Immortal Pleasures by V. Castro

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Ray Books for the opportunity to read this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Immortalized Pleasures is a vampire revenge story following an Aztec woman named Malinalli, who was sold to Spanish conquerors during the 1500s. Once she is turned into a vampire, Malinalli spends years honing her specialized skills and tracking down ancient relics stolen by colonizers and returning them to their native peoples. In modern day England, Malinalli discovers her first husband - the Spanish Conqueror Hernán Cortés has become an immortal himself and wants to hunt her down for his own uses.

No spoilers here - but I have to say this book is a wild ride. The premise was amazing but ultimately its execution and Castro’s writing style weren’t for me. A large portion of the story is spent in flashbacks to Malinalli’s experiences in the 1500s which were very well done. The frequent jumps between past and present resulted in large tonal shifts, and very different writing styles - almost as if the different time periods were written by different authors. The story also had a hard time finding its feet due to numerous explicit sex scenes in the first third of the book.

This is definitely a unique take historical fiction mixed with vampires, and if that’s something that interests you, I recommend this book. Immortal pleasures will be published April 16th 2024.

An Aztec vampire seeking vengeance for the horrors she experienced when she and her people were conquered. That sounds like it should be an amazing book and the cover art is gorgeous. Unfortunately that wasn’t quite what we got. For me, this book was kind of a mess. It didn’t seem like it knew what it wanted to be. For a book blurbed as “seeking vengeance” there wasn’t a significant plot driving anything forward. Also, the drastically different chapter lengths contributed to the pacing feeling off. The past and present timelines felt disjointed. The past is a devastating, historical fiction. However, in the present we have insta love and ridiculous smut. For someone who is supposed to have the trauma of being sold and used during the conquering of a nation that makes absolutely no sense. Also, for someone being described as seeking vengeance and reclaiming stolen artifacts, we don’t get to see much of that. For me this book gets two stars because of its ambition and conversations started. I wanted this to work for me. I was excited for the blending of horror, fantasy, historical fiction, and romance. I was excited for the conversations about colonization, trauma, treatment of women, etc. This book just wasn’t able to quite hit the mark on those things for me.

This is a one star book but was fun, funny, and kind of interesting to read, so it's a complicated mixture of feelings I'm going through at this moment. I know V. Castro writes well, I loved two of her other books. This just wasn't for me in the slightest. It felt different to me.

This book was one of my most anticipated releases for 2024, but unfortunately, this just wasn't for me. I really like this author but I just couldn't get into this book. The general plot was interesting, but some parts took me out of the story. Specifically the sex scenes. I don't read a lot of books that include erotica so I was caught off guard with some of the scenes in this book, which might be my fault for not looking into this closely enough before requesting the ARC. I ended up DNFing this around 50%.

I loved the concept and the themes of this one, but I bounced right off the prose. There was so much info dumping of backstory that I couldn't get immersed in the book.

"But even after this bout of deep grief, the end of the day found me still standing once more to watch the sun rise and fall. I knew that even after all my pain, it was something no one could take away from me."

'Immoral Pleasures' was such a great book with an interesting storyline that kept me wanting more. Malinalli was such a bad ass woman, her back story was heart breaking but how she continues on was inspiring. I loved that she was unapologetically herself and if she wanted something, she didn't have a problem going after it! Once she meets Alexander and the twist we get on him came in from left field that I didn't expect and I actually really enjoyed that and little back story we get on him. I loved that we got vampires, romance, historical fiction and horror all rolled into one book. I will say, the ending was a tad bit rushed but wasn't poorly done.

Thank You to NetGalley for the ARC.

DNF at 20%

The writing in this was just not jiving for me. While I was liking the general plot and the FMC I just couldn't force myself to wade through the remainder of the book,

I had pretty high hopes for this book, as I love V. Castro and.I was really excited to see what she was going to do with a vampire story. There were some really good things about this book that worked well for me. I absolutely love the idea of taking the figure of La Malinche and turning her into an immortal vampire who is atoning for her complicity in the Spanish conquest/genocide of many Latin American cultures (doing a reverse Indiana Jones and taking artifacts back from museums and taking them back to their countries and cultures of origin is great). And I loved seeing how frank and honest she was about the conquest and the genocide, and those parts of the book I found very compelling. But the modern day stuff didn't work as well for me, as I feel like it gets a little sidetracked by her romantic relationships and many, many explicit sex scenes. I'm definitely all about Malinalli taking back her agency and her sexuality, but the pacing was thrown during these bits. I also felt that a lot of the story suffered from a lack of showing and a LOT of telling. It felt like Castro was going for an Anne Rice homage with Malinalli's voice, but it didn't quite work. But then, lots of points for an absolutely bonkers reveal about one of Malinalli's lovers and his true identity, I actually screamed when that reveal happened because it was insane but I was LIVING for it.

IMMORTAL PLEASURES was a bit of a let down, but it did have some really solid beats and themes. And I like the audacity Castro had to take the story in that direction.

