy reading mythology and history. The stories and spirits were complex and intriguing, and the central plot was solid, but be prepared to keep your eye on the long game if you want the payoff at the end.

Piñata by Leopoldo Gout
I’m sad to report…this was not my favorite book.
Caution: minor spoilers ahead
Honestly my biggest problem is parts of this book felt repetitive. Each chapter a character was getting attacked by a swarm of butterflies and it happened enough where it was no longer creepy and unsettling but rather made me roll my eyes and wish for some new drama.
There were also points of the book that I feel like could’ve been cut down to be shorter or just completely left out. I didn’t care about the other side characters as much so each time I had to spend time on them I just wanted to hurry on back to the main family. Additionally, the author just kept bringing up details that weren’t relative to the story.
BUT…I did like that ending 👀 honestly for me the final few chapters I was racing through the book to see how it would conclude.
Overall, I think this book wasn’t for me because of the style of writing and wanting the plot more focused on the main family in the book.
Huge thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I saw this described somewhere as "A Head Full of Ghosts meets Hereditary" and I was immediately on board. Something about the cover of this made me think it would be a graphic novel, and although there aren't literal pictures inside the book, it definitely paints graphic pictures in your mind as you're reading. There are some images that I won't forget for a long time. Traumatic? Yes, but I knew what I was in for when picking up this horror book - based on the description, I knew it would inspire terror. I really liked the inclusion of the ancient Aztec gods that were worshipped - my knowledge of non-Greek mythology is terribly lacking. I'd recommend this to anyone who wants a scary, gruesome, hard-hitting read. Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this galley in advance!

Piñata is one of the few horror books I questioned whether or not I should be reading it at night. Leopold Gout wrote easily the best possession story I’ve read with cinematic scenes that lived in my mind long after I set it down.

This was one of those books that I immediately felt sucked into. It’s a bit of a slow-burn, but during the buildup, we learn a lot about Nahua culture and the impact Spain’s colonization of Mexico had, which means you need to check out own-voices reviews.

There’s also an incredible family dynamic at the heart of this story. It’s not all happiness and sunshine - it is a horror book after all. It handles conflict head on and the complicated emotions that come with being your own person but still wanting to be the person your family can count on. Even when that means sacrificing what you want.

If this isn’t optioned for a movie or tv, it would be a huge mistake. The storyline, build-up, and background are just incredible. There are really no words for it. I loved all the characters and their POVs. I didn’t realize how emotionally attached I was to them until the book ended.

File this in the “books to read when you want nightmares” section of your tbr. You’ll thank me later. Or blame me for your nightmares. It’s all the same 😉

Very slow burn, the story takes a long time to get a little spooky. Interesting cultural history. I like that the author included that the Spanish Conquistadors were destroying the cultural and religious traditions of the people they came across. Not scary or creepy the whole way through.

Carmen is tasked with a renovation of a church in Mexico and decides this will be the perfect opportunity to take her daughters so they can experience the culture and learn about their roots. For Carmen this is a great career opportunity even if it means she’s confronting attitudes of machismo and insubordination on the job.

Her two daughters are polar opposites. Izel is only concerned about having internet access to stay in touch with her friends back home and lamenting the fact that she’s missing out on summer theater camp. Luna on the other hand is thriving. She’s eating new foods, practicing her Spanish and learning about the Aztecs and the history of Mexico.

As time passes, Carmen forms allies with Father Verón and Quauhtli who are also on hand overseeing the renovation project. She’s grateful for their help because as time passes, there are setbacks due to sabotaging by employees and government bureaucracy. So when Yoltzi, a friend of Quauhtli, appears to her with a warning and tells her that Luna is in danger, Carmen thinks that it could be cartel doings or perhaps intimidation by the government. Little does she expect that Yoltzi is there to warn her about supernatural forces.

Then disaster at the worksite strikes and Carmen’s office recalls her back to New York. As the family returns to the States little ] do they know that they aren’t alone when they return. Evil is threatening to overtake Luna.

There are some horrifying and descriptive scenes but I think this novel rises above just gore and thrills by bringing a story filled with history and commentary on colonialism. I also found the way the author wove in current societal concerns such as the continued disappearance of women to really help ground the story in time and place. If horror isn’t quite your thing I would still highly recommend this one. I throughly enjoyed it.

