Castle of the Cursed
Ratings2
Average rating3.5
15
Ratings2
Average rating3.5
A delicious and dark gothic romance from bestselling author Romina Garber!
THE HOUSE IS ALWAYS HUNGRY…
After a mysterious attack claims the lives of her parents, all Estela has left is her determination to solve the case. Suffering from survivor’s guilt so intense that she might be losing her grip on reality, she accepts an invitation to live overseas with an estranged aunt at their ancestral Spanish castle, la Sombra.
Beneath its gothic façade, la Sombra harbors a trove of family secrets, and Estela begins to suspect her parents’ deaths may be linked to their past. Her investigation takes a supernatural turn when she crosses paths with a silver-eyed boy only she can see. Estela worries Sebastián is a hallucination, but he claims he’s been trapped in the castle. They grudgingly team up to find answers and as their investigation ignites, so does a romance, mistrust twined with every caress.
As the mysteries pile up, it feels to Estela like everyone in the tiny town of Oscuro is lying and that whoever was behind the attack has followed her to Spain. The deeper she ventures into la Sombra’s secrets, the more certain she becomes that the suspect she’s chasing has already found her . . . and they’re closer than she ever realized.
Reviews with the most likes.
Castle of the Cursed - Romina Garber. This book was so weird! The story was gothic and fabulous and had such a unique storyline. After Estela's parents are killed, she thinks she is alone until she finds out about an aunt she didn't know existed and who lives in a house that needs something unusual to keep it alive.
Pulling back the layers on Estela's life was fascinating to unfold. I wasn't a massive fan of the romance in it. I think it would have been soooo much better without it but that's a personal choice. I think the author could have gone darker and more in depth on the house and the magic and it would have been one heck of a read. 4 stars
Overall, I didn't find it “gothic horror” like it was marketed - it definitely fit the gothic part, but not the horror part. And despite being a “gothic romance” I don't think we needed the romance - I think it would have worked without the two vague scenes and the wishywashy shadow love interest.
I read fiction for a reason, but I would like my fiction to make sense. I understand plot wise WHY the author did what she did; just because it makes sense plot wise doesn't mean it's always the best idea.
The book hooked me at first, and I was super involved with wanting to know more; as the story hit about 50% of the way through, I think there was too much of... everything and it diluted the story. I think the author put a little too much supernatural aspects in this book. If it was straight family legacy, haunted/cursed castle and magic, I believe the story would have flown better, but once you threw in additional supernatural beings that really don't make sense in the setting, I lost me.
I personally didn't care for the twist at the end, or the ending per say; just wasn't my cup of tea. Despite it's flaws it was an easy read and I did really like the fact we did learn Spanish with the character!
I loved the setting and the family secrets. The creepy dark gothic castle was a great setting for a family that is unwilling to share their knowledge with each other. I like Estela's determination to solve the mystery even if her family is lying to her. I didn't really like the romance and the epilogue made it worse. Maybe this kind of supernatural romance isn't for me.
So if you like a dark gothic everyone is lying type book with some steamy romance, you might like this one. I would definitely recommend this for older YA readers only.
