I received a copy from NetGalley for review.

First and foremost I struggle with how to rate this book. On one hand I struggled to put it down. The writing and the story kept me entertained for hours on end, but on the other hand it felt like it needed another round of editing to work through some of the pacing and story telling elements. I definitely enjoyed how the history of the conquests in the Aztec world were told and how that fueled the rage of Malinalli in the present day. I like that we get a story of lust and the start of a story that I'm confident will be of deeper love eventually. Though the Judas story was kind of our of left field, I did really appreciate that the author gave Mali a counterpart that could understand the choices that were made in the past and made to look like something else in the current times.

The author does a great job of showing how the past can be rectified with returning artifacts to their rightful locations and I hope we one day get to see more from this world that the author has created.

Two things honestly keep this from being five stars. 1. some of the pacing was a little slow and 2. butter being used as lube. Do with that information what you will, but I still recommend reading this story.

I’m honestly really confused by this. It’s unlike V Castro’s work in many ways. Her usual writing skills do not shine in this novel. The entire novel is written in show not tell and is truly a chore to read. I’ve never had such trouble reading a novel by Castro. Typically I devour them in a day or two.

There are a lot of comments that are anti-indigenous or perpetuate stereotypes like cannibalism. I am a mesoamericana archaeologist and the depiction of cannibalism and minimization of sacrifice was extremely disappointing. If she was going to mention this, there should’ve been the added context necessary to work against the stereotype that is NOT TRUE. I would’ve never expected that from someone like Castro, who usually writes against stereotypes. This one really missed the mark which saddens me. I was highly anticipating this one but unfortunately it left me feeling sad and my culture looked down upon.

A very special thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the advanced copy of V.Castro’s latest – Immortal Pleasures, to be published April 16th 2024.
“An ancient Aztec vampire roams the modern world in search of vengeance and love…”
I am a huge fan of Castro’s earlier work, particularly Goddess of Filth and The Haunting of Alejandra, and I was excited at the premise of her take on Vampire lore – particularly set against Latinx history and blending the real-life history of La Malinche. Unfortunately, this most recent entry fell flat for me. Immortal Pleasures very much felt like Castro’s take on Anne Rice’s erotica, and to some extent The Last Vampire series by Christopher Pike.
The story unfolds through two timelines – present day and the past, exploring the main character’s origin story. While I enjoyed the flashbacks and blend of historical fiction, the modern-day plot felt muddled and rushed. The biggest detraction for me is that Immortal Pleasures is heavy on the graphic sex scenes. While I am by no means a prude, I am certainly not the target audience for the erotic fiction displayed here. If you’re a fan of the (heterosexual) spicy, this book might be for you. You’ll never look at butter the same way again!

I was so excited for this book. The cover was amazing and the idea of an ancient Aztec female vampire roaming powerfully round modern time appealed so much to me.

Unfortunately I DNF this book after chapter 3. The first chapter felt to much like an information dump, instead of slowly building up the main character. Then in the 2nd chapter she jumps into having sex with a random guy. I really tired to pick this book back up but it took me forever to get through the first 3 chapters and I just didn't have any desire to keep reading. I feel like the story would have more potential if the character was more built up over a few chapters verse all in the first chapter.

thank you to net galley for the opportunity to read this Arc!

OH OKAY! This was a very interesting book.... I was not expecting any of what I just read.. I'm speechless,
I will recommend this book to the right audience.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC of Immortal Pleasures.

The interesting cover and title drew me in, but, unfortunately, they were the only compelling things to me about this book. I had to DNF after struggling through a couple chapters. I wanted desperately to enjoy it as I love vampire lore and a darker romance plot, but the writing was not for me.

Thank you Netgalley and the author for the arc to review!
An interesting read and I love the strong and feminist FMC. I loved her story and the strength she carries throughout the book, despite being oppressed by men in her life. This book dives deep into colonialism and the effects it has on cultures. The way these vampires were written in this story was haunting and beautiful and I really liked reading about them throughout. All in all, a good story!