I really wanted to like this book. . . I did, but there were so many issues with it that I don’t know if I finished it out of spite or genuinely hoping it’d get better by the end. It didn’t. 🥲

First, I’ll talk about the positives of the book. For one, I really loved the idea of a woman wronged by history reclaiming her story through her immortal life as a vampire. La Malinche is vilified often due to her role as a translator for the conquistador, Córtes. I liked the idea that she was as unwilling of a participant as the indigenous population, but only doing her duty out of self-preservation. This could have been a wonderful tale of a woman taking back her story, her body, and her name but it not only feel rather flat, but the writing, the romance, and the erotic elements were what really hindered it in my opinion. 😕

The writing itself was just not a good fit for this incredible woman in my opinion. Not only did were the metaphors incredibly odd (her belly moaning like sirens waiting sailors to feast on? Ehhhh), but also the way Malinalli narrated the book just felt like she was a 19-year-old trying to act like a tough and wise 50-year-old. It just didn’t sit right with me. This and the fact that she claims to be unwilling to open herself to love but falls immediately for two men within hours of seeing them. I honestly could have done without one of the two love interests (*coughs* the human) and instead have had a wonderful exploration of opening up to love after centuries of being closed off emotionally. ❤️‍🩹

This leads me to my other problem which was the erotic element. . . Why do I feel like such a prude with these incredibly descriptive sex scenes?! I don’t mind them if they’re done tastefully, but this was just too much for me. And the use of butter in one of them? . . . I had to walk away from my kindle for a good while before I tried to get back into the story. 😳

In the end, a rather promising book that just really didn’t hit any of the things I was hoping to get out of it. I’d recommend it for those interested in the historical exploration of the conquest of Mexico and the celebration of indigenous and brown women but only if you can get past the erotica. That or I’d recommend it for those who enjoy very graphic sex scenes/don’t mind it being the majority of the romance plot. 😵‍💫

Thank you to Del Rey Book and NetGalley for accepting my request to read this in exchange for an honest review. ❤️

Publication date: April 16!

Overall: rounding up to 2/5 ⭐️

When I received this ARC I will admit that it took me a few tries to get past the first 20%. However, I'm glad that I stuck with it because once I passed that mark I was glued to this book and finished it within a few hours. I came to love the main character but the plot was all over the place. This book is really about the vibes, really.

This was interesting! The scenes described were intriguing, and the way the story unfolds is unique and provocative. That cover is STUNNING and is what drew me into the book. Looking forward to reading the author's backlist after this.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year so I am bummed that I didn’t enjoy it. There were some aspects that were good but overall I just never connected to the main character, the time jumps were hard to follow and the sex scenes felt so awkward. I have read several books by this author and this is the only one I haven’t loved so I’m hoping the next book will be better!

I am so appreciative of the opportunity to read and review this book ahead of its release. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Malinalli has been a vampire for many centuries and wants to feel a connection with someone. Malinalli goes to Ireland first and meets Colin, who, is an author. They seem to have a great connection. Someone from Malinalli's past is now hunting her but who could it be. Will Malinalli learn the truth? Can Colin and Malinalli make a relationship work? Find out in Immortal Pleasures.

I received this ARC from Del Rey via Netgalley for an honest review.

DNF. For whatever reason, I couldn't get into it. The writing style was something that I wasn't expecting and it made me feel like I was already playing catch up with the story.

(1 star because NetGalley doesn't allow for a no-star review.)

As a latinx/mexican-american, I really liked this. I loved the connection between my culture and fantasy. Overall this is a romance book and not really a historical book like I thought. Not a bad thing in my opinion as I often go for romance than historical fiction.

. It was sexy, dark, and a bit sad at times. The author did a great job in describing Mallini's pain, anger and insatiable lust! Give me all the spice!

Honestly if I was Malinalli, an immortal, sexy vampire, I too would be having a great amount of sex!

This book was good and kept me entertained. I have only two criticisms for it. Firstly, the ending felt very rushed like we'd run out of time and needed to wrap it up quickly. Second, many times I felt preached at about the evil of being white rather than educated on the deeds of men long dead. All in all, I would read another book about Malinalli if she writes one.

I really wanted to like this one, based on the description. I think my Goodreads status update just sums it up: "I don't know if I'm enjoying this or not? It's not *good* but I read a third of it in one sitting. Christopher Pike's 'Last Vampire' vibes, with almost purple prose explicit scenes. In the first person." It didn't get any better. Two stars because I did keep reading, whether I really should have or not.
Thank you very much to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

My first read of V. Castro and I enjoyed it.
There were a few scenes that were great but the ending was too much for me. In overall, Immortal Pleasures was an interesting read.
I would recommend it to fans of vampire fiction looking for a new twist on the genre.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and Netgalley for providing me with this arc for my honest review.

This book is ridiculous. I almost admire the unique approach but I certainly did not enjoy it. The parts of the story that relate to Malinalli's history as La Malinche and her quest for vengeance show a lot of promise. But the story takes such a deranged direction that it completely distracts from anything about the book that I might have liked. The writing is so, so bad, the character relationships are hollow, and the story lacks purpose and direction. I almost want to believe that this is satire, that is how ridiculous it was, but the story is trying to be serious. The abundance of sex scenes filled with cringe, absurd writing overpower the rest of the book. I am genuinely scarred after reading some of those lines.

I can confidently say I will never read anything like this again. Or at least I sincerely hope I never do.

I want to start by saying I absolutely love V. Castro’s work. Goddess of Filth and The Haunting of Alejandra are two of my favorites from her.
Unfortunately, Immortal Pleasures wasn’t for me. In my experience, there was telling vs showing, and it maybe felt too info dumpy because of that. It was also a little more contemporary vampire than Aztec vampire if that makes sense. I will continue to read anything by V. Castro because she is a queen.