I wasn't expecting this book to thrill me the way it did. I had seen some mixed reviews for it and dove into it skeptically.

The book: A cursed castle with an attractive vampire and a woman determined to solve the mystery of her parent's death.

Thoughts: It was more of a romance storyline than I expected it to be. The setting was painted perfectly, making it easy to immerse yourself along side the characters. Some of the plot was easily guessed, but the storyline managed to still enchant you.

An easy recommendation for any gothic supernatural fans.

I found this book to be up my alley and a page turner. The mysteries presented in this book had me wondering to the point , I lost sleep over what was going to happen. The writing was clear, informative and very well written. I love gothic stories and this is the first book from this Author I have read and I will be reading more.

What a fascinating read! Dark and captivating and unapologetically twisted, it was easy to enjoy The Castle of the Cursed once the secrets started to spill and the true story began to unfold.

Honestly, I struggled with the first maybe 30% of this book but ended up devouring it by the end. The story is unlike anything I have ever read before and is really unique and absolutely enthralling once you get into it. I unfortunately didn't connect well with the characters and a lot of the emotional bits of their relationships seemed to be either lacking or underdeveloped. I would have loved to have it just a smidge longer with more detailing and connection between the characters, but everything to keep the story rolling was present and certainly never dull.

Also, I expected some Spanish (obviously, from the synopsis) but I was skipping chunks of dialogue because I don't actually know a lick of Spanish. But that's my bad for not paying attention to Dora in my younger years.

Give it a read if you want something unexpected and quite satisfying.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read a book I may not have picked up. I wouldn't have know what I was missing

A bloodthirsty family legacy calls a girl back to her ancestral castle after a tragedy. But this castle is more than haunted - it's always hungry.

In this gothic supernatural romance, Estella is the sole survivor of an accident that killed her parents. She is institutionalized from the shock and struggles to find the will to live, when a mysterious letter arrives from her aunt, inviting her to the family castle in Spain that she can only barely remember. In true gothic fashion, her aunt forbids her from exploring the castle beyond the main rooms. Of course, that's the first rule Estela breaks, finding hidden rooms and secrets all over.

But when the handsome shadow beast (vampire) that Estela has been dreaming of comes to life within the castle walls, she finds herself drug into a web woven by others. Sebastian's convinced she is the bruja (witch) who has trapped him in her dimension and keeps threatening to kill her. But as Estela investigates to keep herself alive, both seem to feel complicated emotions towards each other.

This book was pretty well-paced, with just a few sections when we were in someone's memories that seemed to drag a little. There were some good twists, as well as some great gothic elements. All in all, an enjoyable mash-up of dark fantasy and paranormal romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A YA gothic horror that reminds me of fanfiction set in Luigi's Mansion with an unhealthy dose of Alex Jones conspiracy theories.
- The Good -
The general idea was solid, and the author does a fairly good job of incorporating Spanish throughout to add to the authenticity of the setting and general sense of place.
- The Bad -
The book was a slog. This is mostly due to the first person POV that facilitated an outbalanced focus on the MC's inner world and kept the town from really reaching the rich but concise levels of detail that the story needed to build up the gothic atmosphere. The characters as a whole were fairly flat.
- The Ugly -
The ending was bad. Because so much of the story relied on romance to propel the plot, the ending (more or less a bog standard psychological thriller ending) failed to feel like it fit either the genre it advertises on the tin or the foundational plot that it relied on for it's guts. There is also the issue that two parts of the ending conflict, but whether that's because what the author was going for wasn't clear or the story was purposely lying to the reader is unclear. Overall the writing was clunky. There were no grammatical errors or things like that, but the prose didn't flow and the dialogue tended to sound the same for all the characters.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. Castle of the Cursed was EVERYTHING I wanted in a gothic fantasy. I really liked everything about it. Estela is on the subway with her parents and others when she sees a mysterious black smoke. Seconds later when her vision clears, everyone is dead except Estela. Estela and her parents always moved around and was told she was of Argentinean descent. So, imagine her surprise when she finds out she has a long-lost aunt in Spain. Once Estela moves to Spain and arrives in the castle: La Sombra, things start to become weird. Her aunt gives her a pill saying it's the equivalent to what the Americans were giving her, but at night, Estela sees red lights and a shadow beast. As Estela begins unraveling La Sombra's secrets, not only is she in danger, but everyone on Earth is too.