"The Piñata" is an exceptional horror novel that is sure to send chills down your spine. The author has crafted a truly enthralling storyline that will keep you hooked until the very end. The characters are well-developed, and the setting is expertly crafted to create a palpable sense of terror.

What sets this book apart is its ability to tap into the deepest fears of its readers.

Piñata by Leopoldo Gout lived up to its haunting cover. This story had a slow start introducing the character and setting the scene for the last half of the book. Once I read through the first half, the story really catapulted into a quick conclusion. I loved all of the information on the Aztec culture including the vengeful goddesses. My only complaint is I would have liked the pacing a bit better if the second half of the book was sprinkled in with the first half to create more suspense. What really pulled this book from 3 stars to 3.5 stars were the horror descriptions! These scenes were perfectly applied to all of my senses in a way that made them feel real. They were my favorite parts of the story.

In an unpopular opinion, I thought this was just an average read. I thought the story was too slow, but once the horror set it was better.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in return for an honest review. I thought it would be fun to read something from the horror genre. I typically read thrillers. I found the cover of the book very interesting. Loved the gold lettering that looked like it was painted and dripping. This book was a ghost story set in Mexico. Overall it was an entertaining read!
Read if you want
-horror genre
-ghost story set in Mexico
-possession horror
-single mom character
-gruesome scenes

*language warning

Part ‘Mexican Gothic’ part ‘A Head Full of Ghosts’ and part ‘Poltergeist’ this slow build possession horror pulls no punches. Gout simultaneously crafts an incredibly creepy possessed child story while weaving the real-life horrors of colonialism and gentrification throughout. The characters were well fleshed out and easy to become invested in, and the richly immersive cultural aspects of the horror elements made the whole unsettling ordeal that much more visceral and mystifying. Gout’s passion for the craft and his subject matter are so palpable that it’s impossible not to be deeply affected by ‘Piñata.’

Thank you so so much to Leopoldo Gout and Tor Publishing Group for the opportunity to read an advanced e-galley of this novel in exchange for an honest review!

It has been a while since I really looked forward to anything other than romance reads but man oh man do I miss a good horror-isk paranormal read and Piñata was everything I wanted it to be!

For me, overall, I really enjoyed Piñata! It was a read that really stuck to me in a way, it was engaging and intriguing that left me turning each page hoping that everything would be okay. I liked how the historical touches and references were so delicately intertwined with the plot that made it so much more. I enjoy history, religion, and cultural undertones to any fiction that is well researched, it makes it all the more enticing. Seeing how Leopoldo really put his own experience growing up in Mexico City, the history, the dark and bloody past of the Aztec verses the Spanish conquests of colonialization into this extraordinary read... just blows my mind.

I think what many people don't entirely realize that there are centuries worth of cultural and religious persecution that delved a really had a dark, horrifying result. In one interview of Leopoldo, even discussing that there was in part Catholic friars having introduced piñatas during the conquest as a perversion of the Nahua traditions. This lead to the creation of Piñata in it's rawest forms. I find that beyond horrific, terrifying and yet deliciously interesting.

I will be keeping an eye out for more Leopoldo Gout in my reading corner!

Piñata by Leopoldo Gout
4 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Release Date: March 14, 2023
While restoring an ancient church and former native temple in Mexico, Carmen and her daughters awaken an ancient spirit that is set on revenge.
This book delivered on the classic Exorcist-esque stakes I had hoped for, but also it had a depth to it that I really enjoyed diving into. I could see people like myself in this story, in the struggle to balance superstitions of old with the learned skepticism of the present, the inability to reconcile the trauma of the past with desperate hope for the future.
Piñata carried that juxtaposition well, not shying away from the realities of colonialism and the direct effects it still carries today and will continue to for generations, weaving the two until the image of the past and present is portrayed as literally overlayed on top of each other at one point in this book. It was a beautiful and eerie image, the idea that the history, trauma, and love of our ancestors are still alive in us, in our actions, and in each step that carries us forward.
And if our past is alive in us, so is its fury, a terrifying reckoning of what remains buried deep in each of us, and in the earth around us.
And now for my favorite part- the skeletons! One of which climbs out of a mirror to get at you. Which delighted me.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing a copy for review!

This was so good, I just wish there was more of it. It was unsettling and I couldn't stop reading it.

