I am not a romance enjoyer. Rather, I struggle to read books that heavily feature romance because I often find that I can't suspend my disbelief enough to really get invested. Unfortunately, this issue was very prevalent while reading Vampires of El Norte.

While at first I enjoyed the yearning between Nestor and Nena, as the book wore on, I found myself exhausted by it. Their constant miscommunication and being stuck in their own heads was absolute torture. The internal battles of the characters as individuals are moving and insightful. Nena struggling with a deep abandonment wound, wearing a mask to seem strong and capable while falling apart inside, and Nestor grappling with immense guilt and feeling like he will never be enough to deserve love.

However, I felt like they weren't given the space to really interrogate or explore themselves outside of each other. Much of the internal struggle happens off-page, told tangentially by side characters, rather than experienced in the narrative itself. Cañas' writing is truly the only saving grace. When we do get to feel what the characters feel, it's evocative and poignant thanks to Cañas' ability to display complex emotion without talking down to the reader.

Still, Nena and Nestor's internal struggles were compelling, and made more evolved by the introduction of class struggle, patriarchal gender roles, and the introduction of colonial belief systems. Truthfully, it felt like a drag knowing that the romance was the main concern of the story, when there was so much potential in everything else. There are eyeless vampires and evil white men coming, and we're worried about kissing! Kim, there's people that are dying? yes, i know, this is the point of a romance book

Her ability to blend together genre (western, historical romance, gothic horror? amazing) while staying grounded in her own world is incredible. Especially what stuck out to me was her use of rhetorical devices and how they were completely immersed in the characters' own heads. The western, historical imagery made the narration feel realistic and true to the timeline.

Secondarily, I loved the more meta analyses that Cañas touched on. While the book is a ranchero romance (with vampires!), the themes circle around colonization vs. indigeneity, class, and gender. Unforunately, the heavy romance focus means that the themes fall flat, and aren't explored with the depth that they deserve. What should have been cutting commentary instead felt like a two-dimensional backdrop for the romance to take center stage.

Overall, Vampires of El Norte is a work that takes the hallmarks of beloved genres and blends them to great effect. While the heavy focus on romance personally made the book drag, the masterful writing and inclusion of deeper topics gives the book depth without becoming lost in abstraction.

I also have to note, I got this book spoiled for me three times. So I lost a lot of steam and really struggled to finish once I already knew what to expect, it really hampered my enjoyment a lot :(

this is a top tier audiobook, I loved the listening experience (which is high praise coming from someone who is very critical of audiobooks). I had a few gripes which kept this from being a full 5 stars - things started to fall off around 60% in, when the author started employing a storytelling device (I wish I knew what it was called) that I find very annoying. Basically, we are in the MC Wade's head the entire book and know all his thoughts and plans. Then, all the sudden, he starts executing on plans we as the reader do not know about. It's confusing and makes you feel like you missed something, until the MC starts explaining why he did everything he did the last x number of pages. It puts unnecessary narrative distance between the reader and the first-person narrated MC, presumably to foster intrigue, but unfortunately affected my enjoyment of the last ~third.

That aside, this is a fast moving and incredibly well thought out story, perfect for any gamers and adventerers out there. I am not a particular fan of 80's culture, but regardless I still enjoyed the book. If you are, you would eat this up.