Back of Book: 

El Diablo is in the details in this Latinx pirate fantasy starring a transmasculine nonbinary teen with a mission of revenge, redemption, and revolution.

On Mar León-de la Rosa's 16th birthday, el Diablo comes calling. Mar is a transmasculine nonbinary teen pirate hiding a magical ability to manipulate fire and ice. But their magic isn't enough to reverse a wicked bargain made by their father and now el Diablo has come to collect his payment: the soul of Mar's father and the entire crew of their ship.

When Mar is miraculously rescued by the sole remaining pirate crew in the Caribbean, el Diablo returns to give them a choice: give up your soul to save your father by the Harvest Moon or never see him again. The task is impossible—Mar refuses to make a bargain and there's no way their magic is any match for el Diablo. Then, Mar finds the most unlikely allies: Bas, an infuriatingly arrogant and handsome pirate—and the captain's son; and Dami, a genderfluid demonio whose motives are never quite clear. For the first time in their life, Mar may have the courage to use their magic. It could be their only redemption—or it could mean certain death.

Book Number: Stand Alone 

Genre: Young Adult | Fantasy | Romance | Historical | LGBTQIA+ 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 

A fantastical pirate adventure featuring two queer Latinx teens as they fight to outsmart the Devil himself. 

Mar's sixteenth birthday wasn't supposed to be a big deal, but when el Diablo shows up to make good on a promise that Mar's father made sixteen years ago, Mar looses everything that has ever mattered to them: their father, their crew, and la Catalina, the ship that has been the only home they've known for years. The only thing that Mar manages to escape with is their very life. Waking up on a mysterious pirate ship after being rescued by one of the only remaining crews left in the Caribbean, Mar has no idea how they survived el Diablo's wrath. El Diablo is willing to give Mar one final bargain in order to save their father: give up their soul by the next harvest moon or their father will remain under el Diablo's servitude forever. With a near impossible choice to make, Mar finds refuge in some unlikely allies: Bas, the alluring son of the pirate crew's captain and a gender-fluid demonio by the name of Dami who is more than a tad suspicious. With little time to waste, Mar may be forced to use the powers that they have feared their entire life or risk losing everything they love. 

"The Wicked Bargain" has been one of my most anticipated releases of the last couple of years despite the fact that I had absolutely nothing to base this opinion on except that I knew this book featured Latinx and queer pirates, which was all I needed to hear to get me excited about this book. Luckily, this book did not disappoint in the slightest. 

I adored Mar and Bas, both as their own characters and together. Mar is a transmasculine teen who harbors secrets powers that allow him to control fire and ice. On top of that, his father made a deal with el Diablo to spare Mar's life when they were very young, which had Mar dealing with a ton of baggage right out the gates. Bas is the charming young son of la Ana's captain who has a flair for the dramatic who isn't afraid to fight for what he cares about most. These two have such fun banter and it was quite entertaining to slowly watch them warm to each other as the book progressed. Dami does a fantastic job of rounding out the trio. Though Bas may not know of their existence for much of the book, Dami is Mar's constant companion who I couldn't help but not trust the entire book. But can you blame me? Dami is a suspicious demonio whose motivations for doing anything were far from clear. I really enjoyed my time with these three amigues and genuinely love the dynamic that they all have with one another. 

The magic system in this world is awesome. Though we know little about Mar's fire and ice powers, it is fun to watch them start to appreciate what they can do with them. At the start of this book, Mar really believes that they are a monster and that their powers can only be used for evil. The growth that Mar goes through is quite healthy and it was great to see them embrace "the monster" for good. The whole making bargains with el Diablo and los demonios in this book was also quite an interesting magic ploy. It has been a while since I've read a book that really leaned on the potential of devils and demons and the dark deals you can make with them, so I found Novoa's take on this to be quite refreshing. 

This book is filled with Spanish and Spanglish thrown casually into the writing. I am proud to admit that I understood about 95% of the Spanish words in this book and I could read most of it without having to even truly think about what the words meant. I'm glad that my many years of Spanish class and Duolingo have been paying off! Not having to sit there and translate the words from Spanish to English was truly a freeing feeling. As a lover of Latinx culture, I ate up that this book featured all Latine characters who just happen to be pirates. I mean, how cool is that? 

The fact that this book's MC is transgender and Dami is genderfluid lent to some amazing representation of the LGBTQIA+ community. It makes me so happy to read about LGBTQIA+ characters, and even more so when they are present in fantasy and historical books. Watching Mar have to grapple with their gender dysphoria was tough at times, but I'm glad to report that everything worked out nicely for them in the end. 

Overall, I ended up really loving "The Wicked Bargain" which wasn't a surprise for me. I love the magical vibes, the piratey adventures, the queer romance, and the witty dialogue. It makes me very happy to report that this book is so good, because now I can add it to all of my queer, trans, Latinx, and romantasy recommendation lists. If any of these things sound like a fantastic time to you, do yourself a favor and go check out this book! 

