I hate hate hate to DNF an e-ARC, but I am just not getting into this one, so, DNF/PAUSE AT 33%.

Malinalli is a retelling of Malinalli, a Nahua woman, and the history and legends surrounding her. The premise has promise- Malinalli and her brother are born into a prophecy, and then her parents try to change it. Malinalli's life seems to be devastation after devastation. At the point I had gotten to, she was in a school beginning to learn about magic (and she is bent on learning about it too).

Part of my issue is that the writing is all telling. It is a bunch of blunt informational sentences, one after the other. Instead of getting a feel for the world and the characters, it reads almost as if it were journal entries of someone chronicalling their life so they would remember things. Not a lot of nuance, not a lot of atmosphere, and not a lot of rounded characters. Even the main character doesn't feel super fleshed out so far.

I still think this story would be a good one-this may just be a timing in my life issue. I might try to come back to this in the future, maybe when my brain isn't so stressed. I'd recommend it to those who think its blurb sounds interesting, and who want to support authors bringing unique stories to the table that deserve more awareness! It is just not for me right now.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria/Primero Sueno Press for the e-ARC!

Thank you Netgalley for the e-arc of this incredible read!

I am baffled, this is something that was executed so well and yet still I felt as if I could have used more. Although marketed as an adult fantasy, this has certain elements that give it a YA feel. Ten years ago, I would have adored everything about this. HOWEVER, I want to note that the historical context of this novel is one that I want to see explored more!

I love retelling especially history. Add in a little magic and I was completely satisfied. If you can tough out the first few chapters which had a bit of a slow start you’re good to go. For me it was a quick read and I have not heard of the original story before so hard to be disappointed in something you’re not completely aware of.

Thank you to Netgalley for this arc. Malinalli was one of my most anticipated reads for this year. This book is a retelling of the real life historical figure Malinalli. People thought of her as a goddess, she was interpreter who helped Spanish conquistadors communicate with the native people in Mexico. Her people later thought her to be a traitor. This story depicts her life growing up and how she was enslaved and kidnapped as a child, and more. This book was so informative, emotional, and wonderfully written.

I was excited when I heard that Veronica Chapa was writing a retelling of a woman in Mexico's history. I will not lie I was not familiar with Malinalli before this retelling. I enjoyed how the retelling allowed Malinalli to reclaim her power and allowed her to be viewed as more than just a trader.

This is a thrilling reimagination of the story of La Malinche. La Malinche is the enslaved woman who translated for Spanish conquistador Cortés. Many blame her for the conquest. But like most women of history, we don’t know much about her. There were moments when I thought it was getting long, but I also admit that life has been lifing so my focus was not been the best while I was reading. I spent a lot of time yelling at Malinalli, but had to remind myself that she really did go through hell. It is great to have a historical fiction book about this iconic figure.

This was a gorgeously written retelling about Malinalli, the Nahua interpreter who worked with Cortés. I loved the lyrical writing style of this book and vivid imagery created from the descriptions of the culture. The combination historical fiction and fantasy was really interesting. Malinalli was a strong and resilient character. I loved that magic was incorporated into her story, but wish the magic was explained a bit better. There were some pacing issues throughout the book, and a lot of complexities, but I found this really enjoyable overall. I listened to the audio while reading the ebook and was grateful to be able to hear the correct pronunciations of names. The narrator was great and really helped bring the emotions of the story to life.

Thank you to Simon Audio and Atria Books for the advance copies!

This is an interesting fantasy retelling of Mexican history. The main character of this story was a real woman who acted as an interpreter for Hernán Cortéz, but in this story, her and others have magical abilities. We follow her from a young age, through dedication to a priestess and her temple, slavery, meeting Cortéz, and all the way through the Spanish conquering of Mexico.

The story has some good moments and interesting characters, but I don't think it was the book for me. It was pretty slow and lacked the action and complex relationships I was looking for. I also struggled to understand how the magic system worked and why characters made certain decisions.

This was a complex and devastating story and I think it is something others may enjoy, even if I did not.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for providing me with a free e-ARC of this book.

