Bochica was a quick, straightforward gothic horror. It had elements of magic, romance, and a few twists thrown in.

The writing was beautiful. I loved how the author described everything. The story flowed so quickly. I always love a good “haunted house” book, and this one was no exception. I was drawn in right away and had a hard time putting it down.

I loved Antonia’s character from the very beginning. She was strong and determined to find out the truth about what caused her mother’s death. I also really enjoyed Alejandro and Carmela’s characters.

Thank you Atria Boooks for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Bochica is a gothic mystery set in Colombia perfect for fans of haunted house stories and folk horror.

In 1930s Colombia, Antonia revisits her childhood home, a sprawling cliffside mansion that was haunted by a malevolent force. Her mother's tragic death, and her father's attempt to burn down the mansion, has haunted Antonia her whole life. When she finds herself back within its strange walls, the past comes back to haunt her, deepening the mystery of her mother's death.

This story was based around Colombian folklore and mythology, infusing a typical story about rituals and dark magic with a cultural perspective. Indigenous cultures, sacred land, and abuses of colonization are explored in the story, using the supernatural as a way to bring to light social justice.

Overall I liked the story even though it was a little predictable. I thought the pacing was good and the suspense kept me on the edge of my seat. I enjoyed reading about a culture I don't know a lot about which added to the eerie pagan vibe the author created.

Spooky and rooted in an ancient civilization, Bochica is a unique contribution to the Gothic genre.

This book's biggest strength is its writing, which I already suspected since Carolina is a wonderful writer. As someone who lived close to Soacha (where the book takes place), I was very excited to read it, and God, it didn't disappoint. The characters' voices were very strong, and the dialogue was very distinctive. The atmosphere was superb, and I quite literally couldn't read this book at night because I was so scared, which is, you know, the biggest compliment one can give to a horror author. I would've really loved it if we were shown things more than told, as well as having a little more development in the romance aspect, but overall, it was a very enjoyable read! I can't wait to see what Carolina does next!

If you're a fan of gothic/haunted house (and sometimes people) stories you will most definitely love this, the prose was lush and immersive, our main character was captivating and I found myself unable to put it down, I will say this author has their own style and I personally enjoy it but it may not be for everyone, there is a lot of telling and not necessarily showing, to me it felt like our protagonist is reading out loud to us but I loved it, felt very personal and intimate

As a new horror fan, I was so excited to read this book. The cover is gorgeous and the premise sounded incredible. Everything sounded promising, but I don't think it was well executed

First, this book did not seem like it was ready fro be shared with readers, as there were so many issues with the grammar and writing. This is likely due to the fact that this is a translated work, but I think another round of edits was needed before being shared. It was very choppy and the grammatical errors and clunky wording often pulled me right out of the story.

Besides issues with grammar and sentence structure, the plot itself felt underdeveloped. The author tells the reader a long, with long descriptions and details, but rarely shows the reader anything. This would get repetitive and I didn't feel like i was reading anything all that interesting. I was told that Antonia loves gothic novels, which felt at times as a stand in for actually creating any gothic atmosphere. I was told which gothic novels and authors i should be thinking about, but nothing gothic was conjured beyond this.

I left this book with more questions than I started it with. The cast of characters was large and individual characters were not fully fleshed out. I didn't connect with anyone and didn’t understand anyone's motivations. People would help or hinder Antonia and i couldn't understand why they were helpful ot harmful characters, since most of their actions seemed random. I had this issue with Antonia herself, who would flip flop in her resolve constantly. It was unclear if this was on purpose, and she was supposed to be an unreliable narrator, or if these were simply continuity errors. One moment she was fiercely loyal to her father, the next wanted him to suffer, and round and round again. I think if the story and the stakes had been better fleshed out, I would have better understood everyone's motivations.

I also found the romantic subplot of this to be underdeveloped. Antonia meets a young reporter, Alejandro, and we're never shown any romantic tension build but at one point they are suddenly kissing. I was shocked when this happened, since i did not see any chemistry on page between them.

Alejandro was another character with unclear motivations. He would randomly show up in a scene with a clue or piece of information to very conveniently move the plot along, but we didn't get any explanation as to why or how he ended up with the information. He's just used as a plot device and very little about him is explained or fleshed out. I had this issue with Alejandro and many other characters. They would show up with answers and plot points would get explained away in ways that often felt too convenient or predictable.