Sexy , throughly provoking and incredibly well written . This might be my favorite work from V Castro.
Thank you for the eArc.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey for the ARC of this book!

A modern vampire book with an ancient Aztec vampire who searches the world for ancient artifacts stolen from civilizations so she can return them. Everything about that seemed very much up my alley. Malinalli uses her immortal life to try and reverse-Indiana Jones artifacts and return them to the people that colonizers stole them from. I was so interested in the story until one part that took me so far out of the story, I haven't wanted to return back to the book. She starts a relationship with a human bookstore owner/horror author (seems like the perfect guy for her), and then the "butter lube" happens. I may return to the book one day, but it's going to be a DNF for me right now.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC. This book was very good. I enjoyed the history and backstory of our main character Mali. It was easy to picture the time and place of this story. The writing was wonderful and the spice was just enough.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House - Ballantine/Del Rey for letting me read an eARC of Immortal Pleasures. I loved the way V. Castro weaved historical characters into a vampire story. By focusing on Malinalli and building her up as a complex character who is deeply affected by her past and the decisions she has made in order to survive for so long, it makes the story that much more riveting. The character development only heightened the violence and gore of the story and really stressed the villainy of the antagonist. I can't wait to read whatever V. Castro writes next, as this was a great follow-up to The Haunting of Alejandra.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me a chance at reading this book.

V. Castro's Goddess of Filth is one of my favorite exorcism / possession books. Absolutely loved the girl in that. While her last release (before this one) wasn't a winner to me, this one seemed more along the lines of a Aztec Queen of the Damned story about a vampire who continues to remain alive and finds love, and danger.

I saw the reviews. I saw the reviews of those who read the book and highlighted the quotes that were certainly 'eye-popping', and it made me even more excited to read this. So I quickly geared it up... and finished it almost in one sitting.

The book is a fast paced story, told from various first person narratives, but focusing on the story of our vampire protagonist. She is on the search for the artifacts that were claimed / stolen by white profiteers or people who could at the time and would. Meanwhile, she becomes involved with a guy who she starts having a sexual thing with... which is where those quotes came from.

THE ONE THAT GOT ME ROLLING was when he was baking something in the kitchen, she takes the butter, lubes herself and his cock and fucks him reverse cowgirl... taking it in the ass. I just sat there and I thought 'am I going to be able to eat something with butter the same way, or see a stick of butter the same way again?' And then, the metaphor to all that was like a squid pulsing. I had remember seeing this quote being mentioned but DID I KNOW IT CAME FROM BUTTER LUBE.

Oh yes, the story. The story after getting through so many sexual bits with this random guy that shows up, and then she stops fucking when he decides to go all Interview With the Vampire on her when finding out her secret (he starts writing a book about a vampire who wants to be mortal), has her with a bounty hunter who has been paid by Cortez (yes, that Cortez who is also a vampire) to take her out... you start asking yourself, why does this guy seem familiar?

Girl starts screwing Judas. Yes. That Judas. Apparently after hanging himself, the rope broke and he starts wandering the desert. He comes across someone who turns him into a vampire, which allows him to change his name and live as a bounty hunter - getting more than those pieces of silver. Judas has now found his true match with our protagonist, which leads him to pair up with her in taking out Cortez once and for all.

There is a A LOT of things happening in the story, and people too, but it just feels disjointed and weird and the story itself about these artifacts and how Cortez is after her is more or less she isn't a white woman and how dare she live type story.... So it all comes down to Sex Sex, Sex Sex, Butter Lube, Sex, Judas, and lets kill Cortez.