Malinalli reimagines the story of a Nahua woman of the same name who acted as a translator for Hernan Cortés. This story adds a lot of context and depth to a controversial historical figure.

Malinalli is renamed Malinalxochitl after the Aztec sorceress/goddess in an attempt to subvert a dismal prophecy. This association with the goddess plays a key part in the story as a source of power for the main character. Aztec mythology and symbolism are prominent throughout the book, and I am embarrassingly unfamiliar with most of it. This book has definitely inspired me to do a deeper dive into not only Malinalxochitl, but Aztec and Mayan mythologies as a whole.

I loved the descriptions of the setting. There are moments where I felt like I'd stepped into the magical and brutal world of 1500s Central America.

I do feel that the pacing was off in the book and it ends rather abruptly. I would have loved to see more of how Malinalxochitl handles the cascade of catastrophies in the last 15-20%. It felt a bit rushed, and I feel like a lot of opportunities were missed.

With that in mind, I am excited to see what Veronica Chapa writes in the future. She shows a lot of talent and potential, and I'd love to read more stories centered around Mexico's history and indigenous mythologies!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was an enjoyable read. I was so excited to read a book based on the life of Malinalli, especially after reading & loving Álvaro Enrigue's You Dreamed of Empires last year, in which she is a major character. Her life as an enslaved translator between Mayan, Nahua and Spanish is fascinating, and she is a criminally overlooked figure in history.

I really liked Chapa's take on her story here. I loved the background given to her life, and of course I loved how she is finally the star of her own story instead of being overshadowed by the powerful men of the time. However, I really wanted to LOVE this story, and I didn't. Something felt missing in the characters - they felt stilted and not quite fleshed out enough. Even so, still a wonderful book that I'm happy to have read.

I understand that ther is a complex history regarding La Maliniche and her role with the conquest of Mesoamerica (if I'm remembering correctly). Ultimately, this book is a retelling that places emphasis on her as a person starting with her birth and progressing through her childhood. The story illustrates the beauty of her culture, including spirituality, food, minerals, resources, etc., and utilizes those things to build the world and our FMC's story. Anyone who dislikes a lot of detail in stories will probably struggle with staying engaged in this book, because it does affect the pacing of the main story being told. The story does do a good job of demonstrating how she had to survive and overcome the situation she was in, but also highlights how intelligent she was. I think whenever we're learning about enslaved historical figures, especially women, a story such as this one helps remind us of how little power and control the enslaved had and them having to discover oppprtunities for power within enslavement. There are intense moments in the story, but again the pacing and all of the details surrounding this moments does dampen the impact I think the author intended for the reader to feel.

A story about female resilience and making the most of bad situations based on real life experiences of La Malinche (aka Malinalli). I appreciate its unique perspective on La Malinche and its vivid descriptions of indigenous Mexican culture. However, I think the book suffered from pacing issues, sacrificing an understanding of the titular character and side characters in order to hit plot points in quick succession. As a consequence, I had little to keep me engaged and felt pretty numb to objectively grave scenes that deserved more impact. Someone who is more spiritual and has a greater appreciation for nature imagery would probably enjoy this more than I did.

Actual Rating: 1.75/5

I went into Malinalli really excited to read about Malintzin/La Malinche, a historical figure I knew little about but was eager to learn more. Her story—one of betrayal, survival, and vengeance—has so much potential for a gripping historical fiction novel. Unfortunately, this book just didn’t deliver.

Let’s start with the positives: the setting and cultural details are beautifully described. The world of pre-conquest Mesoamerica feels rich and alive, and I appreciated the effort to bring this history to life. But that’s where my enjoyment ended. The story itself was rushed, disjointed, and frustratingly shallow in places where it should have had the most emotional depth.

The supernatural elements felt unnecessary, like a crutch the book didn’t need. Malinalxochitl (as she is called in the book) has a real story that is compelling enough—why add vague, ineffectual magic that ultimately doesn’t change anything? The motivations for her revenge felt flimsy, and the time jumps were so abrupt that I struggled to connect with her journey. One moment she’s a betrayed child, the next she’s a vengeance-seeking priestess, and then suddenly, she’s enslaved with barely a paragraph to transition between these life-altering moments.