Despite my issues with the book, I really enjoyed the discussion and history of the Muisca people that was depicted in the story. It discussed colonization and it's impacts in important ways. I also enjoyed the discussions and depictions of different aspects of this Muisca religious practices. In this depiction of Bochica, she is a woman, but in further research I learned that Bochica is usually depicted as a man. It was interesting that the god was gender bent for this book, but I don't understand why that was done. i would have liked bochica to make more of an appearance in the book since it is named after her, and for this decision to maybe be fleshed out.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this book.

The most honest opinion: I don't know how this is getting published.

All Antonia does is *tell* us things. I didn't feel any of her fear or suspense because we weren't immersed in scene with her. We were just told, constantly, that she's afraid (and that she likes Gothic novels). Yes, the Gothic is an interior genre, but this was such a mess. Half the time I didn't know what Antonia was supposed to be doing because she kept disappearing into her rambling and extremely repetitive thoughts. That doesn't a Gothic novel make. The narrative was choppy and uncohesive, the romance unnecessary, the characters flat and boring. I don't know why people keep saying this prose is lush—if you want truly beautiful prose and legit Gothic atmosphere, read Isabel Canas.

This was one of my most anticipated of 2025 but it was a massive let down. Especially compared to Mexican Gothic and The Shining—which, y'all, it is neither. I can't honestly recommend this to anyone. Actually read Mexican Gothic or The Shining instead.

**Thank you Netgalley and Atria for a EArc of the book in exchange for my honest opinion***

I truly think the author picked a very interesting topic but how it reads feels like a first draft.

I had an incredibly hard time keeping my attention invested in this book. There was an excessive amount of telling and that snagged my attention and made it difficult to read.

The transitions to different scenes would surprise me? I'd be reading the end of chapter and BAM we are somewhere completely different, nothing smooth about it.

The author kept bringing Gothic up.. I also felt this with Daughters of Block Island. You are writing something Gothic so there is no need to constantly bring the word up. It's up to the author to create a unique and creepy world.. you shouldn't have to rely on using Gothic to describe what's going on.

At the beginning of the book she switches between using Mama and Estela along with papa and Ricardo. That can be confusing when first starting a book. It interchanges randomly. Along with flashbacks to the past. In the middle of a paragraph from the present Antonia thinks back to the past.

I didn't mind the romance aspect but it really could have been explored more.

Overall it's choppy and reads like a first draft.

I will say the setting is very unique and I haven't read anything similar it just needed some TLC in transitions and character development.

I am a sucker for gothic stories and this is one of the best I’ve read in a long time. Will appeal to lovers of Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Isabel Canas, but with its own distinctive style that I absolutely loved. Antonia is a fantastic, strong main character and she makes smart decisions and figures things out in really clever ways, which doesn’t often happen with gothic heroines. From the opening pages this book really pulls you in and I finished it in just two sittings (would’ve been one but I had to go to work). I will definitely be on the lookout for anything this writer comes out with in the future!

**Book Review: *Bochica* by Carolina Florez-Cerchiaro**

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for providing the advanced e-book of *Bochica*. I absolutely loved this book!

From the very first page, I was captivated. The eerie, gothic atmosphere immediately drew me in, and I couldn't help but think of a photo I had saved about 10 years ago. The image was of an abandoned house in Colombia that hung precariously over a cliff, and as I read, that image kept resurfacing. When I finally went back to look at the photo and read the author's note, I was floored—it was the same house! It turns out the book’s setting was based on this very house, which had been transformed into a hotel, adding a layer of eerie, gothic charm to the story.

The setting itself was haunting and fascinating. The abandoned house turned hotel offered the perfect backdrop for the foggy, creepy atmosphere that is a hallmark of a good gothic novel. The plot had that perfect combination of mystery, supernatural elements, and haunting suspense that kept me hooked. I loved every chilling, atmospheric detail and the way the author wove a sense of dread and wonder throughout the story.

I would rate this book 5/5 stars. If you're a fan of gothic-style haunted house stories, *Bochica* is a must-read. It’s the perfect balance of creepy, atmospheric, and mysterious, and I can't recommend it enough!

