Sinner

While scrolling through NetGalley the striking and beautifully illustrated cover of this book caught my eye, it wasn't until I clicked on it that I noticed the name of the author, Carol James Marshall. Having read some of her previous books I knew that this had the potential to be a genuinely dark and disturbing tale , and I could not wait to dive right in.
From the beginning it grabbed my attention as we are introduced to the main character, Matea, as a nine year old girl being brought back to Mexico by her mother to visit her grandmother. In a few brief sentences the author shows us what it feels like for Matea, living between two very different worlds and not quite sure where she really fits in either. She also knows that there is something different about her, she is drawn towards darkness, despite the best efforts of her mother and the nuns at her catholic school. Something strange happens on this visit and Matea's life is forever changed. As the book progresses Matea's story unfolds and we see just how different she is as she grows from a confused teen who fears she has a psychiatric illness because of the things she sees that no one else does to a young woman who is trying to come to terms with her strange abilities , figure out what she wants in life and deal with a former friend who has betrayed her.
This book was deliciously dark with elements of body horror that were chilling rather than gruesome and lots of nods to the author's Latina heritage and traditions but done in a way that felt very fresh and original. I found myself fully invested in Matea's story and keen to know what will happen next , and if the sample chapters from the next book in the series are anything to go by, I will not be disappointed.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this opening to the Santa Muerte series, it had what I was hoping for based on the description. I was invested in what was going on and thought it worked well overall. The characters were written perfectly and I enjoyed getting to know them in this world. It left me wanting to read more in this series and from the author. Carol James Marshall has a great writing style that I enjoyed a lot.

"Then, she saw Esme. Esme, who’d befriended Matea long ago. Esme, who dabbled, she said, in occult things. Esme, who’d wanted in Matea’s bed and had never succeeded. She had gotten into Brandon’s, which quickly dissolved Matea’s trust in whatever friendship they might have had."

I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'Sinner - Santa Muerte Book 1' by Carol James Marshall. The story follows Detective Gabriel Orozco as he investigates a series of gruesome murders in Los Angeles that seem to be linked to the Santa Muerte cult. As the case progresses, Gabriel finds himself drawn deeper into the dangerous world of the cult and must confront his own demons in order to solve the case.

The author does an excellent job of creating a dark and gritty atmosphere that really immerses the reader in the story. The characters are well-developed, and I found myself invested in Gabriel's journey from start to finish. The plot is fast-paced and kept me guessing until the very end.

One thing I particularly appreciated about this book was the way it explored the Santa Muerte cult and its practices. It was clear that the author had done extensive research into the topic, and I felt like I learned a lot about this fascinating but often misunderstood religion.

Overall, I would highly recommend 'Sinner - Santa Muerte Book 1' to fans of crime fiction and thrillers. While there were a few moments where the pacing felt a bit uneven, the overall quality of the writing and storytelling more than made up for it. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing where the series goes from here!

Rating: 4/5 stars.

Thank you netgalley for this arc!

Ay dios mío! I want this to take off. I want this to be a smashing success when this drops. Fantasy as a whole, horror as a whole…stories in general aren’t diverse enough. We know this. But this satisfied a need of mine. To see someone like me, people like me, this was spectacular.

I accessed this book via Netgalley, after seeing the cover and being hooked by description. The book mostly follows Matea, but the narrator, seemingly omniscient, follows all of the other characters in the story.

The story revolves around Matea’s journey as she slowly unravels and is on the path to becoming possessed by La Santa Muerte, basically a Mexican deity of death, similar to the grim reaper.

The writing was addicting and filled with beautiful imagery, and at times gruesome. I would classify this book in the horror genre with some fantasy elements. I could easily envision this book as a graphic novel or animated/live action series. I loved the incorporation of the Spanish language. As a Latina, I love seeing Spanish in books and I thought the author did a good job of giving enough context to non-Spanish speaking audiences.

That being said, the book is very short, maybe classified as a novella, so we don’t sit long with all the characters and are limited time with each of them. I wished we got more backstories on some of the side characters and even the main ones because they didn’t seem fully fleshed out. The book does end on a cliffhanger, and with a sneak peak at a sequel, so the story is set up as a series, not a stand-alone. I would definitely read the next book in the series to see what happens next with the characters.

Matea has always felt different and separate from her peers; plagued by a growing black smudge on her hand, and visions of rattlesnakes following her. She can't explain what's going on, but all Matea knows is that the darkness calls to her and she struggles to stay away.

Sinner starts with Matea at the age of 9 being forced to go to church with her mother. She was marked by Santa Muerte (the Holy Lady of Death) before entering a church and ever since that moment, she started to see rattlesnakes, and her mother and grandmother started treating her differently.

As Matea grows into her early 20s she starts working at a distribution enter.

At the center you are introduced to 3 more main characters - Esme, Brandon, and Gina. While Brandon and Gina become her close confidantes and lovers, Esme quickly becomes her sworn enemy as they both practice Brujeria.