Back of Book: 

From the author of The Wicked Bargain comes a high-stakes race to defeat a curse designed to kill about a teen demon who wants to be human, a boy cursed to die young, and the murderous island destined to bury them both.

Dami is a demon determined to cancel every deal they've ever made in order to tether their soul to earth and become human again. There's just one person standing in their way: Silas. An irresistibly (and stubborn) cute boy cursed to die young, except for the deal with Dami that is keeping him alive. If they cancel the deal, Silas is dead. Unless... they can destroy the curse that has plagued Silas's family for generations. But to do so, Dami and Silas are going to have to work together. That is, if the curse doesn't kill them first...

Book Number: Companion 

Genre: Young Adult | Fantasy | Romance | Historical | LGBTQIA+ 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 

A young demon is desperate to become human again, but they are tethered in the world of death by all the bargains they've struck with desperate humans throughout the years. 

After helping out Mar and Bas, Dami is now free to live their life as a human again. Or so they thought. It turns out that Dami will actually revert to their full status as a demonio if they don't resolve all of the bargains they have struck up in their lifetime as a demon. This turns out to be more complicated than they expected when a certain cursed boy by the name of Silas refuses to dissolve their deal. A year ago, Dami gave Silas the ability to be reborn again and again after each death. On top of that, Silas' entire family has been cursed to die young, so if their bargain is dismissed, Silas will most certainly die within the week. That is, unless the curse is broken. Dami reluctantly finds themselves going on a dangerous treasure hunt to help Silas break the curse that plagues the Cain family. But being human is a lot harder than Dami anticipated. And curses aren't supposed to be easy to break. 

I read "The Wicked Bargain" months ago, but I only recently became aware that Dami had their own companion novel. Honestly, I felt a little lied to that I didn't know this one existed, but I guys this goes to show that there are perks to following authors on social media. Dami the genderfluid demonio was one of my favorite parts about "The Wicked Bargain," so I was psyched to learn that they got their own story and I got my hands on this one as soon as I reasonably could. 

This book picks up right where "The Wicked Bargain" left off, just from Dami's perspective. They have been living their human life to the fullest and discovering all the benefits of having a corporal form. The premise of this book with Dami having to resolve all of their demon bargains in order to become fully human is great and led to an amazing story when their path is finally blocked by Silas' refusal. And the fact that these two have to find Captain Kidd's treasure together? What a comical and entertaining quest! 

Silas was so loveable from the moment that he first entered the page. He's funny, charming, and his unlucky streak that is brought about by his family curse is so endearing. I must say, it is not often that one sees a character die as many times as Silas does during the course of a single book, but Silas is truly one unlucky guy. 

I love Dami and their banter with Mar, but oh my goodness, their banter is even more superior with Silas! It is no surprise that Silas doesn't exactly like nor trust Dami after making a flawed deal with them that has led to Silas dying a painful death at least once a week. Silas is constantly calling them "demon" and looking down on them at the start. This is funny, but the banter gets even better when the two start to rely on each other more. And it obviously becomes even more so once they fall for one another and the flirting ramps up even more. These two's reluctance to fall for one another was quite cute; I definitely ship it! 

While the first book deals a ton with Mar and his gender dysphoria, Dami is confident in their transgender ways and changes their appearance based on how they feel on any given day. Dami does have to grapple with his desire to be a human and his reality as a demonio though, so there's is still plenty of self-inflicted angst in this one. 

Another thing that I loved about this one is all the backstory it revealed about Dami. I remember never trusting Dami in the first book and was so curious to what their motivations are. Let's just say, this book does a stellar job at enlightening the reader about Dami's past, which I found to be both very insightful as well as made my heart go out to Dami immensely. 

The pirate vibes aren't as heavy in this one because Dami isn't part of a pirate crew, but Dami and Silas are treasure hunting for the entirety book, so this certainly keeps them alive. The clues that they find and the riddles they have to decipher are really fun to follow along with. And the cursed island that they find themselves deserted on is a great setting for a thrilling treasure hunt. I suppose I should also mention Marisol. She's the brains as well as the one with the local intel on the island when it comes to their treasure hunting group. She's a fun addition to the group that Dami and Silas definitely needed for their goals to be met. After all, quests are best completed in groups of three. 

I need to take a moment to mention Novoa's writing style. He is truly hilarious, and this book had me cracking up so many times. The way that he pens things is super witty and I applaud him so much for the way that he combines serious situations with humor so eloquently. 

Overall, I am quite happy to report that "The Diablo's Curse" was just as good as "The Wicked Bargain." Dami and Silas are such lovable characters; I adore their banter, their flirtatious natures, and all the ways they interact with one another. This book deals with demon bargains, curse breaking, and treasure hunting, so it is filled with magical thrill and adventures. This book is truly a good time from start to finish. Novoa's writing style is so witty and eloquent; I can't wait to read more of his work going forward. I truly can't recommend these books enough!