This was my first Isabel Cañas book, and it delivered! Set in the backdrop of Mexico 1765, then known as New Spain, Alba Diaz is a young girl with no autonomy. In the beginning of the book we are introduced to her as she blackmails her childhood friend into marrying her, because as a woman she has very little choice in her groom. From that I was hooked onto her character, and what the subsequent 'possession' would come to be.

Given the setting, there is a lot of Mexico's colonial history, and this was what I was the most invested in, so it was what I wanted more than we got. The love interest is part of a lower 'caste', someone of mixed heritage and this put him in a bad position with the rest of his family, but again this was and the taboo of his and Alba's future relationship was not explored--which I understand to a degree, but the actual demon was fought with actual indigenous religion (and his alchemy), so it would make sense to go in deeper with these issues.

The book was great overall. It has amazing spooky vibes. I don't usually read horror, because sometimes it's not 'horror' enough, but at time when the demon came out of Alba, I was genuinely floored. This is a great introduction to Isabel Cañas, and I am definitely reading her backlist.

So that was actually pretty creepy 😳

I liked Cañas’ writing style, it was quite poetic/lyrical but not overdone. The characters were done so well and I genuinely disliked so many of them lmao.

The end fell flat tho, I felt like I was turned around suddenly and never got to explore what I initially thought would be the end honestly. It just sort of wrapped too nicely and too quickly.

But I’m definitely reading more from this author cause this was a fantastic gothic, paranormal, historical fiction in my opinion..

I purchased my own copy cause I loved the copy but I was also provided an ARC by Netgally which I’m super grateful for!

The Possession of Alba Diaz is a haunting Gothic horror story set in 18th-century Mexico. The story follows Alba Diaz, a young woman possessed by a demon after fleeing a plague with her family to a haunted silver mine, where she must fight for her freedom and identity. The book explores several themes including religious control, colonialism, and the cost of survival, especially for women in a patriarchal society. The setting is atmospheric and eerie, building suspense through Alba's haunting experiences and the growing danger beneath the mine. The forbidden romance between Alba and Elias, the alchemist who tries to help her, adds emotional depth to the story. Overall, it's a gripping and emotional read that mixes history, horror, and romance in a powerful way.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Berkley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

Isabel Canas is an auto-read author for me after LOVING The Hacienda and Vampires of El Norte, so I was STOKED for The Possession of Alba Diaz to finally release! It did not reach the same levels for me as her previous two books but I still enjoyed it.

This one is set in a Mexican silver mine in the 1760's. Alba flees her home with her family and fiance Carlos due to a plague (note: I kind thought the plague would have more relevance to the story than it did which was unfortunate).

When she arrives at the mine she is met with hallucinations, sleepwalking, convulsions, and some strong feelings for Carlos' mysterious cousin, Elias. She is also trying to figure out the mystery of who her real mother is, as she was left at this mine as a baby and adopted by her parents that raised her.

Canas is a master at gothic atmosphere and creating dark moody settings and that is absolutely the highlight of this story here. The downside is that I didn't really care about the characters or the romance at all, and without that anchor the book just felt long and boring. The individual scenes of Alba's infatuation with Elias/their interactions were gorgeously written and passionate on their own, but I didn't feel like it translated well in the grand scheme of the story and it wasn't very believable to me.

I also think there was too much going on that wasn't tied together well. There were so many family members, mysteries, etc. that by the end were just completely irrelevant.

I will always read everything she writes but this was sadly my least favorite work of hers yet.

*Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!*

I’m so used to the books I’m most looking forward to disappointing me, but this was great! It’s exactly what you want in a horror: gothic, paranormal, historical, a little romantic, and overall good. It wasn’t slow like a lot of books are (for me, which is something that bothers me, I know for a lot of people it’s not a problem) it had a good rhythm. The possession aspect of it was great, it wasn’t over the top, it was classic but not overdone. I deeply enjoyed it and it’s definitely in the top of my favorite reads of this year.