Matea harbors a deep-seated hatred towards Esme and does everything in her power to harm Esme. Matea gets her wish and realizes just how powerful she is when Esme ends up losing a finger at work and eventually a toe. Throughout the novel, Matea's grandmother's religious beliefs are explored, revealing why Santa Muerte plays such a significant role in Matea and Esme's lives.

I enjoyed the story a lot. I had a vague understanding of Brujeria before I read this novel and I enjoyed how it was incorporated into the story - it gave me a great opportunity to go down the Wikipedia rabbit hole on the topic!

What I didn't like about the book was how many POV's were involved - off hand I can think of 7 POVs. Each chapter will contain 4-5 POVs and sometimes it got weird and didn't flow. At least 5 of the POVs, I thought, were unnecessary. If you just had Matea and Esme's viewpoints, it would have made a more cohesive story. I wish there were most chapters just on Esme, her story was more interesting than Matea's.


This book is great if you're dipping your toes into the horror genre!

This is an honest review, thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

This was the first introduction I had into La Santa Muerte, and I found this book to be quite accessible. In fact, I'm thinking of doing some of my own research into learning more.

As someone who grew up with similar feelings toward religion as Matea, the beginning was a breath of fresh air, even with many scenes being church scenes. I'm glad there's a character like Matea who was surrounded by religion, but felt like a black sheep since she didn't and couldn't understand what was so great about it. I appreciated that in her development.

However, the pacing was a little off for me. It starts when she's a kid, then around her teenage/adult years, then college and it continues from there; however most of the time is when she's in college, but not really going to college. Just saying she needs to find a way to pay for the next semester. There is an instance from a previous semester involving a teacher and snakes, but that's the only time she's really there.

There is a witchy feud between her and another character. *Warnings for bullying, body mutualization, and death*

Overall, this was one of the few horror books I've read and I look forward to reading more in the genre.

This book was truly something special. Combining witch craft, religious trauma, Mexican folklore and mythology, and complicated relationship dynamics; Sinner was a book I enjoyed immensely. Sometimes I found myself questioning the motives of the characters, but that only added to the mystery and horror of what was occurring.

This book sounded right up my street and gave me Mexican Gothic vibes!
The cover is amazing!!!
We follow our MC Matea throughout her life as she’s on the path to become a god of death! I’m not adverse to gruesome books which is good because parts of this were pretty gruesome!
Horror mixed with a little bit of fantasy!
I didn’t have a lot of knowledge about some of the themes and religious aspects mentioned in the book so I did find myself regularly googling bits! But I do always love a Wikipedia dive!
The book isn’t super long but long enough that it drew me in and I really enjoyed it!

ARC from Netgalley

Thank you NetGalley for this book, sinner is a horror story about Matea, a young women who can see rattlesnakes and has had an encounter with a statue of La Santa Muerte that lefts her a mark on her hand.
This story was so interesting to read, it was unsettling and mysterious, with plot twists that I would have never expected and Matea is such a complex and interesting character with her feelings of being uncomplete and suspended, trying to reject the darkness that calls her until slowly she learns to give in to it
I loved the continous links made with the Mexican culture, Matea feels immersed in it despite having moved to the USA with her mother.
The story was fast paced and has also different points of view from the other characters that really help to unravel the whole story, I just found too many unresolved problems, that clearly were made to set up for a second book but that made this one missing something.

This is the first book I've read from this author, and I'm so glad I stumbled upon this in Netgalley because Holy shit!!!

This book is fantastic!! I'm currently obsessed with gothic vibes, which is perfect for my craving. I would say that this is more horror rather than fantasy, I mean, some of the scenes are pretty gruesome, but I enjoy everything this book has to offer.

The plot itself is exciting and offers an unsettling, twisted, and mysterious plotline. The character is so complex and compelling. I love it when Matea finally gives in and starts to lean into the darkness. It left me wanting to read more and more, and I can't stop; it's pretty fast-paced, which is good, and I genuinely recommend this book for fantasy-horror babes out there!!!

Thank you, Netgalley, Author, and Publisher, for this E-arc.

Sinner first caught my eye because of the beautiful cover on the book. However, it was more than that. The description about the book is what made me want to read it. Matea, at 9 yrs old, was brought to Mexico to visit her grandmother by her mother. The author takes this time to help the reader learn about her feelings such as not knowing how to feel or act because of being fro two different worlds.,,Brought up in a catholic school by nuns, she is taught to love God yet she has a darkness inside her. Or so she believes. She even attributes some of her intuitive feelings as that of mental illness. Matea must come to terms with issues that are affecting her and allowing her to see things that no one else does and try to overcome heartache that was brought on by a friend that betrayed her. I honestly feel that this book is the best one I have read to date and want everyone to read it. The authors ability to weave the characters together in such as way grips the reader and doesn’t let go. Even as I finished this book I wanted more. I think this one would make an excellent movie.


