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Estela has lived her whole life mostly on the road around the United States with her parents, who both have jobs that involve travel. They are a happy, tight-knit unit. But her world is upended when a very strange incident occurs on the subway. Everyone but Estela dies. She is put in a government-funded mental health facility for a few months and then is sent to Spain.
Her aunt is the sole occupant of a centuries-old castle next to a small town. The Brálagas have always lived in the castle and have always had a close relationship with the citizens of the town.
In addition to its dark, gothic appearance and the name the villagers call it, La Sombra, the castle is home to many secrets.
Upon being deposited there with her aunt Beatriz, Estela immediately starts investigating. She has help from a young man in town, Felipe, who is helping her learn Spanish but also has a deep fascination with the history of the castle.
The strangest thing is that at night, Estela keeps running across a darkly handsome young man in the castle. But apparently, no one else can see him. Sebastián tells her he’s not from her world, but he just can’t remember much else: who he is or where he came from before he just appeared in this “dimension.” She does know that he is in some way connected to the mysterious deaths that happened on the subway and the reason she is now in Spain.
As Estela and Sebastián, as well as Felipe, piece together clues about the reality of the castle and its tie to the family and the townspeople, they have to figure out why strange things are happening right now. Someone caused the incident on the subway; someone brought Sebastián into this world. And someone is going after Estela. The danger keeps ramping up, and Estela has to figure out just what is going on and who is behind it to save herself, the town, and those she now cares about.
Castle of the Cursed is definitely a gothic tale, and the mysteries are what kept me hooked. I enjoyed the introduction of the various paranormal elements. However, I got to a point that I felt the story got pretty overblown. The romance, the true identity of Sebastián, the nature of the castle and its tie to the Brálagas… so much ended up being too melodramatic for my taste. The resolution and ending also didn’t quite work for me. Without writing any spoilers, it’s hard to say exactly why. However, if you love dramatic, telenovela-type gothic stories with sides of horror and a lot of blood, you will adore this.
Rated: Moderate. Profanity content includes only about 5 uses of mild language and one use of the name of Deity in vain. Sexual content includes a couple of spots of fairly brief but moderately detailed “open-door” scenes. Violence is moderate but there’s just a lot of talk of blood. A LOT. The magic, the castle itself, all operate on blood. There are a number of deaths, some caused by people with intent to kill, others caused by the house, basically.
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*I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