If you like books with elements of mystery and horror with a gothic feel, you'll love this! I could not put this down and it felt almost like a classic novel. The author's writing style is right up my alley and I can't wait to get my hands on her other work!

Very fast paced and kept me on my toes, I enjoyed this. There are mystery and horror elements, mixed with romance, that keep the plot flowing. If you like the gothic genre/eerie atmospheres you will enjoy this one!

There is light in the dark. This book is so important to me. The way it explores grief, loss and seeing the best in people in the worst situations. I loved the book! The story follows Estela who has recently lost her parents and is the only survivor of a tragic accident. Estela is contacted by her last known relative in Spain and the adventure begins, which you may want to dust off your Spanish skills. Overall the book is fantastic to me it has it all! (Horror, supernatural elements, beautiful imagery of a Carnivorous castle and plot! You won’t be disappointed to visit the castle of the cursed!

Thank you so much to Romina Garber and St. Martin's Press for the eARC of this book to review. This was such a great book. It was fast paced and I couldn't put it down! You definitely need to give this book a read.

Castle of the Cursed pretty much has everything I love... with mystery, romance and horror elements that kept me intrigued throughout. It has a very gothic feel I absolutely adored which kept me eager to follow the character of Estela through all the twists and turns she experiences at her ancestral castle home of la Sombra after her life alterning tragedy at the beginning of the story. The reader is basically along for the ride as Estela unravels the mystery of la Sombra and its connection to that initial tragedy that brought her to the castle. This was a very enjoyable read I would recommend and especially for mystery readers that would appreciate a uniquely gothic feel to the mystery.

I've been itching for more vampire books and this one sort of dropped into my lap.

It immediately felt classic to me. In the sense that it could have easily fit in with 00's vampire YA. There's some mental health issues, and a slight horror bend, addressed that modernize the story, but for the most part it read like a classic YA vampire story.

I'd recommend it to the teenager who likes to think deep and also enjoys commercial vampire works.

This was a wild ride! I absolutely flew through the second half. Let me start off by saying I love a good creepy decrepit castle. There was murder, vampires, magic, crazy family members (iykuk), and love. The plot twists were actual twist. If you told me what happened at the end was going to happen after I read 30 pages I would have been shocked. Estela and Sebastian felt a bit insta love but I could not help but eat it up. The last line… tell me I’m not the only one that read the nickname Bast and did a side eye. Romina I need more!

“That is humanity’s true magic – our unabashed ability to hope.”

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC, which I received in exchange for an honest review.

The idea behind this book was solid and had all the makings of a good supernatural mystery – a hidden family secret, a cursed castle in a foreign land, and a creepy town with a monstrous history. I was very engaged for the first 20-30%. The magic rules were well-defined, the is-this-real-or-not folklore was interesting, and the family twist later on was pretty unique. The description of the house and its various rooms was vivid and helped put me right in the story. Each room had its own personality, and the concept for one of the rooms that plays a major role in the castle and the story was beyond creative (I'd read a short story just about that room). The trauma responses Estela exhibits are introduced in a way that made sense within the context of the story - in a world where monsters exist, you have to work even harder to discern what’s real and what’s inside your head – without having either explain everything Estela experienced.

Seventeen-year-old Estela survives a mysterious subway attack that killed both her parents. Traumatized, she seems destined to spend her life in a treatment facility before she’s surprised with an invitation to live with in a previously unknown aunt in her family’s castle in Spain. Once she arrives in Spain, however, it becomes clear that this part of her family was unknown for a reason, and her history – and the castle’s – is darker than anyone ever could have imagined. Using the tricks her private investigator father taught her, Estela needs to unravel the mystery of her parents’ death and her family’s past to survive – all while trying to find something worth living for.

