carolesrandomlife

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.

I was pretty impressed with this novel! I thought that this book sounded interesting when I saw it on a blog a few months ago so I was really excited when I got my hands on an early copy. Once I started reading, I knew that I was in for a treat because I was hooked right away. I thought that this book was a really entertained read.

I am ashamed to say that I haven't read too many books set in Puerto Rico so I really liked the fact that this book not only was set there but was based on folklore from the island. I really felt like the setting played a big part in the story and was really well done. Puerto Rico really came alive in this book. Everything from the relationships between the characters, the crime, and general attitudes were vividly described.

This story is told from multiple points of view. Some points of view are used very rarely while others carry the bulk of the story. I thought that each point of view was distinctive and I really grew to like the main characters. Lupe was a really interesting character. I liked the fact that she had Puerto Rican roots but was really more of an outsider. It was nice seeing things from her perspective. Javier's character was equally important. He was really in the center of the story and I liked that he had worked so hard to make his life better. They worked really well together as a team.

I thought that the mystery in this story was really well done. I loved the fact that there was a bit of horror and some supernatural elements worked into the story. I wasn't exactly sure what was causing everything and enjoyed watching Lupe and Javier work to figure it out. There were some pretty exciting moments in the story and quite a few surprises. I found this to be quite the page-turner.

I would recommend this book to others. I thought that this book was really well written with a fantastic premise and wonderful characters. I will definitely be looking out for future books written by this talented author.

I received a review copy of this book from Tor Teen.

Initial Thoughts
I really liked this one! I was hooked by this story from the very start. I loved the horror and supernatural aspects of the story. The fact that this book includes cultural folklore and really does a great job with the Puerto Rican setting. I liked the characters and thought that the mystery was really well done. So glad I read this one!