When Isabel Cañas came out with her first book, The Hacienda, with that absolutely classic Gothic cover (house in the background; girl in gown in the foreground), I thought “this signals a Gothic renaissance” but didn’t want to start making bold claims. You don’t put out books with covers like that if you don’t think readers are thirsting for Mary Stewart vibes, you know what I’m saying? Now, Isabel Cañas is three books in, and I can, without breaking a sweat, name five other SFF authors writing the most Gothic shit you’ve ever read in your life (Vincent Tirado, Rivers Solomon, A.G. Slatter, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Caitlin Starling). I’m calling it. Enough examples have accumulated. I’ve emerged from the information-gathering stage and moved on to making bold claims. We’re in a golden age of Gothic speculative fiction. We’re living the dream. Girls are running away from houses all over the place. Bring it on.

Isabel Cañas continues to fly the Gothic flag in this wonderfully creepy third novel. The Possession of Alba Díaz is set in mid–eighteenth-century Mexico, as Alba and her family flee their plague-ridden urban home. They hope to find refuge living near the silver mine owned by their soon-to-be in-laws, once Alba marries Carlo Monterrubio. For her part, Alba just wants to finalize her marriage to Carlo quickly. He’s a business proposition she thinks she can live with, which is more than can be said for the various rich older men her parents have considered as possible spouses for Alba (read: business partners for her family). But a hasty marriage isn’t on the cards. The Monterrubio family delved too greedily and too deep, and something dark has awakened in the mine—and in Alba.

Elias is the despised, outcast, black sheep son of the Monterrubio family, and he’s only been brought back to save the mine’s fortunes. With the mercury he’s purchased on behalf of his alchemy group back in Constantinople, he can help the family refine more silver and save them from bankruptcy. His portion of the mine’s income will buy him a fresh supply of mercury and allow him to return to studying alchemy with his friends in the East. He has no intention of getting involved with his cousin’s wealthy fiancée; that is, until he catches her sleepwalking outside of the villa and being very spooky indeed:

She had no eyes. Dark holes gaped in her face like a corpse’s, like a skeleton’s, black and deep and endless and growing and gorging themselves on darkness… He could see the lines of taut skin at the edges of those massive sockets, waxen and tight.

Alba’s clear-eyed, stony determination to maintain control over her own body drives the story. She recognizes that she will be forced to marry, and she’s determined not to put her physical person under the control of someone she can’t trust. Since this rules out most of Mexican high society, she takes matters into her own hands and lightly blackmails her way into an engagement with Carlo, who has become a friend over the years, and whose queerness she unconsciously recognizes. The entanglement of her family fortunes with Carlo’s leads Alba back to the town where she was found and adopted as a baby, and where she’ll be possessed by an evil power. Ironically, it’s her dogged pursuit of bodily freedom that leads her to understand how unfree she’s always been.

Elias and Alba’s families are both deeply complicit in the exploitation of resources. Most obviously, Elias and Alba’s family have been involved in the extraction of silver from the mines, at reckless cost to their employees, family members, and selves. Elias’s cousin Bartolomeo, a Catholic priest and Alba’s best shot at becoming unpossessed, hopes to convert enough “heathens” (adherents to indigenous religious practices) to make a name for himself in the Church. To say nothing of the evil spirit that has come from the mines and taken Alba’s body as its own.

As we discover, though, these dangerous byproducts of religion and capitalism can be valuable weapons in and of themselves. Alba’s engagement comes about because she finds a way to wield the forces of patriarchy to her best, if imperfect, advantage. Though Bartolomeo poses several different kinds of danger to Elias and Alba, his knowledge of exorcism and his religious faith can be used to hold the demon at bay. The mercury in Elias’s body will kill him someday, but in the meantime, Elias finds that he can wield it like a weapon to counteract the demon’s power. The master’s tools may not be able to dismantle the master’s house, but they may be able to be subverted, just long enough for you to get the hell out of dodge.

Certain elements of the book felt undercooked. Elias begins the book by sailing away with all the mercury his friends gave him money to purchase, and we just kinda never go back to that. Nor do we get much exploration of the fact that Elias has killed a man, which he brushes off as “a stupid shameful accident… one moment of rashness.” Are we sure Elias is a good person? It’s fine with me if he isn’t, and in fact thematically appropriate—but I wanted the book to be a little clearer about the kind of character we are meant to understand Elias to be.

