These Vengeful Wishes is a story about family, legacy, and curses. It reminds us that we cannot escape the past. And that when we put down roots, sometimes something else seeps up. Keep reading this book review of These Vengeful Wishes for my full thoughts.
Summary
When her stepfather is arrested, aspiring artist Ceci moves back to her mother’s hometown of Santa Aguas, an eccentric small town steeped in the legend of La Cegua, the specter of a wronged witch who appears on lonely roads at night, luring untrustworthy men to their deaths.
Ceci and her mother take up residence in the abandoned manor of the Sevilla family, rumored to have been cursed by La Cegua, where she begins to uncover a past that seems to be connected to her mother. The more she learns of the Sevillas, the more Ceci finds herself forming a strange affinity with the feared Cegua, who she suspects is the one inspiring her paintings of a mysterious door in the forest.
When the very door Ceci has been painting appears in the woods, she decides to venture through it with her new friend, Jamie. Together, they discover a well, guarded by the statue of a veiled woman. A well for granting wishes. The well of La Cegua.
What starts off as harmless fun quickly escalates into something sinister when Ceci realizes that the wishes are putting the people she loves in danger and testing her own penchant for vengeance. After learning others are also searching for the well, Ceci must confront the truth of her mother’s past and prevent La Cegua’s wishes from being used for the wrong reasons. Ceci knows too well how much people will sacrifice for power. Every wish has its price, and La Cegua never forgets the ones who have wronged her.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
These Vengeful Wishes is perfect for anyone who loves family secrets. Who loves the ideas of coming back to a place you should know, that your family has history, but feels like a land of isolation. Where everyone is in on an inside joke. With folktale influences, These Vengeful Wishes is spooky and haunted, but maybe not in the way you think. There’s a distinct sense of curses, of chills running down your spines, and Montalban does a phenomenal job at infusing the atmosphere. But there’s also a sense that the past is reaching, clawing, back to reach us. That things left unsaid are speaking out.
(Disclaimer: Some of the links below are affiliate links. For more information you can look at the Policy page. If you’re uncomfortable with that, know you can look up the book on any of the sites below to avoid the link)
The town Ceci finds herself in has superstitions that have become more than lore. She’s walked into the legacy without knowing it. These Vengeful Wishes examines the power of wishes, of getting what we want without hardship, and what we would do for our deepest desires. And while the mystery, the haunted nature of her steps, are compelling, I loved witnessing Ceci’s character evolution. Constantly moving, for the first time she navigates what it would be like to stay. To make something stick. To have the time to unravel the whispered stares and the lingering glances.
Find These Vengeful Wishes on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, & Blackwells.