Garber does what she does with great world building, interesting characters and time to really be absorbed in a story.

Normally this kind of book would be right up my alley, but I just couldn't get into it. I wanted to like it, but it just wasn't for me. I've loved Garber's other works, but this just didn't work for me.

Many thanks to the publisher St. Martin's Press, author Romina Garber, and NetGalley for providing me the eARC. All opinions in this review are honest and my own. This title was published on July 30, 2024.

3.5 STARS

Castle of the Cursed is one trippy, ambitious ride for an YA novel. It messes with reality including an unreliable narrator, spooky times, and magic? I think the author took in a lot of inspirations and went for it when creating her own adventure to share with her readers.

Estela is a 17 year old struggling to cope with the recent death of her parents on subway. The FBI force her to go along with the vetted story that a gas leak cause the mass casualties, but she wonders why she survived. Survivor's guilt and suspicion plague her as she's forced into mental health treatment and remain afterward when she's shuttled off to a gothic, Spanish, gargoyle-laden castle. The new setting brings even more problems with local drama, all-too-real dreams, and a new yet mysterious friend.

I'm not sure what to think of this book. I was never bored because at a certain point, you strap into the rollercoaster that never slows down until the end. The plot makes for wild surprises but teeters toward too much--too many fantastical elements and other plot devices? The result was for me a feeling that the book lacked groundedness. The plot-forward approach sacrificed character development, and even the main teen romance seems underbaked and/or a side effect of the circumstances.

Overall, I would tell readers interested in the book to give it a try. It'll either be not for you or a fun time.

I like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me a chance to read.

I couldn't make it past the first chapter. I wasn't really feeling the pull from the main character and something about the writing did not entice me to continue on.

Such a good gothic haunted house book. It handles grief so well and the way that can make you feel unhinged. The way it can warp your reality is so prevalent in this.

This dark, fairytale-inspired fantasy is lush, eerie, and beautifully written. Garber builds a world where magic is political and history is haunted—literally. The gothic castle setting is the perfect backdrop for a story about curses, identity, and power. I loved the blend of folklore and feminist rage, and the protagonist is fierce in a way that feels earned rather than performative. There were a few pacing hiccups and a bit of info-dumping early on, but the payoff is dramatic, emotional, and satisfying. A great pick if you want your fantasy with shadows, secrets, and teeth.

Great book for the fall or Halloween. I Loved the characters and the ending was great. I was excited for this book and it didn't disappoint me.

This is not my normal genre but I loved it. To me that says it is a good book. The story was so unusual and unique. I recommend to libraries serving a boastful teen readership.

Firstly, thank you to Netgalley for giving me an advanced copy of this book! I really enjoyed reading it as a whole. I do have some issues with certain sections of it, but the book was overall a really fun, creepy, thrilling, romantic read. One of my favorite aspects is when an author integrates another language into the book. I loved seeing the Spanish and getting familiar with a couple of words. It adds another level to the story. Estela's journey with her family and the mystery is so unique and cool. The beginning started off very creepy, but as the story progressed, I loved the thriller and mystery aspects of trying to figure out the Castle's secrets. And oh boy, were those some secretes. While I don't normally try and guess what might happen, this story really kept me on the edge of my seat with where it was going. The plot just kept twisting in all new directions. The romance also really took me for a spin- I kept telling myself that I was just making things up, but the romance really happened. I'm not 100% if I loved it or not- sometimes it felt very pushed or things happened really quickly. It almost felt sliced-and-diced in there, but I can see that it was needed for the continuation of the plot. I also saw Felipe's storyline coming from a mile away and I have a love/hate relationship with him. I very much love that his character was added into the story, but I do not like him at all. The concept of the Castle just blew my mind and I loved every moment of it and the discovery of all it's secrets. Such a fun read.

This book started off strong and then lost me towards the middle. There’s a good way to have a lot going on in a book, but unfortunately, this was not an example. It felt too all over the place and not cohesive at all.

Thank you to St Martin’ Press, Wednesday Books and Netgalley for an e-ARC of this novel. Here are my thoughts!

Estela seems to face sorrow after sorrow. Her parents were just killed in a strange attack that killed everyone on a subway train except for Estela. She goes to Spain to live with her estranged aunt and begins to learn about the complicated, magical past of her family. She explores the castle with the help of the mysterious Sebestian, who only she seems to be able to see.

As far as romantasy goes this one was pretty good in my opinion. It’s a little on the dark side and I would even classify some scenes as horror. So, it’s a little challenging to define genre-wise. What I really enjoyed about this one is the plot. There are lots of twists and turns that are surprising, and things moved in a logical direction. All my questions were answered and wrapped up by the end of the novel.

The setting was described beautifully, and I loved the way the Spanish was woven throughout the book. It made me feel more immersed. The characters were fine to me. I couldn’t really connect with any of them on a personal level, but it was moving to see how Estela coped and dealt with the various levels of grief she had to face throughout the book. As the novel continued, I was proud of the strength she discovered and latched onto.

Overall, I recommend this to people who enjoy romantasy but like a little bit of a dark twist as far as plot goes.