This felt like a surprising miss because of the book’s keen interest in the messy moral lives of its characters. Nobody here gets away clean (except maybe Elias’s half-sister, bless her). From the very first chapters, these characters have to make bargains they hate, with people they fear, in the hopes of attaining the least terrible of an array of terrible outcomes. A great pleasure of the book is recognizing that, although we’re most invested in Elias and Alba as the protagonists, it would be possible to focus the book on any number of other characters instead. This book is teeming with characters who make their own imperfect bargains in pursuit of their own fraught desires. In Gothic fiction, the sins of the past return to haunt the present, visiting evil on innocent and guilty alike. But nobody in The Possession of Alba Díaz is truly innocent, and our two protagonists will come to recognize their complicity and their potential for evil over the course of the novel. The creature that occupies Alba Díaz is genuinely scary, but what’s even scarier is the dawning recognition of what each of us would be willing to sacrifice and destroy in the name of self-preservation. In her third novel, Isabel Cañas continues to shine as a leading light in our current (yes I think we really are having one!) renaissance of Gothic fiction.

Another terrific installment from this author. This Historic Fiction has a heavy edge of Romance and is a little darker than any of her other installments. Full of original twists and turns which keep you hooked right until the end.

This book took me a second to get into but I ended up really enjoying it!! The audiobook was so immersive and I really enjoyed doing a hybrid read. I have heard so much about Isabel's books and loved this introduction, I want to read more books by her!

The Possession of Alba Diez is a genre bending, gothic horror fiction book. It follows Alba, who flees with her wealthy parents and her fiancé, to his private mine. But as soon as Alba arrives at the mine she starts having hallucinations and weird dreams and instantly knows something is not right. Elias came to the New World to escape his family and make his own fortune. But he notices that something is wrong with his cousin's fiancé, Alba...


I really enjoyed the gothic atmosphere to this book and the pulling from historical events and settings. I found Alba's character so fascinating and well developed. I am not usually a huge horror girlie but this felt like a really good introduction to the genre and I really loved Isabel's style of writing. I really could relate to Alba's character and felt she represented what so many woman go through with their bodies and struggle for freedom. My only complaint is the pacing felt a bit slow at times and I would have liked the book to be a bit shorter. But I think this would be a great gothic horror/fiction book to read this fall.

Thank you to Berkley Romance for the free book!!

✨ Review ✨ The Possession of Alba Diaz by Isabel Cañas

Thanks to Berkley and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!

This was one of my most anticipated books of 2025 and it did not disappoint! Isabel Cañas is easily one of my most favorite writers because of how she immerses you in these historic Mexican spaces.

Alba's living with her wealthy family in 1765 in Zacatecas when a dangerous plague arrives. They flee to the mines owned by her fiancee Carlos and his family, but something there is amiss -- Alba feels unusual from when they first arrive. Alba and Carlos (marrying less out of love than convenience) have to grapple with the presence of Elías, Carlos's cousin from Spain who's arrived with a stash of mercury to help in the silver refinement process. ( I loved learning a little bit more about the silver refinement process here.)

The plot is much messier than this, but I love all of these complexities, and felt endlessly caught up in Alba's ailments from hallucinations and sleepwalking to more violent possession. It's so perfectly creepy!

This book brilliantly showcases the tension between traditional spiritual customs and the encroaching pervasiveness of Catholicism. How do communities balance these practices when they are at odds with each other?

The tension that grows between Alba and Elías was also AMAZING, and I was so caught up in it. This nails the gothic romance element, and I loved their growing connection.

