Maria the Wanted

A few years ago, my husband and I started a tradition of watching a movie every day in October around a certain theme. The initiation year was called Dractober, and we watched a different vampire movie each day. Knowing how much I love horror, he was surprised by how many I had not seen because up until then, vampires weren't really my thing. I hadn't (and still haven't) read the Anne Rice series or even the namesake Stoker novel (since corrected).

All of which is to say, I am surprised by how much I enjoyed Maria the Wanted by V. Castro (augmented by the rich narration by Kim Ramirez).

Maria is a vampire on a mission to get answers about the mysterious vampire who turned her who becomes a bit of a social justice vampire, which means, because vampires and cartels and cartel vampires, she creates a lot of enemies and few friends along the way.

This was my favorite kind of thriller, one where I didn't know what was going to happen next, where I literally held my breath several times, and with a protagonist who is complicated and real, but that you ultimately root for.

Thank you to NetGalley, Titan Books, and Dreamscape Media for the advance copies for my honest review.