dnf on page 74
trigger warning
<spoiler> mutilation </spoiler>

Her whole life, her mom has tried to keep her on the good path. But what if she decides she has enough of it?

Our protagonist has been marked as a child. La Santa Muerte has expressed her interest in her. But giving in means bad things would happen - or would they? I stopped reading because the whole time, we've only been told she should not do that, but not why. What exactly mom and an old bruja who would like to mentor Matea are fearing. What it would mean to accept La Santa Muerte into her life.

We're constantly told things, and everything is repeated again and again and again.

Matea would like to be in a relationship with two people at once, and the only good thing I can say about this book is that she is not shamed for that. The guy asks her to talk to her girlfriend before anything can happen, which, fair.

The characters felt a bit flat. They had their role and that was most that was to them.
Listen, I don't have much to say beyond this. I always feel bad when dnf-ing an arc, but there is nothing I can do about liking this book.

The arc has been provided by the publisher.

This was a fun, fast paced story about two enemy 'brujas' fighting against each other. I loved the latin american culture representation, including complicated family relationships, religious trauma, dealing with homophobia, gender role based expectations, etc. The multiple points of view really worked for me and kept the story engaging. I'm not sure I would continue with the series since I didn't find myself hooked to the plot but I enjoyed reading the first installment.

This was a book I was expecting to really enjoy. But sadly I ended up not finishing it. I managed around half the book before stopping.
I just found I wasn't invested at all and retained nothing. The pace wasn't the problem but the writing just didn't help me here.

Sinner is a unique story of a mother-daughter relationship pressured by cultural and religious expectations.

I personally had a hard time staying connected to this story, but I can still appreciate what the author created.

I feel others will love this story even though I did not.

I was super keen to read this book, because the cover is amazing, and the concept sounded interesting. I was disappointed unfortunately, that may be because I'm not usually a horror reader, I did think I'd be into this one but I clearly underestimated the horror/gore aspects of the story. It may have been my own expectations that have made the reading experience a little dull. It took me a long time to get through the story... I'm sure that the experience would be better for a horror reader.

- short novel
- horror themes
- mexican folklore
- body horror & gore
- slow paced

DNF at 32%. The writing felt very sluggish and I even gave myself a few extra chapters near the end to try to get into it, but I just couldn’t. I’m a mood reader so it could just be a timing thing. Might try again later in the fall during spooky season.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

3.5 stars!

A quick review!

I really enjoyed this one! I want to try to reread it during the fall/Halloween time to see if my atmosphere and headspace will make this a higher rated read for me. I absolutely loved the Mexican culture that is rich throughout this book. I loved Matea's journey and getting to experience things right along side her. I was able to connect with her and care about what happens to her despite her backstory not being 100% divulged yet. I loved the creep factor Marshall added in this story, and the tone, imagery, and atmosphere of this book were well developed.

I'm looking forward to continuing this series!

Thank you NetGalley & publisher for this eARC.

First of all, the cover was eeringly stunning that made me request this book along with the mysterious description and alas, it was approved.

It is a less than 300 pages book so you can finish this easily in a day. The writing was easy to read, the plot was fast-paced, horror level was intermediate but the only problem I had was there were few spanish conversations with no translation, so I have to actually google it first. Other than that, it was okay. The side characters were a bit bland.

Recommended to those who love these cultural horror/witches.

This book tells the story of Matea, a girl sacrificed to La Santa Muerta by her grandmother. It is a book full of Mexican folklore, culture, and imagery.

This book had a nice cover, however I found that at some parts of the book I didn't follow along.

This felt like a story that the author had heard somewhere and shaped into one that was now Mexican. She has lots of details, but there is no feeling-not for the characters, places, relationships, or magic. I didn’t like some of the phrasing and word choices. An example was the grey mist around the girl’s “perimeter.” You mean around her body? Her aura? Using “perimeter” made it sound like she was a house or chalk outline.

I didn’t come away with a sense of the character’s beliefs. The main character talks about a “gringo” in the sky. Does she mean Jesus? God, to my knowledge, has never been assigned a shade of skin by humans.

The use of snakes was also weird. Lupe being into snakes or having a connection made sense but they are everywhere in the book and there is no rooting of the magic, omen, or meaning behind them so they just have an “oh well” feeling whenever they appear.

