Genre: Horror
Release Date: July 18th, 2023
Pages: 336
Publisher: Del Rey
My Rating: ⭐⭐
Publisher’s Synopsis:
“Montserrat has always been overlooked. She’s a talented sound editor, but she’s left out of the boys’ club running the film industry in ’90s Mexico City. And she’s all but invisible to her best friend, Tristán, a charming if faded soap opera star, though she’s been in love with him since childhood.
Then Tristán discovers his new neighbor is the cult horror director Abel Urueta, and the legendary auteur claims he can change their lives—even if his tale of a Nazi occultist imbuing magic into highly volatile silver nitrate stock sounds like sheer fantasy. The magic film was never finished, which is why, Urueta swears, his career vanished overnight. He is cursed.
Now the director wants Montserrat and Tristán to help him shoot the missing scene and lift the curse . . . but Montserrat soon notices a dark presence following her, and Tristán begins seeing the ghost of his ex-girlfriend.
As they work together to unravel the mystery of the film and the obscure occultist who once roamed their city, Montserrat and Tristán may find that sorcerers and magic are not only the stuff of movies.”
My Review:
As slow and strange as a sloth. The premise… freaking wow does this book sound amazing. The story itself… just, why? With so much to work with, such strange and unique and potentially powerful concepts, how does it all end up being so boring? I could not get into it. I had not a care in the world for these people. 100 pages in and nothing has even really happened yet. The setting didn’t come through. It was all flat and bland. I’m afraid many, many readers are going to be let down by this one, especially considering how popular this author is and how beloved many of her books are. This one though, it’s a flop for me.
Disclaimers:
Huge thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for gifting me an early copy of this amazing story! I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Have you read this book? Planning to add it to your TBR?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
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