Halloween Bingo 2026
I read this for The Carpathians square of my 2026 Halloween Bingo card.
In every genre of books there is an unspoken contract between the writer and the reader. I go into a vampire story with certain expectations. This book felt like Moreno-Garcia was trying to mess with the contract, to give it a literary fiction version. Some genres are difficult to mix and in my opinion vampires and lit fic are like oil and water--it's very unlikely that they will coexist easily.
In this alternate Mexico, there are ten species of vampires and only one of them is the native Aztec version. The others have come to Mexico to avoid problems in their home countries and they have apparently formed gangs. Like gangs everywhere, they are violent and hostile. And, yes, I know most fiction shows vamps in families or clans, but these gangs feel altogether too human to me. Especially because they're all about the drugs. Okay, I get it—the drug cartels are like vampires, sucking the life out of Mexico. SMG slugged me over the head with it.
Two stars. It was okay.
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