That was my biggest frustration: important events—her enslavement, her suffering, even the Spanish invasion—were skimmed over as if they were footnotes. There’s a moment where three years of her life as a sex slave are brushed aside in just a few paragraphs. I’m not asking for gratuitous detail, but without exploring her struggles, how are we supposed to feel the weight of her rage and resilience? Instead, she mostly feels passive, floating from one event to the next with brief outbursts of anger that don’t seem to change anything.

By 47%, I was losing patience. By 65%, I gave up and just skimmed to the end. I hate not finishing books, especially ARCs, but this one just wasn’t worth the effort. The best thing I got from Malinalli was the inspiration to research the real Malintzin myself—because this book certainly didn’t do her justice.

I am deeply grateful to NetGalley and Atria Books for this opportunity to read a digital ARC and provide my honest review.

I was hooked from the beginning!!
I devoured this book! .
It was amazing, addictive, and engaging.
I was instantly sucked in by the atmosphere and writing style.
The writing is exceptional and I was hooked after the first sentence.

Thank you so much for this ARC! A great debut and definitely worth reading if you're into more of the historical side!

Malinalli is a a speculative first person narrative of a controversial historical figure - the woman who helped translate for the conquistador Cortez. Historically discussed as a witch, a goddess, a victim, or a traitor, this book shows us a world brimming with mythology and native Mexican symbolism where the heroine is all of the above and more. Malinalli's character remains mostly unchanged from the time of her young childhood to adulthood, but each stage of her life is told with reverent details. In this world of magic, enemies, and tragedy, she will do whatever it takes to protect her family and claim her birthright destiny.

DNF because the characters fell increasingly flat and did not feel real to me. I especially felt distant from the main character herself, which I felt was counterintuitive to a first person narrative that had the main focus of trying to understand a woman who did not get to tell her own story in history. However, people who enjoy plot-driven stories and already have background knowledge of the mythology and symbolism can probably overlook this to appreciate the surreal and tense world-building.

I love the weaving of history with a dreamlike magical atmosphere. I'm a big fan of Circe and this felt similar in that sometimes the protaganist is unlikeable but you find yourself hoping it works out for her.

At their very best, books are able to transport people to new places and experiences. Malinalli is one of those books that completely did that for me. I had studied some Mexican folklore and history, but this book made so many places and people come to life in a gritty but still firmly in the fantasy realm way. I was invested in this book so much and that made me very angry at a number of the characters in this book (mostly the male ones) and I was rooting for Malinalli from the opening pages.

In this retelling we follow Malinalxochitl aka Malinalli aka La Malinche, a young girl who has been told since she was little that she was destined to be essentially bad luck. Her twin brother is sent to a school called the House of Magical Studies to learn how to use his magical powers, while Malinalli is left behind with her mother. Malinalli learns of her brother and father's passing and she suspects who did it and wants revenge. She is sent away by her mother to a temple, the Temple of the Eighteen Moons. There she meets priestesses that help her learn to see past her rage against her brother's murderer. She encounters all types of characters along the way. Without giving too much away, I'll just say that this book had me hooked and it's an epic tale. I really enjoyed the different aspects of found family, magic powers, gods and goddesses, prophecy foretold, and the main character becoming someone who doesn't let her past rage and want of revenge define her.




Thank you to NetGalley and Primero Sueño Press for the eARC in return for an honest review!

This story was very powerful and a super interesting read!

I enjoyed the main character and her determination through all her struggles. I thought she was very relatable even though we are in this magical world.

The world building was also fantastic for this book. I felt completely immersed in the time period and culture of the world.

I very much enjoyed the second 2/3rds of this book. I sped through it and didn’t want to put it down! But unfortunately, the first 1/3rd was more difficult to get through, which is why I’m giving it 3 stars instead of 4.

I felt a lot of was left out of the story in the first 30% and the writing style made me feel somewhat disconnected from the character and story.

I received a a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and statements are my own.