**Final Rating: 5/5 stars**. Highly recommend to fans of gothic and supernatural thrillers.

I have very few words to express what I felt for this book. It is beautiful for a lack of a better term. Any lover of gothic fiction will appreciate this story a lot; it's like poetry but make it dark. It explores so many themes in such a crisp way that it wins your heart easily. 5 out of 5 stars. Full review to come soon.

Haunting and suspenseful--this is exactly my kind of book. I wanted to read this since I first heard about it. Gothic speculative fiction might be my new favorite genre.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing this digital book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book had a creepy atmosphere, chilling moments of deep unease, and a seemingly haunted house. I believe the story would have benefited from deeper character backstories that would help the reader better understand the characters’ current anxieties and predicaments. Antonia, the main female character, strives to be independent and strong, but I found her to be easily influenced and at times contrary. She muses that she wishes her needs and wants would be considered for once, but when someone offers to take care of something for her, she complains that she is a perfectly capable person, and she is only being treated so because she is a woman. I dislike when characters, particularly female characters, do this.

There was a lot about the book that was not fleshed out. A red-eyed specter that isn’t mentioned often enough to feel relevant, a random connection to the romantic lead that felt convenient and not strategic, and Antonia’s waffling feelings about her father, to name a few. First, she can’t live without him; then she approves of whatever punishment comes his way because the law dictates him to be guilty; and then can’t focus on anything else because she must free him from prison because illness spreads quickly there.

Overall, I think this book has a strong foundation and can be a great gothic novel with more editing and drafting, a clearer focus on character development, and how horror is manifested (the house, the specters, or the cliff).

2.75/5

Thank you to Atria Books Publicity Department and NetGalley for the e-arc. Here is my honest review:

Bochica tells the story of Antonia and the tragedy that has followed her family since they moved into the home perched above Salto de Tequendama, a waterfall rich in history and secrets. Years after her mother's death, the family home is being converted into a hotel. But, the ghosts of the land and Antonia's past remain.

The novel frames itself as The Shining, but don't come into this novel thinking you will get a 1:1 horror story of an immersive hotel setting. Instead, Bochica shines best as a story tackling grief. It asks what is more haunting: ghosts or regret?

Starting the book was a bit hard as I found that it took a long time for the premise to really shine. The book's most prominent problems are most noticeable in the beginning. These problems included a slow start and too many references to a plot the audience has yet to be clued in on. However, I was able to quickly finish the book within the rest of the day once the plot stopped relying on these vague references.

Let's start with what I think the book struggled with first.

The book was too vague in the beginning. By this, I mean that the book focused heavily on trying to push the gothic/horror element of the plot through the repetitive mentions of nightmares and memories of Antonia. The repetition got old fast and did not add to the book's atmosphere. Additionally, these "secrets" did not provide a good payoff.

Some scenes were also hard to follow. Even if the stream of consciousness is supposed to be unreliable, as a reader I still felt like the writing of these scenes resulted in a confusing plot at times. Some scenes started or ended too abruptly with plot lines jumping from A to B without a lot of description to lead the readers into what is happening. As a result, some scenes were hard to read.

However, my biggest problem with the book has to be in its ending. Without giving away any spoilers, the novel's ending does not utilize the supernatural elements present in the novel's universe. The novel's ending does not showcase the book's strengths and shies away from being bold. Had it a stronger ending that leaned more into the book's aesthetic and concluded on the themes and symbols it built up then the novel would have been stronger and more satisfying overall. It was an underwhelming ending but not a terrible one.

Now for some of the novel's strengths and other things that I liked.

Dialogue is the book's greatest strength. I can clearly hear Antonia's voice. Florez-Cerchiaro does an excellent job establishing a voice for all the characters to the point that their voices never muddled into one. During the points of the novel that I found myself lost in, I was able to come back thanks to the strong dialogue. While some descriptions and writing choices confused me, the dialogue itself was never hard to follow and was consistent throughout the book.

Antonia's characterization is consistent. She was an enjoyable protagonist with a distinct voice. Despite Alejandro (her partner in solving the hotel's mystery and budding love interest) not being as strong of a character, he contrasts and parallels Antonia in ways that elevate Antonia.

