Blog Tour Review: Santa Muerte by Lucina Stone

When I read the description for Santa Muerte by Lucina Stone, I knew I had to give this debut author a chance. Below you will find all the book information and my spoiler-free review!

 

Santa Muerte by Lucina Stone

Series: The Daniela Story #1
Category: New Adult, Paranormal, Sci-Fi, Time-Travel
Publication: January 11th, 2016
Purchase: Amazon

Lucina Stone blends Mexican folklore with modern technology and time travel in this seductive new series where the lines between right and wrong, protagonist and antagonist, truth and fiction, love and lust, and life and death have never been more blurred.

THE YEAR IS 2030. IN A DRAMATIC, final attempt to free her inner demons, twenty-year-old Daniela Delgado tempts fate and winds up on a strange farm in 1923. With an olive complexion due to her Mexican/Italian heritage and a fresh pixie cut, she is mistaken for a “boy of color.” Her only shot at survival now is to play it cool, pose as “Danny,” and figure out how to get back home to her two, loving moms.

And then she meets Daphne—an abused, motherless farm girl in desperate need of freedom and a friend. Having escaped Daphne’s father, the two of them are now roaming the streets of New York City disguised as a young aristocrat and her male servant. They’re running out of money, and ideas. And Daniela thought living in 2030 was tough.

But her solar powered smart phone works. And there’s someone within range. She pings them. A selfie of an attractive male comes in with the text: I’m Lain. Who the f— are you? Even in that moment, Daniela knows this can’t be safe, but what are her choices? They meet Lain at a speakeasy on the Lower East Side. When Daniela reveals her last name, Lain says the only Delgado he knows is Anaya—the head of the Santa Muerte Coven of witches in Merida, Mexico. And then he hints that Daniela is a liar, even though she rocks a man’s three-piece suit like no woman he’s ever met. And as for her tattoos? Don’t get Lain started….

Despite the intrigue, Daniela adds Lain to the list of folks Daphne and she must outrun to stay alive. But as they plan their trip to Mexico, they soon discover that list is much longer than they thought. And they uncover a few other things, too, about Daniela’s true identity….

 

Spoiler-Free Review:

[book rating =3/5]

” ‘They Say these trees are portals to hell…’ “

When I read the description of Santa Muerte I was intrigued. After I finished, my overall feelings was that it was so weird but in a good way, however, it never gripped me enough to read more than a few pages at a time until the end. Everything picks up really quickly at the end. Even though it took me so long to get into the book, I couldn’t stop reading as I had to know what in the world was going on! The pacing had me roiling and it took me forever to read. The plot was convoluted and deep, but I was interested the entire way as I have never read a book like this before.

Things I loved about this story: the bi-racial, LGBT family, and not being afraid to curse up a storm in this book! At times it was hard to deal with all the hate in this book, the homophobia, the sexual assault, and all the violence. The very unusual and unique plot is where this book is the strongest. The things left unanswered have me wanting to read more since I still feel like I have no clue about all the magical aspects and creatures.

Within this book there are many hard topics and possible triggers. Things like mental health, sexism, racism, family relationships, gender identity, and sexuality. I have so much I want to say but it is all spoilerish…there is so much going on, I need to find someone else who has read it so I can just get some things off my chest as well as put some theories together. So please comment if you read this so we can chat!

I can only give this book 3 stars. Santa Muerte had a lot of potential, the plot was interesting and unique but overall it was weirdly paced, and could have used some more editing to flush out the story more cohesively. I definitely want these kinds of stories in my life, ones that aren’t afraid to use profanity, include intense subject matter (#weneeddiversebooks), and I have high hopes that the second book in this series will flesh out all the unanswered questions.

 

Author Bio: Lucina Stone

Lucina Stone has a Master of Arts Degree in Clinical Counseling and is a Licensed Professional Counselor specializing in depression, family conflict, LGBT affirmative therapy, and life coaching. She lives in New Jersey with her family. This is her debut novel.

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