Bochica is a gothic debut set in Columbia, following a young woman’s struggle to unearth the secrets of her past by returning to the haunted hotel where her family faced tragedy years before. There was a lot I enjoyed about this book, and some elements that didn’t work as well for me; but Bochica is a well-done debut that will appeal to many readers, and should be on every gothic fiction lover’s radar.

I loved the Latin American historical setting; it’s wonderful to me how so many diverse authors have taken the gothic genre and made it their own over the last few years with characters and settings from so many cultures. I felt that Bochica did this well, immersing the reader into the culture and time period. I also loved how atmospheric this book was; half of the gothic genre is atmosphere, and it delivered on the spooky, haunting vibes.

I did feel that Antonia’s character could have been fleshed out a little more, and I would have liked to see more time spent on building her relationship with Alejandro. I also went into this book expecting it to be quite a bit scarier due to the comparison to The Shining in the book summary; I was expecting more of a horror novel. I would say this book is not horror, and completely gothic; the haunting is more atmospheric than terrifying and the book follows more traditional gothic plot-lines. This was not a problem for me as I love gothic novels, but if you are a fan of more horror-focused books, just be aware that this is a gothic and falls into the lighter end of the horror spectrum.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and I’m excited for it to find its readers when it publishes in a few months! I would recommend Bochica to readers who love gothic novels, historical fiction representing Latin America, and atmospheric stories.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the arc! All thoughts and opinions in the review are my own.

This book is a very special, very scary, heartbreaking and beautiful story and experience.

I was craving heavy desriptions, some gothic elements, and a vibe similar to that of “Mexican Gothic” and this book delivered. I went into this book as “blindly” as I could, as I try to do that with new authors and this was an amazing story. It is sad and scary and made me feel very complex emotions. I loved this one.

I could not put this one down and I finished it in two sittings with sweaty palms and a racing heart. I am excited to buy this book once it is released and cherish it on my bookshelf forever.

I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to read this in advance! This is my honest opinion I am leaving. I received a free ebook through Net Galley.

On paper, this was everything I wanted. As a lover of Latin American literature and gothic literature, I was really excited for this. It ultimately didn’t work for me. I found it both entirely too simple plot and character wise, and then way to too confusing it how it was written. I’m unsure if this was a translation issue. There needed to be more character development overall as well. And the horror needed to be cranked up. I don’t think I would classify this as a horror to be honest. A lot of potential but has some issues with execution.