This could have been a powerful narrative—the author just wasn’t feeling it and neither was I.

A bruja is born.

<i> What does a girl who envies the creep and darkness of a shadow become? From the time she was born, Matea had a connection to Santa Muerte that seemed to linger inside her. Matea's world seemed to bend around her in a way that no one else could comprehend. She trembled with an unexplained intensity, knowing that the cosmic forces and strange intuitions driving her forward were going to be impossible to control. Promised to Santa Muerte at birth Matea's life felt like it was constantly on the edge of something unpredictable and fear filled Matea's body as she considered what type of power, she may ultimately be capable of. Who could keep Matea from Santa Muerte's oppressive forces, and who would keep the world safe from Matea? </i>

Ultimately this story felt confused and confusing. It read like a dark and surrealist dream, but the translation was a bit lacking, and the prose a bit clunky. I enjoyed parts but not so much the whole- and the ending was terribly abrupt.

Sinner tells the story of Matea as she as slowly becomes possessed by La Santa Muerte, essentially a Mexican deity of death. This is a spooky and haunting novel full of folklore, culture and beautiful (albeit creepy) imagery. I loved the witch-iness, the unique use of snakes and learning about La Santa Muerte (yes I went on a deep dive researching and loved every minute of it).

I saw other reviews mentioning that the different points of view didn’t work for them, but I actually didn’t mind it. It was nice to learn more about the other characters and how their stories intertwined. Really my only complaint is that I would have liked more backstory about the characters, especially Matea’s mom and grandmother.

I am usually not a series reader, but I am incredibly excited to see what comes next for Martea and am really hoping for some more backstory on her and the rest of the characters, so I will definitely be reading the subsequent books. Overall, this was spooky, haunting and beautifully written & I highly recommend checking it out (unless you’re afraid of snakes…)

TW: language, gory scenes, toxic parent relationship

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:A bruja is born.What does a girl who envies the creep and darkness of a shadow become? From the time she was born, Matea had a connection to Santa Muerte that seemed to linger inside her. Matea's world seemed to bend around her in a way that no one else could comprehend. She trembled with an unexplained intensity, knowing that the cosmic forces and strange intuitions driving her forward were going to be impossible to control. Promised to Santa Muerte at birth Matea's life felt like it was constantly on the edge of something unpredictable and fear filled Matea's body as she considered what type of power, she may ultimately be capable of. Who could keep Matea from Santa Muerte's oppressive forces, and who would keep the world safe from Matea?
Release Date: May 5th, 2023
Genre: Horror
Pages: 215
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Matea felt flushed out
2. Loved following Matea as she ages
3. I loved the plot of this book

What I Didn't Like:
1. Sometimes writing felt a little sluggish

Overall Thoughts:
I read this book on a 90f degree day so reading about how hot the day(s) were in the book really added a layer of reality that I appreciated.

I was excited to get picked by @bookloverblogtours to do a book tour for the book Sinner by @carol_james_marshall.

There was so much I loved about this book. I thought Matea was an interesting character. I loved being able to grow with her and experience all the interesting things that went on with her

I loved learning about the Mexican culture. There were parts where I felt as though I was going along with the characters and we were all friends. I feel like the author did a good job at building up the atmosphere. There were some creepy parts that I thought did a wonderful job at scary you or grossing you out.

I do wish there was a little more back story. I love to have my characters flushed out so I can care more about them and if things happen to them. Also at certain times I felt a little confused on what happened and would have to reread to see if I missed something.

I'm excited to read the 2nd book.

Final Thoughts:
Reading this book felt like a fun time. I enjoyed so much about the authors world they built. I loved that there was Spanish sprinkled within the book to help in also learning some new language. Like I said I am excited to jump into the next book.

Recommend For:
• POV experiences
• Books with gory scenes

Book review of Sinner: Santa Muerte Book 1
Written by Carol James Marshall this is the first Santa Muerte book that follows Matea in her exploration of light and darkness. Since a child, Matea felt different when her mother, Amparo, would drag her to church. Always trying to find distractions to stay clear from attending church service. One such distraction lead to getting shocked by the hand of Santa Muerte.