Ultimately, I feel like the pace was a little rushed -- it kept me on the edge of my seat but I could have used a bit more gothic slow-burn. There are also a few things that felt unresolved for me in the end. However, overall, this was still a fantastic read, and I will keep reading anything Cañas writes!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: gothic horror (historical)
Setting: 1760s Zacatecas and remote mining town
Reminds me of: Mexican Gothic
Pub Date: Aug 19. 2025

Read this if you like:
⭕️ gothic horror & romance
⭕️ historical Mexico (Nueva España)
⭕️ spiritual clashes between local traditions and Catholicism
⭕️ creepy rural ghosts and possessions

I read and thoroughly enjoyed The Hacienda by this author, and I was excited to try another one of her books. I was not disappointed in the slightest. The gothic horror elements abounded, and the romance aspect had me riveted. I was also pleasantly surprised that there was more than a few humorous moments, as well. I laughed several times, which was delightful. The double meaning of the titled also tickled me (the character enters into an arranged engagement because she doesn't want to become the possession of a man, but she IS possessed - by a demon? Chef's kiss. Absolute poetry. This book is a great read for the fall months, or whenever you crave a little bit of gothic atmosphere.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

The Possession of Alba Díaz is a beautifully eerie mix of gothic romance, history, and horror. The story is atmospheric and haunting but also full of heart, with themes of love, grief, and resilience. A great pick if you want something spooky and emotional at the same time. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

Thank you @berkleypub for the free book!

This book gave me Wuthering Heights vibes in the beginning with the young girl Alba meeting a dark handsomne stranger named Elias. Alba feels an unexplainable pull towards him. She finds out Elias is the cousin of her fiancé and she's told to steer clear of him because he's trouble. Her family decides to go away to the mines of her fiancé Carlos, in order to get away from the plague that is sweeping through their hometown of Zacatecas.

While at the mines Alba starts to experience strange hallucinations, sleepwalking, convulsions, and hearing strange voices. Alba comes to rely on Elias as she deals with what she's haunted by and she comes to find he's haunted by demons of his own. really enjoyed this one, at times it felt a bit slow. But once the reveal happened, it really took off. The lore for this one is so good and so well told. When the reveal for what is plaguing Alba was told, it was done in such an interesting and well done way. I highly recommend this one to anyone who likes gothic classics with a gory touch.

Isabel Cañas crafted a creepy, immersively written story that blends:
•Gothic Horror
•Historical Fiction
•Supernatural Suspense

Between toxic family, legacy, patriarchy, the Catholic Church, feminine rage, and personal freedom against a chilling possession.

Alba’s world is a story that dives into grief, mystery, and an unsettling sense that the past refuses to stay buried. Alba is a heroine you can’t forget, and there’s tension between romance and the supernatural.

With every creak of the house, shadow in the corner, and whispered warning, this story builds an atmosphere that lingers long after the final page. It was my first horror read.

If you love gothic tales with heart, or are a fan of feminine rage and horror, this book is a must-read.

Thank you Berkley Pub and Isabel Cañas for the opportunity to read this as an ARC!

Decameron meets Mexican Gothic! Let's runaway from the plague only to run right into something much worse. Creepy, Gothic, and folkloric perfection!

If you are the type of reader that reads by the season, get yourself ready for spooky/Halloween with this gem. This might be an actual (great!) sub genre honestly, Mexican horror-romance? Yes. 1700s. Alba is set to get marry when a plague hits. She goes with her fiancé’s family silver mine to safety. Alba’s mom is way too much and would drive her crazy and if that’s not enough Alba is also possessed by a demon. A mean one. Enter her fiancé’s cousin. Why is he so hot and so mysterious when there is clearly demonic and dark stuff going on here? Alba stars spiraling, hallucinating… it’s all a horror show in a good way. The ending was cleverly done too. Cañas is definitely a must read during spooky season!

I thought this book was good, but I struggled a lot with it. I really wanted to like it, but for some reason, it just took me forever to get through. I switched back and forth between the physical and audio to see if one helped more than the other, but both just took a lot out of me. I had a similar problem with The Vampires of El Norte, but I ended up liking that a bit more.

I will say the author’s writing is beautiful and she does gothic and atmosphere like no other. I did like the storyline over all, too. But there was just something holding me back from getting fully enmeshed in it, and I couldn’t read much at a time. This is one I’ll still recommend to others, though, as I think I’m the outlier here!