I do think in trying to write a page-turner the author shoved too much in there. The second half of the book was one twist after another and there wasn’t enough time given to the characters to care about what happened to anyone. The author introduced Raul’s investigative rules as a clever way to break up the book and serve as a guide for how and why Estela acts the way she does, but they only come out periodically when Estela remembers she’s running an investigation. I was drawn to this book in part due to one description that mentioned Veronica Mars, and I wish the author had leaned into that part a little more.

Where the book really fell apart for me though was in the introduction of the monster romance. I’ll admit upfront I’m not a huge romance reader, so it may be that I just wasn’t the right audience for this one. But at one point the narrator says the entire story from Estela’s arrival in Spain to the “final battle” occurred with a two-week span, and while I know teenagers are prone to heightened emotions and illogical love life decisions, this felt like way too much way too soon. I groaned and nearly DNF’d when she suddenly decided she was infatuated with Sebastian and wanted to kiss him. Estela’s been haunted by visions of a monster for months – so terrified it’s a major part of the reason she’s still institutionalized at the beginning – and within days of meeting him she’s in love and wanting to pledge her life to him? The author didn’t build up the relationship between the two enough to make that plausible, and they didn’t seem to have much chemistry. I understand they’re both two extremely broken individuals, but I didn’t buy their sudden attraction to one another, even after the author revealed the history that set this all in motion. Having read to the end I understand why the romance was necessary to make the ending work, but there needed to be a lot more relationship building to make the payoff worth it at the end.

This book had a great premise and I’d definitely try something else by this author. This particular book just wasn’t for me.

Thank you NetGalley for sending me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Castle of the Cursed by Romina Garber is a gothic romance about a survivor, a silver-eyed vampire, and a haunted castle.

I really enjoyed the author’s writing style and how she approached our main character’s survivor guilt and mental health. However, because it was a little too dark for me, I gave it three stars. That’s not to say there was anything wrong with it, just comes down to personal taste. I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys a darker gothic horror read.

First off, thank you for allowing me to read this book in advance. I struggled with this book. I am unsure if it is the part where you jump right into the story or if I just am not good with gothic fantasy. Over all though, a great read once you power through. Excited to purchase this one so I can read the full finished story.

I really loved the plot of this book. I thought the concept was incredibly creative and not just a cookie-cutter vampire or magic story like the others I read. I was engaged throughout my entire read just waiting to see what happened. Unfortunately, character development is probably where this book fell flat for me. While I adored the plot itself, I struggled to feel the development of any of the characters, which made the romance feel forced. That being said, I would still recommend this book to anyone looking for a light and easy mystery read.

A lush gothic mystery that kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading it. I stayed up til 3am to finish it, I couldn't put it down. I loved the story, the descriptions, the mystery, everything. Brilliantly done.

My review at the point where I had only read the book's first half: Order this book! It is so good. I received an advance copy of it, and although I’ve never read any of Romina Garber’s other books, but I was quickly enchanted by her detailed descriptions and wonderfully woven words. Garber writes so beautifully that even her description of the main character putting jam on bread is easily imaginable, almost like I’m seeing the story as a movie and not reading words in a book.

Then, when I got to the second part, I was disappointed that the book started going in many directions. The pacing was too quick near the middle and end, and there was room for more character development. Also, I didn’t love how there were a bunch of book genres near the middle. There are vampires, monsters, spellcasters, different dimensions, and more. The book starts going all over the place, making finishing it less enjoyable. Closer to the book's end, I had to push myself to finish.

"Castle of The Cursed" was a binge-worthy atmospheric read.

The storyline was unique, rather than sticking to one genre it felt like I was reading a mashup of my favorite genres and I think it worked really well.

-Gothic / Supernatural Elements
-Vampire
-Castle
-Enemies To Lovers / Forbidden Romance

Overall this was a really enjoyable read and I'm planning on pre-ordering a copy for myself.

Thank you Romina Garber, Net Galley and St. Martin's Press- Wednesday Press for providing me with an ARC of this book.