Bochica is a slow-paced, atmospheric novel set in a house that was built in a land that should never have been built on. The novel takes place in Colombia and follows the story of Antonia. Antonia has. fled the house with her dad, but it is time for them to go back, back to the house that killed her mother. The premise is excellent, and the end of the novel is excellent. At the end, we finally come to understand the layers of magic and culture that make up the story. However, for a majority of the novel was too slow for me and put me in a reading slump.

I’ve read books from a few Latina horror/thriller authors including Isabel Canas, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and Mariana Enriquez so when I saw this book compared to those authors I definitely wanted to read it. It was just ok for me. I love gothic fiction and Bochica started out great but for a short book it was a bit boring and tedious in some places. For me I never really felt attached to any of the characters including Antonia. Antonia loves and cares for her father but can abruptly believe he’s a killer? That just didn’t ring true for me. I got to 50% and then skimmed the rest to get to the end.

For me, I had to do a little research as well. I didn’t understand where the title came from as well as not understanding what Muisca meant.

Bochica wasn’t terrible but it could have been better. I’ll give the author another chance for sure. I listened to part if it and Frankie Corzo does a good job as narrator.

**Thanks to the author and Atria/Primero Sueno Press for the e-ARC I received via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion**

3.5 ⭐️

Bochica started off incredibly strong. We are introduced to our main protagonist, Antonia, while she’s teaching young girls in a catholic school run by unlikeable character number one. The visual oppression Florez-Cerchiaro is able to create within the imagination of the reader for the story felt palpable. Every word relatable and easily reminded me of how unforgiving the weight of being a woman - a person, really - can be in the world.

“A world that would censor merely because of their being female. To have been born a female in this world that punished women, that was their haunting. It was Antonia’s as well.” Pg 199.

Florez-Cerchiaro builds a world around mysticism, intrigue, and historical. One of my favorite things about this book was the way it connected heavily to the roots of Columbia; introducing the reader to the folklore and culture with every page. I genuinely enjoyed learning about the Wiccan mother and the stories centered around her beliefs and the svetyba and the way it generationally plagued the mother and daughter. The story of Bochica and how she was the protector of the people giving them wings to escape the slavery that kept them down.

The only reason this fell short of being at least a four star read for me is because there were moments the formatting of the book and certain scenes that occurred felt unpolished. The transition from when Antonia finds her papa felt incredibly jarring with this happening a few more times in the book. The relationship between Antonia and Alejandro also felt disingenuous and rushed, lacking the necessary sense of familiarity and decency we can get to know before we jump to the conclusion to fawn over them.

All in all, I truly enjoyed the experience I had reading ‘Bochica’ and would recommend this to fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s, “Mexican Gothic”. Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for this advanced reader copy.

The setting was vivid and atmospheric, and I appreciated that it’s based on a real place. Antonia, the protagonist, was brave and determined, but I never fully connected with her, and the side characters felt more like props than people. There were moments of intrigue, but the pacing dragged, with repetitive inner monologues and predictable chapter-end “dun dun dun” lines. A lot of vibes, not enough plot.

Flórez-Cerchiaro is a Colombian author known for speculative genre-bending fiction, and this is her debut historical novel. Gothic horror is the label which most aptly fits Bochica, and its settings in 1920s and 1930s Colombia give it a strong historical leaning.

In the capital city of Bogotá, Antonia tutors Catholic girls at the Escuela para Señoritas. Three hours away is the magnificent 16,000-square-foot mansion of El Castillo de Bochica, built into the cliffside of the dramatic El Salto del Tequendama Falls on the Bogotá River. El Castillo was built by Antonia’s father Ricardo for her mother, Estela, who died when she jumped from the balcony in 1926. Subsequently Ricardo lost his grip on reality and tried to burn down the house with Antonia inside. Antonia suffers nightmares and hallucinations since her mother’s death and needs to know what really happened as she no longer believes her fragmented memories. Now redesigned as a luxury boutique hotel for the extraordinarily rich, Antonia must return to El Castillo to find her mother’s journals that were left behind in the hurried escape.

This novel is gushing with malevolent atmosphere, ghostly apparitions, and scenes from the worst nightmares. Within the first few pages the actions and instructions of Madre Asunción (Mother Superior) are positively chilling. The house, itself as much a haunted character as is Antonia, is expertly described and easy to conjure imaginatively. I went off immediately to research the Tequendama Falls, placing Flórez-Cerchiaro’s vivid imaginings into pictures online. Plot tension remains high throughout the narrative and the author crafts her disquieting mood well. A very capable debut which gothic horror/fantastical-realism lovers will revel in.

I so enjoyed descending into the dark, myth-soaked world of Bochica. This is Colombian gothic at its finest—atmospheric, eerie, and steeped in the kind of folklore that feels ancient and alive.

