Description

Genres

Social horror, psychological horror, and magical realism.

Primary: Contemporary fantasy / magical realism-inflected social horror

Secondary: Dominican ancestral fantasy, psychological horror, coming-of-age

Elements: queer romance, haunted-land gothic, supernatural thriller

Comparable Titles

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Shares a woman confronting sinister family secrets, supernatural danger, and oppressive power.

The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova

Shares magical family legacies, buried ancestral secrets, and a journey to reconnect with cultural roots to confront an inherited threat.

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova

Shares the YA Latina magical-identity arc, family-powered witchcraft, and a heroine forced to confront the cost of denying her gifts.

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Similar in queer representation, supernatural conflict, and the theme of a protagonist discovering power through family, grief, and the dead.

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

Comparable for its gothic atmosphere, family curse, grief-heavy tone, and a heroine unraveling a dark mystery tied to her lineage.

Witches of New York by Ami McKay

Similar for its witchy atmosphere, women-centered power dynamics, and blend of historical/gothic mood with resistance to social silencing.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson:

Shares the Psychological dread vibes and has a haunted place that feels like a character itself.

Description

After her mother’s death, Marisol Espinal returns home hoping to blend into the background, but when her best friend becomes possessed, hiding is no longer an option. To save her, Marisol must embrace the Dominican heritage and bruja power she’s spent her life rejecting, while confronting a sentient hill and the darkness haunting her family.