As a young adult
Matea still doesn’t know the reason why she sees things others cannot. What are the things she sees? Snakes! She also hears them as they sometimes speak, and she hears drums although she doesn’t know the meaning behind them. At 16, Amparo takes her to visit Doña Lupe, the good witch, that everyone goes to, and received a “limpia”, a cleanse. At that point, Matea was given has been getting kind words and warnings that Matea didn’t fully comprehend.

The feeling of darkness and the occult still looms within Matea. The problem results when she leans into the darkness, the evil powers that surround her a little too much, and sees the powers she truly holds. Although she doesn’t know why, the reader soon finds out that Matea was offered to Santa Muerte by her maternal grandmother Oralia. And only two women know that, Amparo and Oralia. Although, after a while, Doña Lupe starts to put the pieces of the puzzle together leading her to face off the powerful Santa Muerte.

The Aftermath
This book talks about some occult topics and is very respectful of them. Matea seems to continue to struggle with the connection and Bruja power she has to Santa Muerte. The Yaqui tribe is the protection Matea has that continues to link her to the light.

Santa Muerte has plans for Matea and we read a little bit of the Santa Muerte Book 2 available within the book. Will Matea fully give into her darkness? Can Matea find her way into the light and good? What will happen between Amparo and Oralia? Will they tell Matea the truth about why all of this is happening? So many questions we can hope are answered in the books by Carol James Marshall.

It took me a little while to connect with Matea and her surroundings. The Spanish sentences sometimes threw me (mainly as I'm unable to pronounce it) but thankfully it was mixed nicely with the English.

I enjoyed this one, wouldn't say it was scary horror but definitely something in the periphery.

I'd recommend

3.5 stars
I picked this book because I liked the cover and I want to read more horror. This book tells the story of Matea as she grows more powerful, but are the powers a gift or a curse? This book jumps perspective often which I liked because initially I connected least with Matea’s character. It was a bit slow in the beginning for me because of this, but the pacing picked up around the halfway point and I found myself intrigued and wanting to know what would happen next. I did like how dark it got, the dabbling with body horror, and slow changing of Matea’s physical appearance as she explored the depths of her magic. I also always looked forward to scenes where Santa Muerte would appear. In the next books I’m interested to see how Matea struggles with sharing power with La Santa or how she discovers where her power came from.
Something else I hope the next books expand on are the side characters because they felt a little flat to me. The writing also wasn’t as polished as it could be and a bit repetitive which stood out to me because when a book is this short I’m expecting very intentional word choice.
There is more to be told of Matea’s story and I can’t wait to read it!

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced copy.

This was so unexpectedly good! Matea is a girl who rejects her mother's strict catholicism and feels pulled by darkness, the darkness of La Santa Muerte. It turns out that she has been promised to La Santa Muerte since birth. However, she is also pulled by her indigenous roots, which have also been kept from her. Mate has power. She is a bruja.

I enjoyed the fast-paced plot of this story. It was a very fast read! However, the character development is not short-changed. Matea's mother and grandmother are such interesting and complex characters. As is her rival, another young witch, Esme. I think Esme might be even more compelling than Matea.

I also loved the polyamory elements. Matea is trying to negotiate her friendships and the sexual attraction she has to her two close friends. However, her own actions might drive the people she loves the most away from her.

The first few chapters were a bit rough, but after those, the writing is excellent and especially ideal for those of us that love plot-driven storied.

Content Warnings: body horror, blood, witchcraft, drug use

Thank you @netgalley for the gifted e-arc!

I thought Sinner was a good book. Loved the plot of the story and my favorite character was Mijo the loyal pitbull.

I will be honest that it didn’t really scare me and if felt a little YA to me and unfortunately I’m not really into that genre. I’m sure others that love YA will like this book!!

Matea is a witch and is chosen by La Santa Muerte. The first instalment of the series and sets up the plot nicely. I wish there was some action, I felt like I was waiting for something to happen and it just didn’t. Kept me on the edge but I just wanted a little more.
I loved the Mexican bruja culture incorporated into a more modern setting, and it was intriguing to read some of the spells and brujería. Just wished there was a tad bit more drama, the plot with Esme and Brandon could have been fleshed out some more.
I hope the second instalment delivers some more chaos!

I wanted to love this book because the description and the cover were so promising (I’m a sucker for a good cover) but it just fell flat for me.