Carmen Sanchez is an architect from New York working at a project in Mexico. It is to change an old church into a luxury hotel. Her daughters Izel, a teenager and Luna, 11 years old are with their mother during summer vacation. Carmen is hoping her daughters will connect to their heritage by being in Mexico. Izel is mad being separated from her friends in New York. Luna is having a great time while at the market checking out the many different vendors. Luna meets a girl who has her go into a shed where a possession of sorts happens to Luna. After a local Nahua woman tries to warn Carmen about the danger Luna is in, Carmen tells her to leave. While art the old church, part of the ceiling falls and a small hidden room is opened. It has several artifacts in it. Even though Luna is told not to go inthe room, she does and takes a piñata. The piñata is a jar inside a leather covering. What is special about this piñata? Carmen tells her to put it back but she doesn’t obey. Luna sneaks it out. Why? After an accident at work, her boss calls Carmen to come back to New York. Luna becomes consumed by the spirits. The ancient spirits want
to use Luna as a portal to the world. The ancient spirits do take care of bullies at school. However the ancient spirits want to have revenge on the colonists who tortured and killed their people centuries ago. Will they succeed?

I found the story was well written with dark themes and imagery. It is an intriguing and terrifying possession novel with Mexican history I liked the mysterious events that occurred in the novel as it only made me to know what would happen next. It shows the misogyny and the Indigenous Mexican lore. It is an excellent horror novel.

Book Summary:

Carmen Sanchez is finally home again, working in her birth country of Mexico. Granted, she's only here for the summer, but still! The good news is that this means she can expose her daughters to the same culture and history she grew up in.

Unfortunately, things aren't going quite as planned. Workers are resisting Carmen's input, and there's a dark, dangerous entity lingering around her youngest daughter, Luna. However, it will take time before Carmen understands the depth of this danger.

My Review:

Yikes! Piñata is one heck of a read, guys. It's dark and thrilling yet painfully grounded in history. Leopoldo Gout did a brilliant job of tying supernatural horror with the horror that stems from humanity, weaving the two together until you cannot tell where one begins and the other ends.

The prologue is one of those introductions that immediately grabs the reader's attention. It also sets the scene – and the tone of the story. I knew this book would leave me chilled from the start, and it did not disappoint.

The historical elements were a huge plus to this tale, and I like how they worked their way into the more mundane story of family drama. I'm officially adding Leopoldo Gout to my "auto-read" list!

Highlights:
Paranormal Horror
Ancient Gods
Human Monsters

Trigger Warnings:
Colonialism
Sexism/Misogyny
Racism/Xenophobia
Strong Horror Elements

First, thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the ARC of this intriguing horror novel. I’m a sucker for horror with cultural or historical roots, and Piñata easily fills that bill. Also, I picked this book up on the tail end of reading a book that failed the Bechdel test, and that metric is still at the back of my mind, so… This book has several female main characters who talk to each other about things beyond the men in their lives. Bravo, Mr. Gout. You passed the test!

I enjoyed this horror piece, about a Mexican descended family from NY who travel to Mexico because of mom's work as an architect. It doubles as an opportunity for the woman's school age daughters to get a taste of their heritage but, teenage girls being who they are, it doesn’t end well. But the teenage apathy isn’t the worst of the family’s problems. The mom, Carmen, is a woman in a male dominated field, and the site that her firm is helping renovate into a hotel is an old church with a dark historical past.

The near decimation of the Mexican indigenous population at the hands of conquistadors and Spanish missionaries has left a centuries old stain on this location of the world, and the history and cultural relevance of the piñata is at its core. Once part of Nahua rituals of death and rebirth, it has now become a party favor, a mockery of its original importance and meaning. Until Carmen's youngest daughter Luna shows up and introduces herself to the long silenced spirits of the past who seek revenge. Luna becomes a sort of conduit for those vengeful spirits in a way that that little girl in the movie Poltergeist was used by the voices on a static filled TV. Sort of. I’m not going to provide any more possible spoilers except to say that the idea that Poltergeist uses—the gentrification over sacred land, is an easy comparison.

I enjoyed the book, most definitely, although the build to the horrific end was a little slower than I would have preferred. The slow build pulls the rating down maybe more than it should. I don’t know, maybe it was the writing style that was fine…but it didn’t quite fill me with the looming terror that I felt it should have. Until the end. It ramped up quickly by the last quarter of the book.

This is a solid three plus stars for me, not quite a full four, but close.