Set in 1920s Colombia, Bochica follows Antonia as she returns to La Casona, a decaying five story mansion perched above the legendary Salto del Tequendama. Once her childhood home, it’s now a crumbling hotel—and formerly (maybe still …) epicenter of Las Hijas de Bochica, a cult led by Antonia’s enigmatic mother before her death. But the house hasn’t forgotten Antonia. It waits. It watches. It whispers. And it wants her back.

What unfolds is a slow, lyrical descent into memory, grief, and inherited madness. Antonia doesn’t just confront the mystery of her mother’s death—she unearths a legacy of spiritual obsession and ancestral burden rooted in Indigenous myth and colonial scars. Colombian folklore, particularly the figure of Bochica, the Muisca god of civilization, weaves through every page—blurring the line between devotion and delusion, tradition and manipulation.

La Casona is more than haunted—it’s sentient, hungry, rotting from the inside with secrets. The jungle presses in. The river murmurs. The past breathes.

Antonia is a haunting protagonist: fragile but defiant, caught between who she was, who she is, and who her mother wanted her to become. Watching her piece together a life stolen by trauma and twisted faith is as heartbreaking as it is terrifying.

The novel builds its dread with care—favoring psychological unease over cheap thrills. It’s a ghost story, yes—but also a tale of cults, motherhood, myth, and the way grief carves itself into bloodlines.

Fans of Mexican Gothic, The Hacienda, or The Drowning Kind will be spellbound. Bochica is a gorgeously written debut, and a powerful addition to the Latin American gothic canon

This book had a beautifully eerie setting and an intriguing premise, but unfortunately, the pacing was slow and the tension never fully built the way I hoped it would. I kept waiting for the action to kick in, but it never quite delivered. The ending, in particular, left me feeling underwhelmed & ultimately it just didn’t land for me.

Thank you NetGalley & Atria Books for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I felt so bored throughout and the story just did not go anywhere.

I think the idea was a great one but the writing just didn't work for me.

I hope others love this one.

This book is an atmospheric, spine-tingling descent into madness, memory, and the way grief clings like a ghost you can’t shake. Set against the lush, eerie backdrop of 1920s Colombia, this debut gothic horror drips with dread, beauty, and ancestral rot—and it’s absolutely impossible to put down.

La Casona isn’t just a haunted house—it’s a hungry one. From its perch above the myth-soaked Salto del Tequendama, it watches, waits, and whispers through the crumbling halls where Antonia once lived, and barely survived. Her return to the mansion-turned-hotel is less of a homecoming and more of a reckoning—one layered with unraveling memories, sinister family secrets, and a creeping suspicion that the past didn’t just haunt her… it wants her back.

Antonia is a mesmerizing heroine: brittle and brave, unraveling and sharp. Her journey is not only one of uncovering what really happened to her mother—but of confronting the trauma that’s embedded itself into her blood, her bones, and maybe even her fate. The writing is lyrical and slow-burning, rich with tension and horror that’s more psychological than jump scare—but when it hits, it hits.

Perfect for fans of Mexican Gothic, The Shining, and The Hacienda, this novel marks a stunning arrival in gothic literature. It's a story about the way grief warps a family, how the past refuses to stay buried, and how homes can hold onto pain long after the people are gone.

La Casona will linger in your dreams—and maybe in your walls.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars rounded up!

Bochica is a gothic, historical horror set in Colombia in the early 20th. I enjoyed the gothic vibes and the overall arch of the plot, especially the connections to Muisca mythology and feminist commentary. Where this novel fell short to me was on a sentence level; I felt that some of the prose could have used better editing. That being said, I’m really looking forward to whatever this author works on next!

I DNFed this book at about 50%. The overall plot didn't catch my interest. I was never curious about what was going on in the mansion and I didn't care to ever get a reveal as to whether Antonia's other had died by suicide or if she was pushed. I never felt like I could relate to Antonia nor to her mother. The mansion/hotel never felt spooky or eerie to me. Due to my lack of a full completion of the book I will not be reviewing it on GoodReads. The overall concept of what the author wanted to do was there but the final execution didn't hold my interest.

Bochica by Carolina Flórez-Cerchiaro had all the elements to be a good read, but the execution fell flat on this one. The world building here is great, but lacks the horror I would expect with a gothic novel. I struggled with the uneven pacing and connecting with these characters.

Thank you, Atria Books | Atria/Primero Sueno Press for the opportunity to read this book. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 3 Stars
Pub Date: May 13 2025

#PrimeroSuenoPress
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Bochica had all the right ingredients to be the perfect gothic suspense but the execution did not do it justice. Atmospheric, chilling, cultural lore, a haunted house/hotel, but the flimsy characters and overly dramatic writing kept me from enjoying this one.

