this was a beautiful, devastating fever dream. so gorgeous, intoxicating, but laced with something darker underneath. Beasts of Carnaval is one of those stories. it pulls you in with its lush world and dazzling spectacle, only to unravel into something much heavier: a tale of stolen history, lost identity, and the ghosts of a past that refuses to stay buried.

Sofía’s journey isn’t just about finding her brother—it’s about finding herself in a place that was never meant to hold space for her. Isla Bestia is breathtaking, a paradise of endless music, glittering feasts, and performers who seem almost otherworldly. But beneath the revelry is something sinister, something that tugs at the edges of her mind. The deeper she sinks into the island’s spell, the more the lines between past and present blur. the echoes of her Taike’ri ancestors hum through the performances, their language and culture twisted into entertainment for those who once took everything from them.

this book hurts. not because it’s tragic in the way you expect, but because it forces you to sit with the weight of history, with the knowledge that some things—some people—are lost forever. Sofía fights, she searches, she unravels. and through it all, the island watches. there are no easy answers here. no simple victories. just the ache of remembering, of reclaiming, of realizing that some wounds never fully heal. this is stunning and cruel in equal measure—a story that lingers, that haunts, that refuses to let you go.

5 stars

~~ I received an ARC copy of Beasts of Carnaval from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ~~

What a beautifully written book. Rosalia Rodrigo paints a colorful picture of the island of Carnaval, a "pleasure island" that has drawn the rich and influential from the Hisperian empire to its shores. Her main character, Sofia, is a freedwoman looking for her brother Sol, who has gone missing after a number of years.

Rodrigo creates a complex work that touches on the realities of slavery and the death of indigenous cultures in the Caribbean in her piece and honors the cultural ancestry that has been long lost to colonization. I couldn't put this book down and the read felt like a technicolor experience. I can't recommend this book enough.

Beasts of Carnaval is a wonderful book steeped in mythology and wonder. The prose of the novel is lush and takes a little longer to read. In this novel, a woman searches for her brother at his last known locale, Isla Bestia. As Sofia discovers more and more secrets, its mysterious nature begins to be revealed. There are themes of friendship, family, and Post Colonialism. This is a novel to take some time with and let it saturate your senses. 5 stars.