𝑾𝒉𝒐 𝑰'𝒅 𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐:
Fans of historical fiction (especially learning about Mexico’s mercury mining history) with horror (particularly supernatural- demons), and lovers of gothic fiction and atmospheric writing.

3.5/5 rounded down

“Can you imagine if this were nothing but a ghost story, full of cold drafts and shadows where they oughtn’t be, clammy palms and sweaty napes? That’s too clean a tale. Too simple. And this one gets messy.”

Before we jump into the review I want to say thank you @berkleypub for sending me a free copy of this book for review! #berkleypartner

Now let’s get into it!

Set against a 1765 Mexico backdrop, The Possession of Alba Díaz masterfully explores themes of forbidden desires, female autonomy, the consequences of past actions, and the paralyzing grip of religious fear.

The writing is lushly gothic and richly atmospheric, creating a slow burn descent into horror that coils tighter and tighter until it crescendos in a finale that is as haunting as it is satisfying.

If I had one critique, it’s that some of the supporting characters, particularly Alba’s fiancé, Carlos, and her parents, felt underdeveloped compared to the three central figures, only allowing a surface level glimpse. Still, the emotional depth and tension carried by the leading characters more than made up for it.

This was my first novel by Isabel Cañas, but certainly will not my last. The way she entwines gothic atmosphere with desire and dread is captivating.

If you’re searching for an unsettling yet beautifully written gothic tale for spooky season, this one is perfect!

What a delicious piece of gothic horror. The yearning, the atmosphere, the writing. The depravity. This was absolutely fantastic. I devoured this (much to the chagrin of my boss, I'm sure) in a single day. I felt propelled through this story by an otherworldly force. The vibe that this book cultivates is wonderfully gothic and a lil freaky. I highly recommend this book, in fact if you don't read it a demon might get you.

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦.“

Alba Diaz’s story initially starts with a historical fiction story building, which focuses on introducing Alba and her family as they flee the plague, which is sweeping through Zacatecas in 1765, to her fiancé’s family-owned silver mine. The initial development focused on family dynamics and how each individual comes to be a part of Alba’s story, in particular Elías, her fiancé’s mysterious yet appealing cousin. At about the 50% mark, the possibility of a possession truly starts to sneak in, leaving an eerie feeling and anticipation of how the story would shift from there! I was really looking forward to the horror aspects described in the synopsis, but found it to take too long to become a true focus. Although the novel didn’t quite go the way I expected, I really enjoyed how Isabel Cañas wrote the story and would be curious to pick up more of her novels!

This is a great possession story. It kept me hooked until the very end.

Quick Synopsis: In 1765, plague sweeps through Zacatecas. Alba flees with her wealthy merchant parents and fiancé, Carlos, to his family’s isolated mine for refuge. But safety proves fleeting as other dangers soon bare their teeth: Alba begins suffering from strange hallucinations, sleepwalking, and violent convulsions. She senses something cold lurking beneath her skin. Elias, Carlos’ cousin, is the Elías, haunted by a troubled past, came to the New World to make his fortune and escape his family’s legacy of greed. Alba, as his cousin’s betrothed, is none of his business. Which is of course why he can’t help but notice the growing tension between them every time she enters the room…and why he notices her deteriorate when the demon’s thirst for blood gets stronger. 

Alba and Elías become entangled with the occult, the Church, long-kept secrets, and each other.

This story had multiple pov, lots of gothic elements, and explored themes of bodily autonomy.

Alba, throughout the story, is trying to grasp hold of her future and the freedom from her parents and society as a whole keep from. Her family is constantly making decisions for her, despite how she feels. We see time and time again how her wants and desires are disregarded because she is a young woman.

I loved the internal dialogue of Alba, I love the way her world shifts and reality is not easily grasped. Sometimes left me questioning what is and is not real.

The multiple POVs was so good because you got to see how Elias saw the demon, how his past, his knowledge and abilities, are the key to help Alba.

I loved all the mysticism, occult, and alchemy layers to this story.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the eArc.