VAMPIRES OF EL NORTE - Isabel Canas

3 stars

Did I read a different book than everyone else? Those stellar reviews are making me feel like I missed the hype boat on something… This was fine, but I couldn’t see past some reader-specific flops for me.

Concept: ★★★★
Plot/Pacing: ★★★
Character setup: ★
Enjoyment: ★★★

A historical Western horror novel set on the United States/Mexico border in the 1800s, Vampires of El Norte is the kind of story that jumps out at you on the shelves.

A Western-style ranch novel... with vampires? A historical fiction Western novel that...doesn't center itself on the white experience? Both of these things were huge radar pings for me, and I knew I needed to try this story.

Nena is the daughter of a wealthy Mexican rancher, living the restricted life of a wealthy daughter during this time period. Her only source of excitement is her childhood best friend, Nestor, who is part of the ranch's live-in hired ranch help.

But one tragic night involving an unknown beast in the dark alters the course of Nena and Nestor's lives forever, and Nestor flees in the middle of the night thinking the worst.

When the two of them reconnect nine years later, Nena and Nestor are different people with different motivations. But their connection remains strong—for better or for worse—and they discover that they must put their personal issues aside to face a great threat from the Anglos encroaching on their land from the east.

Because their homeland and lifestyle is coming to an end if they can't stem this tide of white encroachment. And there's something moving in the dark...

Alright. So for the sake of avoiding plot spoilers, I will keep my personal reaction portion of the review relatively brief.

There were several things about Vampires of El Norte that I enjoyed—the atmospheric setting, the twist on the traditional Western novel experience, and the infusion of Mexican heritage and culture to the vampire canon.

However, there were a few quirks to this novel that, I'll be honest, really bothered me due to my personal reading tastes. THEY ARE LIGHT SPOILERS FOR THE BEGINNING OF THE NOVEL, SO STOP HERE if you don't want even the most mild of spoilers.

Gone?

Ok, so my largest issue that permeated throughout the entire reading experience was the inciting incident between Nena and Nestor. When Nena is brutally attacked as a child, Nestor thinks she's died. He literally flees into the night—worried that Nena's wealthy parents will seek retribution against him, which is valid—and he never returns. Nestor is gone for NINE YEARS. He does not confirm Nena's death, he does not talk to his family or grandmother for nine full years as they are still on Nena's ranch. He literally goes no contact and punishes himself for all of that time thinking his childhood best friend is dead.

Then, when he has to return to the ranch, he discovers that Nena is very much alive. (He never bothered to even write a letter to his Abuela to check??) And while Nena acts normal in response—she's pissed, he left and never bothered to come back/verify—the rest of the family, including Nestor's own Abuela, just takes this in stride?? I'm sorry, the logic isn't logic-ing.

I know I should have been able to put that aside and enjoy the rest of the novel for what it was, but I'll be honest. I wasn't able to get over it as it was the foundation of Nena and Nestor's adult relationship and the rest of the plot never eclipsed their relationship enough to allow me to forget. This was a highly romantic story and very character driven, so we were always focused on Nena and Nestor as a duo, and therefore I was constantly looking at this "rift" between them and just wishing we had a real problem instead.

But that being said, obviously I'm just one reader! And given the excitement and enjoyment that a lot of other people got out of this novel, I'm guessing that my weird logic gap was a unique experience and not the norm. So I do recommend this for my historical fiction friends who want an extremely light dash of horror.