Not for me, the romance was rushed and the plot a tad bizarre. The fact that the realtionship was under two weeks was crazier than the vampires. Some people love instalove stories, I prefer slowburn. To each their own though.

Thank you to the publisher for the ALC and this ARC and this is my honest review. I read and listened in tandem.

I loved the gothic, mysterious element that this book had. The narrator was phenomenal with it... but the character was so immature that I thought she was a whiney immature teen, not an adult. I just couldn't do it because that ruined the whole book for me.

I tried to read this twice. The first time, I thought maybe it was because I was not in the right headspace. (I appreciated Romina Garber's author's note at the beginning of the book.) This last time, I'm in a healthier headspace and still have not connected with the book. I made it further in, about 30%, but I don't think it's for me. I feel like I'm reading two stories: a depressed girl and a mystery. Two stories are fine, but usually there is a blurred overlap. Here, it's not, and it's so jarring. I'm just not a fan.

This story follows a young girl with survivors guilt who moves to la Sombra where there are secrets and curses. I read Garber’s previous books and really enjoy her story telling. This one is no different. It is very action packed and fast pacing. It did take me a while to get a bit used to the whole plot of the story because I got lost many times but I enjoyed the gothic environment. Also I wish they had a bit more translations in the beginning as some of the dialogue didn’t get translated over. This story is told from Estela’s pov.

Estela is the FMC of the story who doesn’t know what is happening with her life. There are so many secrets she need to discover. I loved her growth but I do have to say that it happened quicker than expected. Then we have Sebastian whose trapped at the castle and is helping Estela unravel the secrets. There are other side characters that come into play but there was one person who I felt like was just so random. The romance was not the best in my opinion. It’s forced proxmity and age gap. I thought their romance was a bit off.

The ending made me confused with the time jump as it made it feel like there could be a next book. But I could just be reading into things. The concept of this book was great but I think the action didn’t get there. I would rather choose Lobizona by the author which was such a well written story.

*this book was sent to me by the publihser to give an honest review in return*

I am very thankful to have been gifted a copy of this book; however, at this point this book will be moving to my DNF shelf. It sounds like something I would have really enjoyed, and will happily come back and re-review once I am in a better mindset for the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for the eARC and the opportunity to read and share my thoughts on this book!

There is something about the setting of an ancient family castle in Spain, mysterious family secrets, and the darkness that comes with profound grief that really sets the mood for a dark and beautiful story of loss and romance. I also enjoyed the contemporary setting which is nice to see in fantasy!

We follow Estela, who is wracked with grief and survivors guilt after surviving a mysterious attack on a subway that left her as the only survivor and her parents dead. Estela accepts an invitation to live with her estranged aunt in Spain at the family castle of La Sombra and there she finds that her family has been the subject of much speculation and possibly has some dark skeletons in her family’s past. Things become even stranger when Estela meets Sebastian, a silver-eyed boy that somehow only she can see, but he just may be the clue she needs to solve the secrets of her family’s past and the darkness that seems to be ever present in the town of Oscuro.

For a YA book, this book dealt with the realities of grief and loss so well and it definitely had me shedding a few tears at the emotions of Estela. This book was simultaneously hard and easy to read because of those heavier themes but I loved the setting and the romance between her and Sebastian so much that it balanced out well.

Holy freaking smokes, this book was AMAZING. As a fan of dark romance, and paranormal fantasy, this book had it all for me.

One of the unique aspects of this book is the incorporation of Spanish language and culture. As a non-bilingual reader, I was initially concerned about following the story, but the author helped with including the translations. Because Estela was essentially a non-bilingual and had to (re)learn Spanish, the author helped us understand Spanish through teaching her FMC. Estela also wasn't what I expected. She was smart and clever; she was filled with grief and rage, and I feel like I felt her pain as she worked through her own emotions. Girl was relatable.

Now the atmosphere was so amazing, and it gave all the chills. The gothic manor, the secrets, the magic, the monster...the romance. I loved Bastian from the moment we meet him, I enjoyed seeing him on the page, and his mystery along with Estela's own history was fascinating to uncover. And la Sombra was utterly terrifying and amazing to unravel. This was a book I thoroughly enjoyed getting lost in.

Thank you @wednesdaybooks @netgalley for my free copy!

📖 After Estela suffers the loss of her parents, she learns she has a distant relative overseas. When she arrives, she learns her family has an ancestral Spanish castle named La Sombra. But the castle holds many family secrets and the more Estela investigates, the more deadly things become.

💭 I’m not going to lie, this book was kind of weird. It’s not going to be for everyone, hence the mixed reviews on Goodreads. For me, it was a good weird. I was totally mesmerized with the story. There was so much happening, it kept taking me by surprise. I was a little confused by the ending, but overall I was here for all the drama. Plus the gothic, creepy castle vibes were totally on point.

📚 Read this if you like…
Family secrets
Curses
Forbidden love
Magic
Dark gothic vibes
Supernatural elements

I thought the the concept of this book was good and enjoyed the Gothic elements. I did feel like it was a bit rushed at the beginning and the plot twist provided some information that could have been included earlier on. I think some of my students will enjoy the romance piece of it, though I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone because of the trigger warnings.