5++++++ stars out of 5


Thank you NetGalley as well as the author/publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book was different to anything else that I have read.
I was a little unsure if I enjoyed it to begin with but 50 pages in and I was loving it.
It was dark and twisted but not in an unbearable way.
The part where Gina is in bed and the hands were grabbing at her seriously creeped me out!
I did get a little bit lost with the characters initially because were quite a few but in the last 50 pages I was able to identify them.
I did feel that there was a language barrier, there was quite a few times that the Spanish wasn't obviously translated and I felt that I was missing bits...
Overall a good book and I'm looking forward to reading the next one.

This is perfectly written. We have the fight between light and dark, brujas, snakes, spiritualism, and the drudgery of working a warehouse job.
I love magical spiritual books with saints and demons.
I think anyone who has ever had to work a terrible job with someone you know is evil will relate to this.

If you're a plant lady be warned. Our girl focuses some malice on a plant.

I also related to Amparo. A mother of a teenager who just out of reach. I know that feeling all too well.

I love that we don't know who is "good" and who is "evil" here. It is old gods playing with young women.
Also just as a note don't go cut a bunch of fresh flowers and set them next to you while you read this. I did and it was way too immersive.
I will definately be reading the second novel.

This was so unexpectedly good! Matea is a girl who rejects her mother's strict catholicism and feels pulled by darkness, the darkness of La Santa Muerte. It turns out that she has been promised to La Santa Muerte since birth. However, she is also pulled by her indigenous roots, which have also been kept from her. Mate has power. She is a bruja.

I enjoyed the fast-paced plot of this story. It was a very fast read! However, the character development is not short-changed. Matea's mother and grandmother are such interesting and complex characters. As is her rival, another young witch, Esme. I think Esme might be even more compelling than Matea.

I also loved the polyamory elements. Matea is trying to negotiate her friendships and the sexual attraction she has to her two close friends. However, her own actions might drive the people she loves the most away from her.

The first few chapters were a bit rough, but after those, the writing is excellent and especially ideal for those of us that love plot-driven storied.

Content Warnings: body horror, blood, witchcraft, drug use

TW: language, gory scenes, toxic parent relationship

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:A bruja is born.What does a girl who envies the creep and darkness of a shadow become? From the time she was born, Matea had a connection to Santa Muerte that seemed to linger inside her. Matea's world seemed to bend around her in a way that no one else could comprehend. She trembled with an unexplained intensity, knowing that the cosmic forces and strange intuitions driving her forward were going to be impossible to control. Promised to Santa Muerte at birth Matea's life felt like it was constantly on the edge of something unpredictable and fear filled Matea's body as she considered what type of power, she may ultimately be capable of. Who could keep Matea from Santa Muerte's oppressive forces, and who would keep the world safe from Matea?
Release Date: May 5th, 2023
Genre: Horror
Pages: 215
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Matea felt flushed out
2. Loved following Matea as she ages
3. I loved the plot of this book

What I Didn't Like:
1. Sometimes writing felt a little sluggish

Overall Thoughts:
I read this book on a 90f degree day so reading about how hot the day(s) were in the book really added a layer of reality that I appreciated.

I was excited to get picked by @bookloverblogtours to do a book tour for the book Sinner by @carol_james_marshall.

There was so much I loved about this book. I thought Matea was an interesting character. I loved being able to grow with her and experience all the interesting things that went on with her

I loved learning about the Mexican culture. There were parts where I felt as though I was going along with the characters and we were all friends. I feel like the author did a good job at building up the atmosphere. There were some creepy parts that I thought did a wonderful job at scary you or grossing you out.

I do wish there was a little more back story. I love to have my characters flushed out so I can care more about them and if things happen to them. Also at certain times I felt a little confused on what happened and would have to reread to see if I missed something.

I'm excited to read the 2nd book.

Final Thoughts:
Reading this book felt like a fun time. I enjoyed so much about the authors world they built. I loved that there was Spanish sprinkled within the book to help in also learning some new language. Like I said I am excited to jump into the next book.

Recommend For:
• POV experiences
• Books with gory scenes

Sinner tells the story of Matea as she as slowly becomes possessed by La Santa Muerte, essentially a Mexican deity of death. This is a spooky and haunting novel full of folklore, culture and beautiful (albeit creepy) imagery. I loved the witch-iness, the unique use of snakes and learning about La Santa Muerte (yes I went on a deep dive researching and loved every minute of it).

I saw other reviews mentioning that the different points of view didn’t work for them, but I actually didn’t mind it. It was nice to learn more about the other characters and how their stories intertwined. Really my only complaint is that I would have liked more backstory about the characters, especially Matea’s mom and grandmother.

I am usually not a series reader, but I am incredibly excited to see what comes next for Martea and am really hoping for some more backstory on her and the rest of the characters, so I will definitely be reading the subsequent books. Overall, this was spooky, haunting and beautifully written & I highly recommend checking it out (unless you’re afraid of snakes…)