The Unholy by Paul Deblassie
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Let me see. Where to start?
Claire Sanchez is the daughter of a curandera she saw murdered at 5 years old. She grows up knowing that she’s destined to be a curandera herself, but chooses instead to avoid her heritage and live out life as a natural healer instead.
Whatever.
There’s also an evil religion extorting money from it’s wealthy parishioners and sacrificing women. And it’s not really difficult to guess how it ends.
I really wanted to care. I really wanted to like this novel with the beautiful descriptions and snapshot view of the mestizo culture. But in all honesty, this book was a mess. I mean how many times does the author have to explain the history behind the women of Lozen? Three times in the first 75 pages, word for word.
Characters were one-dimensional. Plot-lines were predictable. I kept expecting the villain to suddenly shout, "Bwah ha ha," like you see in the cheesy Saturday morning cartoons. It was that bad.
I received a free copy for review and I don’t recommend it. Unless there’s some kind of drinking game involved.
Then again, maybe not even that.