The paranoia of the book is present and felt. There are times when you doubt if Antonia is a reliable narrator and if her psyche can be trusted. There are times that Flórez-Cerchiaro uses vague descriptors in the writing's favor. The unsettling fear of the novel's beginning slowly morphs into a label of evil.

Overall, Bochica has a great concept that pulls you in but never goes all out. I had a lot of fun with what the novel was setting up only to end up disappointed at the ending. It is a story rich in themes from the idea of reclaiming what was lost to fighting for one's autonomy told through the lense of a gothic narrative. I wished the novel delved more into its horror elements. I even wish that the novel was longer. There are a lot of things that Bochica tries to do and while it does not nail all of them perfectly, the effort is there.

Overall:

I recommend Bochica to anyone curious to soft launch themselves into the gothic genre. For anyone who loves a perfectly imperfect book, give this one a read.

Plot: ★★★

Characters: ★★★

Writing: ★★★★

Ending: ★★★

Total: 3.75

Antonia and her family used to live in a giant house near a waterfall, but when Antonia’s mother takes a fatal fall into El Salto and her father, consumed by grief, attempts to burn the house down with Antonia still inside, they move. However, Antonia is drawn back later, determined to find the truth. The depictions of culture and the indigenous myths was very interesting. There is a romantic subplot. Shorter read.

⭐️: 4.5

For this being Carolina Flórez-Cherchiaro’s debut novel…she put her foot into this one! 👏🏼 the writing and storytelling was beautifully done. Especially how well things were described and painted for the reader to imagine, like the setting being in Colombia in 1923 really added that eerie, goth feel to it. Antonia was obviously my favorite with her courageous character and ambition. Bochica reminded me a bit of Haunting of Hill House (the series) with a mix of The Hacienda and The Shining which I love all those things 😆 I would definitely recommend this and can’t wait to see what else this author comes out with in the near future🖤

Thank you to netgalley, Artria books and primero sueno press for the arc

"Real horror lay not just in the actions of one person, but in the pervasive, insidious presence of evil that lurked in every corner of human nature, even masked under the disguise of good intentions.”

A haunting debut. Flórez sets the tone for an eerie and ominous story about a haunted mansion and the family that once lived within it, set against the backdrop of 1930s Columbia, weaving cultural and folkloric elements, including Música legends and dieties.

I really enjoyed the gothic atmosphere, the opulent mansion overlooking an equally magnificent and formidable waterfall, and the haunting description of the FMCs nightmares and visions. Horror isn't my usual genre (because I'm a baby for these things), but depite the sinister undertone of the story, I never found it to be too scary. It was also fast-paced and immersive. Although I wish some of the supporting characters were more fleshed out, I'm still looking forward to reading more from this author in the future!

Bochica comes out May 13, 2025 so check it out if you like:

💚 haunted mansions
🖤 a gothic & atmospheric setting
💚 unraveling family secrets
🖤 murder mystery
💚 secret societies/cults
🖤 rich cultural elements
💚 female rage

3.5 stars rounded to 4.

It literally took me days to finish this book because I was so sucked in. I dropped all the other books I was reading because this one enchanted me and I couldn’t stop. A book with an actual real physical location and mythical history behind it, I was able to imagine what the real life location was like. I love the setting, the characters, the plot and the whole mysterious dark feeling surrounding it. I couldn’t put it down and forgot about real life for a few days.
Thank you Net Galley, Atria Books and Premier Sueño for the ARC. I would LOVE a physical copy of this book!! I’m not a big fan of reading digitally but I couldn’t hold back on this. Definitely recommended. I cannot wait until I get my hands on some physical ARCs for review and hope to continue to share my love of some of these great books in the future!! The adventure in this one is definitely worth the share!

This book was such a delightful read! From the very first page, I found myself completely immersed in the story. The writing was so approachable and warm, making it easy to connect with the characters and the plot. I loved how the book felt both inviting and engaging, without ever being too complex or hard to follow.

This sounded like a really promising gothic horror, but it was, unfortunately, quite bland. The writing was very choppy. It plodded along slowly with very little depth or description. Despite the interesting subject matter, I had a really difficult time engaging with this one.

A great gothic horror that's richly atmospheric and sinister. It's very fast paced, but I appreciated the compressed timeframe, making it feel as if we were following the MC Antonia in real time. If you like gothic horror, this is not one to miss!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.