by V. Castro
First published 2021
Belinda Alvarez comes back to Texas in 2018 for her best friend Veronica's wedding. The celebration takes place on a farm wrapped in local folklore about La Reina de Las Chicharras. Decades earlier in the 1950s, a Mexican farmworker named Milagros from San Luis Potosi met a violent end on this same land. The town turned away from her death, but Mictecacíhuatl, the Aztec goddess of death, heard Milagros cry out as she died. The goddess devised a scheme to bring both herself and Milagros back to life by consuming vengeance and devotion. Belinda meets Hector, who now owns the farmhouse, and together they discover the legend pulls them into its web. They learn their own destinies connect to the ancient plan unfolding around them.
Genres: mythology, fantasy, horror, paranormal
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful
Tropes: ancient-plan, destiny, found-family
Setting: San Luis Potosi, Texas
Period: 1950s, 2018
224 pages · Paperback · Flame Tree Press
Content warnings: death, violence