I have been deeply let down by this book. One of my most anticipated and now I wonder why I even bothered because this was very dull. You can't comp this to Mexican Gothic or The Shining and not give even an ounce of horror or creepiness. There is very little action to do with the house or even just in general, and much of what happens seems to be resolved in internal dialogue. Add a shoe-horned in romance that added nothing, and I'm just left very disappointed.

What started out as a piece of paradise turned into a nightmare…

It’s the early 1920’s, & in Colombia women don’t have much power over their own lives. Antonia’s doing her best to teach the girls at the Catholic school, but is still haunted by the beautiful waterfall-adjacent mansion she used to live in with her parents (until her mother died mysteriously & her father tried to burn the place down). But now someone has converted the monstrous house into a hotel & invited her to the opening celebration - & not everyone will be leaving alive…

The writing was not as polished as what you’ll find in similarly creepy & atmospheric works like Mexican Gothic, but this is a debut author & I did really enjoy the way she built the legends & history of the sacred land this story is set on. Antonia’s fight to banish the demons of her past is hard fought, & the terrifying experiences she has ultimately result in what I considered a very satisfying conclusion.

Thank you to NetGalley & Atria/Primero Sueno Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Carolina Flórez-Cerchiaro’s debut had so much potential! I loved the gothic cover, the haunting 1920s Colombian setting, and the cultural details like cheese in hot chocolate. I loved learning about that. The plot was compelling, a haunted mansion on a waterfall, a daughter trying to save her father and solve the mystery of her mother’s murder, and the subtle romance between Antonia and Alejandro was sweet.

However, the pacing felt off. Even though the novel is less than 300 pages some parts dragged, and the ending felt rushed and disconnected from the rest of the story. The final chapters didn’t fit the characters, and the dialogue got a bit too telenovela for my taste.

I wanted to love it, and there were things I truly did but overall, it just didn’t quite land for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

Thank you for the advanced readers copy of Bochica. I loved the premise of this book and was so excited for it. Unfortunately, it was a hard read for me. I did not connect well with the characters and the story moved around in a choppy and confusing way. I am sure a ton of people will find that this story resonates with them, it was just not for me.

2.75 stars

While the set-up and backdrop had all the makings of a creepy horror story, this ended up falling short of its potential.

Its strength was in its descriptions of the setting and Colombian architecture and landscapes. I came to find out that the hotel is based off of a real place, and I thought the author did a beautiful job of describing it on page!

However, the feelings I ultimately experienced reading this were apathy and boredom. The plot meandered, the characterizations were inconsistent, and the romantic chemistry forced. I hope to see the author find her footing more and plan to check out her future works!

✨ Review ✨ Bochica by Carolina Flórez-Cerchiaro; Narrated by Frankie Corzo & Cynthia Farrell

Thanks to Primero Sueño Press, Simon and Schuster Audio, and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!

This could have been named Colombian Gothic, because it hits many similar notes to Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Mexican Gothic. And, yet it was so different and distinct. I loved that it featured Colombian history and culture. It features traditions and art of the Muisca, the Indigenous people of this region, and I learned a lot!

The book features a creepy giant haunted mansion, La Casona, next to a huge waterfall, Salto del Tequendama, and it has all the spooky vibes. Antonia's family had once lived there, but the family eventually fled after the death of Antonia's mother when she falls into the waterfall. The house, which had been built by her father, continues to haunt Antonia, even after they've left.

The book is filled with themes relevant in 1923 Colombia and still in our world today. The book weaves in between the worlds of Catholicism and traditional religious and spritiual practices, and Antonia struggles to navigate her own sense of feminism against the expectations of 1920s female submission. Possession and haunted spaces feature predominantly in this book, and haunted house gothic horror lovers will be delighted by this.

There are places where the tempo flags a bit, or is uneven, in a way not uncommon to debut books (or slow burn gothic novels), and I'm really excited to see what she writes next. This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it did NOT disappoint!

🎧 The audio brought all of the ambience of this book to life for me, and when the tempo slowed a bit, the audio made a great addition to get hooked back in again. The narrators do a fantastic job!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: gothic horror
Setting: 1923 Colombia
Length: 8 hours 18 minutes
Reminds me of: Mexican Gothic
Pub Date: May 2025

Read this if you like:
⭕️ haunted houses
⭕️ gothic horror
⭕️ possession and religious themes
⭕️ spookiness with a side of romance and family drama

I was really excited to dive into Bochica, but unfortunately, I ended up DNF'ing it as I felt it was really slow paced. I'm typically not into gothic horror type books, but the premise of this one really intrigued me since the moment I saw it announced on the Primero Sueño Press Instagram, but unfortunately It just wasn’t the right fit for me at the time.

I would definitely give the authors future books a try.

Thank you to NetGalley and Primero Sueño Press for the opportunity to read in exchange for my honest review.