BOOK REVIEW:
BRUJA'S NEST
BY BRENDA LATORRE

I could smell the rot in this book.

TW for this novel: SA (not graphic), trauma

Bruja's Nest is a grotesque, visceral sensory horror story that I couldn't look away from. Felicidades to LaTorre for writing an outstanding debut novel. Bruja's Nest is like a combination of multiple paranormal and cautionary tales I grew up hearing in the 90's while being raised on the US-Mexico border. I love that the darker elements of my cultural heritage is on full display with this novel, and I hope more novels like this one are published in the future!

Yolanda is a gorgeous young Mexican woman who dreams of becoming wealthy by any means necessary. Her impoverished surroundings and her love for telenovelas influence her belief that women can only succeed and become wealthy by taking advantage of the people around them with their beauty and cunning. Yolanda is sent away by her mother to be a servant to an affluent family who live in a hacienda within a small town. She feels this is the perfect opportunity to manipulate the rich family she serves to become the señora of the hacienda. She elicits the help of the town bruja in her rags to riches scheme, but it goes HORRIBLY wrong. Nightmarishly wrong.

Bruja's Nest lays bare multiple layers of sharp social commentary, with class disparity and the fears and expectations surrounding pregnancy, birth, and motherhood, being the best. I applaud LaTorre for going there.

As for the writing, there were moments when the pacing lulled and it was a bit clunky and simplistic towards the end. The plot is strong, I personally love that it reads like a telenovela. This is one of the most creative horror novels I've ever read. Lastly, the graphic and brutal detail of the body horror was superb; I felt like I could see, hear, and smell the squelching, rupturing, and rottenness of it all.

Thank you to Netgalley and Creature Publishing for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 🖤