A review by micaelamariem
Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas

adventurous reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

 
It really bothers me that I don't know how to do accents on my keyboard so I can't spell the author's name right. Anyway... 
Another Book of the Month pick I put off for a year because I was trying to read it during the right season, then read it in December anyway. 
Vampires of Norteby Isabel Canas, published by Berkley, is what I'd call a Gothic Western. Set in 1840s Mexico with the backdrop of the Mexican-American war, Nena struggles to prove her worth as a healer. In her home rancho, mysterious cases of susto have been popping up but Nena agrees to accompany her father to war as a healer so that she's not married off. Meanwhile, her childhood friend, Nestor, returns to the rancho to help the war cause after abandoning it years ago, believing he witnessed Nena's death by a mysterious night creature. When he finds her alive--and angry for his running away--he needs to prove himself. But when the two find more creatures among the rancho and battlefield, they need to have more courage than pride. 
The author, Isabel Canas, is a Mexican-American writer who has been everywhere: Mexico, New York, Egypt, Scotland, etc. She has a doctorate in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and writes fiction about her heritage. 
I'm going to be honest. I didn't hate this book, but I also didn't love it. A lot of this review will be me trying to figure out how I feel about it--using the CAWPILE method created by G of Book Roast on YouTube (thank you so much for correcting me on this!) 
C stands for characters. And, if I'm being honest, I found the characters a bit insufferable. Mostly because they seemed so one-minded. I suppose it is good they had goals, every character needs a motivation. But for Nena and Nestor to be so focused on each other and how they couldn't have each other and kind of glazing over the bigger factors of the plot seemed so frustrating to me. And I realize the whole theme of the book was for them to gain courage to stand up for themselves but it took them so long I wanted to scream. Characters: 2/10  
A stands for Atmosphere/Setting. This is something the book did really well. I wanted gothic and spooky and I got gothic and spooky--with a mix of western as we had desert and cowboys. But the descriptions, while being so vivid, also left that eerie creepy feeling that someone's watching you. It was perfect for the plot. Atmosphere: 10/10 
W stands for Writing Style. Canas can definitely write well. As mentioned above, the scenes were vivid. Though the writing fell a bit more on the sentimental side, which I tend to love, this time I was bored. Writing: 7/10 
P stands for Plot: In general, the plot worked well. Vampires invading on a historical war and a deep look onto who the real monsters are. A forbidden romance for which the war serves as a backdrop. The logic of how this was carried out is what bothered me the most, but we'll get there. Plot: 9/10 
I stands for Intrigue: I wouldn't say there were any major twists in this book, but a few mild surprises. It's not a mystery so it didn't need to have a huge plot twist but on the whole I wasn't on my heels waiting to see what happened. Intrigue: 5/10 
L stands for Logic/Relationships: Here's where a lot of issues come into play. In the prologue, Nena is bit, Nestor believes she is dead and runs. Why didn't he check? Why isn't she dead or turned? How does one become a vampire? To write about vampires, I think there needs to be more lore around their origins. Also, I find it very hard to believe that a family would let their daughter into battle but not alone with a man to protect her--I get that it was a different time and men and women couldn't be alone together, obviously. But for them to be mostly chill with going with the army didn't sit right with me. Logic: 3/10 
E stands for Enjoyment: As someone that reads mainly for enjoyment and escapism, this is probably the most important yet most subjective part. I was bored a lot of the time with this. I haven't encountered many westerns so maybe I just don't like cowboys. But I thought I'd love anything about vampires! I found the chapters that focused more on the paranormal the best parts, and there were parts I did enjoy, but overall it was just in the middle for me. Enjoyment: 5/10 
The average is 5.85/10. Converted to a 5 star rating system we get 2.92/5 or rounded up to 3 stars. It was an okay read. If you like westerns, you might enjoy this. Otherwise, I'm not sure it's for you! 
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