Reviews with content warning for Animal death - La ruta del hielo y la sal

3.5 stars. What I think this novella does particularly well is exploring the way vampirism and homosexuality and monstrosity are so often intertwined, both in literature and historically in society. It explores the concepts of homosexuality and monstrosity through vampirism: thus it’s a novel that beautifully and intensely explores hunger and need and thirst and desire. And it has made me extremely excited to go on to reread Dracula next.

Content warnings: Use of the G-slur to describe Roma, mentions of child sexual abuse (children being forced into sex work), rats, animal death, graphic sex, self harm, homophobic violence, death, dead bodies, death of loved one

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irene_addler's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I'm not entirely sure what to say about this book other than: I loved it.

You don't need to have read Dracula by Bram Stoker to enjoy this. I read this first then Dracula and I would recommend that to be frank.

It's described as a queer Gothic retelling of Dracula's voyage to England. I don't think that description does it justice, but it's the one they gave it. While Dracula is absolutely a part of this story, and it is about the ship headed to England, the story is about much more.

It takes the subtle comparisons of homosexuality and vampires from the 1800's and makes it obvious, doubling down on the angle of persecution. I don't think the word "vampire" is used a single time, in fact, but the word "monster" is, which rings true to harmful things all of us have heard about the LGBTQ+ community, and many have experienced.

It's quite adult and can be very explicit, but after finishing it, I believe that was because it's a monster story. Monster stories are filled with gore and graphic content that we view as despicable, but in this case, it was a man being with other men and his experiences that were graphic. It's about how people view relationships like that as monstrous. There are certainly gross moments which felt almost like Lovecraftian monsters interspersed with sexual content, so don't expect something sexy.

I cried at the end and I'm honestly choked up writing this. It was graphic and blunt and quick to read. The language may not be for everyone, it's fairly fanciful, but it's right up my alley. I definitely recommend it.

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jackiijackii's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

Strong character development? Yes

4.25

I feel like this is one of those stories that's so much bigger than it seems. Sure, the summaries talk about how it's a novella based on the oversea journey that brought Dracula to England, and that would be pretty neat anyway. But ultimately it's a story about hunger. The first third or so was like reading Walt Whitman, a poetic appreciation and desire for sexual connection; and the rest of the book pivots to compare that desire with that of the monster aboard the ship, slaking its thirst on the crew members one by one.

I want to say more, but all my thoughts are firing at once and I can't articulate anything well enough to continue. It's horror, and philosophy, and an exploration of how internalized homophobia hurts everyone. The English translation is beautiful, for all that it describes sin and guilt and redemption and violence. It's become a sort of cult classic in Mexico, and I'm excited that it gets to find a whole new audience in English.

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