3.5 stars. if only the first half of this book had been written like the second half!

other reviews have also mentioned the issues with this book: the first half is VERY slow and pretty much nothing happens for the entire first 50%. the second half is a bunch of plot twists and action that goes by in a blur.

i really appreciate that this horror is based off themes of postcolonialism, eugenics, race and patriarchy. the author's kindle notes for this book are really fascinating, bumping the overall rating to a 4 for that

after reading both this and [b:Gods of Jade and Shadow|36510722|Gods of Jade and Shadow|Silvia Moreno-Garcia|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1543268579l/36510722._SY75_.jpg|58230232], i've noticed some things about this author's style: the style is heavily descriptive, which works sometimes (atmospheric and beautiful) and sometimes doesn't (nothing much happens). it also makes the characters quite 'muted'.

still will try her other books - i love how creative these books are and it's refreshing that they're set in mexico and the protagonists are latinx