Castle of the Cursed by Romina Garber: Review by Colleen Mondor

Castle of the Cursed, Romina Garber (Wednesday Books 978-1-250-86389-8, $21.00, 304pp, hc) July 2024.

The cover of Romina Garber’s Castle of the Cursed includes the line “The House is Always Hungry,” and readers should consider that a fair comment on the story within. As soon as recently orphaned Estela arrives at what she has only recently learned is her family’s “ancestral Spanish castle,” the house plays a huge part in the plot. What does it know, what does it want, and why is it so tied to her family history? These are questions that traumatized Estela must answer as she uncovers secrets about her parents (and herself) through researching local history. The secrets are just the beginning, though, because Garber has crafted, as the publisher declares, a “Mexican Gothic meets Dracula” novel, and if you’re wondering if that means vampires, I can tell you yes – in a very big, very violent, and very bloodthirsty way. It’s not just the house Estela has to worry about, it’s who else arrives there when she does and what he wants – no, needs – her to do.

The story begins with the death of Estela’s parents, and almost three dozen others, in a mys­terious accident in a Manhattan subway. Estela knows what she saw before everyone else died, but she doesn’t know what it means. The authori­ties quickly latch onto an agreeable explanation for the tragedy, and Estela finds herself in the state’s care. When an aunt she never knew existed makes contact, it seems like the best for everyone that she go and live with her in Spain. The aunt turns out to be decidedly unpleasant (and maybe dangerous), and the castle, well, anyone can see there is something very wrong about that castle. Then she meets Sebastián, who is either a ghost, a demon, or a manifestation of her own tortured brain. Will he help her or kill her? Why is her aunt lying to her? What keeps the townspeople so con­nected to the castle? And how did all those people die in the subway? More questions, few answers, and then things get bloody. (Did you forget that I mentioned vampires?) And just when you start to think maybe Castle of the Cursed is the clas­sic horror as advertised, Garber throws a science fiction twist at her heroine that will either strike you as wildly inventive or a convenient plot twist designed to provide some much-needed answers. Either way, I promise it is a surprise almost as shocking as how Estela and Sebastián work out their unconventional relationship. (The ending… whoo boy!)

Castle of the Cursed is enjoyable, if somewhat predictable, right up until the moment that Garber takes the plot off the rails and into extremely un­expected (and decidedly foreign) territory. Estela goes about searching for clues, makes a friend she lies to, sets off into the forest at night without a light source (or weapon), forgives some grievous harms against herself and her family a tad too easily, and falls for the guy that you know she is going to fall for after he promises he will not kill her (or drain all her blood). I’m uncertain if the author succeeds on blending genres, however, and the science fiction aspects of the narrative are its weakest, but I guarantee a whirlwind reading experience when you settle down to follow Estela’s dark adventure. Garber is a fearless writer, tossing all sorts of catastrophes in the path of her protago­nist, and as I said the ending is… wow. If you have dark and stormy nights in your future, then Castle of the Cursed is a suitable companion; just make sure to keep a flashlight (or iPhone app) handy because, really, that’s basic Teen Detective 101 and forgetting it is hard to swallow.

Interested in this title? Your purchase through the links below brings us a small amount of affiliate income and helps us keep doing all the reviews you love to read!

This review and more like it in the December 2024 issue of Locus.

While you are here, please take a moment to support Locus with a one-time or recurring donation. We rely on reader donations to keep the magazine and site going, and would like to keep the site paywall free, but WE NEED YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT to continue quality coverage of the science fiction and fantasy field.

©Locus Magazine. Copyrighted material may not be republished without permission of LSFF.