I was entertained but I wish the book was far more entertaining with the plot instead of the wild sex scenes. Or maybe the book should have been about the woman literally on a world wild fucking spree and using the most wackiest stuff to help her out.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Del Rey via NetGalley for providing me with this ARC! Overall, I really enjoyed the premise of the book! I think that the book demonstrates a style of frequently used within Latin America: testimonios — something that I think many reviewers are overlooking. Many stated that the author was “telling rather than showing,” but testimonios are about telling the racial, classed, gendered, and nativist injustices suffered by the speaker. I recognize that isn’t what traditional writing may do, but given the origins of this character, it makes perfect sense to me why this style was chosen and I don’t think the book should be penalized for a lack of understanding. I will say, the romance aspect of the novel did fall a little flat for me—I was not really invested in that aspect of the novel and at times it felt out of place. I felt most invested in the ebook when reading about the MC thoughts and previous experiences. For that reason, I’m rating it 4/5 stars. I think if you enjoy V. Castro’s work, want to read more Latine authors, and enjoy gothic literary themes you will enjoy this book.

DNF @30% I wanted to like this, but I don’t think I can tell people to spend money on it in good conscience. The dialogue and prose are both clunky, and awkward. This book is a master class in telling, rather than showing. The main character acts like a 22 year old, despite being described as a 500 year old vampire. There were a lot of things that happened that I know I was supposed to take seriously, but were so outlandish that I couldn’t- for example, the main character can’t even look at Cholula hot sauce, because she was present during a massacre of the Cholulan people at the hands of the Spanish. On that note- SURELY there’s a better avenue to talk about the harms of colonization than in a vampire erotica novel?? Right? It just felt like neither topic was written well, and one was constantly undercutting the other….

I was so excited for the premise of this and I enjoyed The Haunting of Alejandra. But this just did not do it for me, unfortunately. For lack of a better description, it was just too much.

I absolutely loved the ideas this book brought forward but not so much the execution. It fell flat in bringing to life the largeness of the story and felt often like I was being told and not shown. Another review remarked it as a bit of a history text and reads more like historical fiction and I think that rings very true.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey for the opportunity to read an advance copy of Immortal Pleasures. I had a difficult time connecting with the main character and found her unbelievable as a vampire. Her voice was too contemporary for my taste. The writing was mostly telling and not enough showing, as is one tenet of good writing.

I was extremely excited to read this. Unfortunately, it was very disappointing. The staff had promise, giving us a sensual view of Malinalli as a vampire. The impulsive sexual chemistry between her human companion was steamy at first, but became a rushed mess to use him as a object to push the narrative forward with the antagonist (who was cool in concept, but extremely boring)

Her vampire companion came in extremely late in the story so their interest in one another was also rushed.

Also, the cuts to the past were extremely distracting and pulled from the events happening. It was interesting to see how Malinalli became who she was and what she experienced in her human and early vampire life, but a lot of it was dry and uninteresting.

I was very much wanting to like this book. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be.

I want to thank the author for giving me the opportunity to read this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

THOUGHTS:

I think that this book deserves more credit than it is getting. I enjoyed this book a lot. It got an easy 4 stars from me. If you are a fan of books based around revenge, gore horror, strong FMC’s and a love story within then this book is absolutely for you. I had never read anything by V. Castro before and I am glad that I found their writing! I jumped right into this story and emerged myself into this world. I enjoyed how the author switched between present and past in the novel. I didn’t set this book down until the very last page and now I cannot wait to see what else this author comes out with next. This book may not be for everybody but def place this author and their books on your TBR if you love this genre.

So, I checked out “Immortal Pleasures” by V. Castro, right? (Thanks for NetGalley and Random House Publishing, you're the real MVP). The idea behind it is super cool – it’s got vampires, a fight against colonization, and some spicy scenes. Honestly, what’s not to love? But, I’ve gotta tell you, I just couldn’t get into the author’s writing style. I had to stop reading halfway through.

The book kicks off with this huge info dump about the main character. It felt like overkill, especially since a lot of that info kept getting repeated later on. It’s like, okay, I get it already! And the characters… I couldn’t really get a feel for them. The writer does a lot of telling you about them, instead of showing you through their actions, you know?

And the spicy bits? They kind of fell flat. They just happen without much build-up, and the comparisons used were kind of weird, totally took me out of the moment.

Honestly, if the book got a good edit, it could be amazing. The foundation is there, it’s just the way it’s told that didn’t click for me. With some tweaks, I could totally see myself giving it a higher rating. But as it stands, not really my cup of tea.