Publisher's Weekly Review
Writing in breathtaking, atmospheric prose, Castro (Hairspray and Switchblades) merges brutal realism and supernatural terror to create a fierce, memorable tale of Mexican folklore and horror. In 2018, Belinda Montoya, a divorced mother in her 40s who sees herself as a monster and a failure, attends her childhood best friend's wedding at an imposing Victorian farmhouse in Alice, Tex. There, she meets Hector, the property's owner, who recalls the tale of La Reina de Las Chicharras, an urban legend about a hate crime that occurred on the farm decades before. The narrative alternates between the present-day wedding and the truth of what happened all those years ago. In 1952, Milagros Santos, an undocumented immigrant worker from Mexico, is subjected to racist harassment from the white women on the farm that escalates until Milagros is lynched. The farm then "falls into the clutches of a curse" as one by one those responsible for the murder meet their end at the hands of Mictecacíhuatl, the Aztec Queen of the Dead, who appears as a woman without skin. Castro uses this well-constructed narrative of supernatural retribution to tell an urgent story of the plight of migrant workers. Visceral and disturbing in the best of ways, this is sure to impress. (May)
Kirkus Review
A brutal murder becomes the catalyst for an Indigenous redemption that brings believers together to revive a nearly forgotten religion. Belinda and Hector know the story of La Reina de Las Chicharras all too well. Belinda first heard it during a childhood sleepover: Milagros Santos, an undocumented Mexican farmworker who was lynched by a group of White women in Texas in 1952, now answers to anyone who speaks her new name into a mirror, Bloody Mary--style. Hector bought the property on which the officially unsolved murder took place, and he now feels compelled to return to his curandero heritage after a lifetime spent scorning it. As Belinda and Hector dig deeper into the story, clues point toward a much more intricate tale, one in which Indigenous Mexican religious beliefs survived into the 20th century. Milagros and her twin sister, Concepcion, worshiped Santa Muerte--also known as Mictecacíhuatl, the Queen of the Dead. The ancient deity now answers to the dead woman's new name, harvesting mortal sacrifices to help revive Milagros as her daughter. When Mictecacíhuatl reveals herself in a viral video, the foundations of individual and institutional faith are tested worldwide, and an unexpected religious revival emerges. The White women responsible for Milagros' death become the first targets of Mictecacíhuatl's revenge, sandwiched chronologically between conquistadors and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who prey upon her people. Castro's novel shifts seamlessly from deliciously gory horror narrative to family saga to a tale of righteous vengeance, all while maintaining its unflinching condemnation of colonialism on both sides of the Mexican-American border. A tightly paced story of anti-colonial resistance and shared history that begs to be read in one sitting. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Castro's latest is a riveting #ownvoices novel exploring Mexican folk tales and legends mingled with the history of Texas. Belinda is at a friend's wedding when she gets uncomfortably reacquainted with the urban legend of Milagros, a farm worker murdered on the property in the 1950s. Belinda finds that the things she thought she has put behind her are not going to give her up so easily. With alternating time lines between the past and present, Castro's novel serves as a painful chronicle of racial violence against Latinx people. The Aztec goddess of the underworld, Mictecacíhuatl, plays a terrifying role, reminding readers there are fates worse than death. Castro explores multiple perspectives, including the points of view of villainous characters, to keep the reader turning the pages in this novel that evokes the television series Supernatural as well as the Candyman films. Readers will find themselves enraptured by this erotically-charged supernatural thriller which has action and violence that would make Tarantino blush. Castro does not pull any punches. Readers seeking originality and a fresh take on well-worn horror tropes should pick up this novel by a dynamic and innovative voice in horror.
Library Journal Review
DEBUT In her engrossing, violent, and exultant debut novel, Castro boldly crafts a brutal revenge horror story, one that belatedly but firmly delivers justice to forgotten women from all over the world. In 1952, on a Texas farm, Milagros, a farm worker from Mexico, is brutally murdered. The Aztec Goddess of Death pledges herself to Milagros as the woman dies, tied to a tree and suffocating on the cicada shells stuffed down her throat. The farmland is now cursed and haunted, and the legend of Milagros, Queen of the Cicadas, grows until 2019, when Belinda, facing a midlife crisis, returns to her hometown for a childhood friend's wedding on the now renovated farm. Belinda and the new owner of the property, Hector, are both lost souls who on the outside seem to have succeeded in a world set against them. They connect with the spirits and help bring their awesome and terrifying power back into the world, giving voice to the voiceless and punishing oppressors everywhere. VERDICT Castro delivers an unflinching, honest, raw, and thought-provoking horror tale that is both serious in its social commentary and fun to read. For fans of gruesome, vengeance-themed horror that is deeply tied to its place and the marginalized identities of its protagonists, such as The Only Good Indians, by Stephen Graham Jones, and Frankenstein in Baghdad, by Ahmed Saadawi.