Summary:
the author of The Haunting of Alejandra.
Hundreds of years ago, she was known as La Malinche: a Nahua woman who translated for the conquistador Cortés. In the centuries since, her name has gone down in infamy as a traitor. But no one ever found out what happened to La Malinche after Cortés destroyed her people.
In the ashes of the empire, she was reborn as Malinalli, an immortal vampire. And she has become an avenger of conquered peoples, traveling the world to reclaim their stolen artifacts and return them to their homelands.
But she has also been in search of something more, for this ancient vampire still has deeply human longings for pleasure and for love.
When she arrives in Dublin in search of a pair of Aztec skulls—artifacts intimately connected to her own dark history—she finds something else: two men who satisfy her cravings in very different ways.
For the first time she meets a mortal man—a horror novelist—who is not repelled by her strange condition but attracted by it. But there is also another man, an immortal like herself, who shares the darkness in her heart.
Now Malinalli is on the most perilous adventure of all: a journey into her own desires.
Review:
Horror and Erotic writing both tread similar ground in dealing with unrestrained emotion and feeling, each seeking to elicit primal and visceral reactions from the minds of the reader. Mixing Erotica and Horror seems a natural conclusion, which is precisely the goal of V. Castro’s “Immortal Pleasures.”
Castro has always written with nothing less than deserved pride in her heritage and with a love for free and powerful women who also own their sexuality. Malinalli, the heroine, is the historical La Malinche, an immortal Nahua vampire who survived the colonization of her home by the Conquistadors, specifically the brutal Hernan Cortes. Malinalli now travels the night as an avenger of the conquered and indigenous while battling her own loneliness and desire for companionship. Unfortunately, Malinalli’s past refuses to leave her and old enemies still stalk her through the night with grudges that are centuries old.
Castro’s writing has evolved and the themes she touches on are important as ever. Colonization, conquest and freedom not only on an individual level, but freedom and preservation of culture in the face of oppression and annihilation. The best parts of the novel focus on Malinalli’s history and inner struggle, coupled with her old struggle with her now-immortal oppressor.
Castro is absolutely having a lot of fun with the erotica, though the descriptors don’t always land. The book is sexually charged, particularly Malinalli’s scenes with her mortal lover Colin, but some of the writing during the sex scenes don’t particularly hit the notes that Castro aims for. Castro makes up for this with the interpersonal drama, and her skill is absolutely evident here.
Some of the plot and history is the subject of exposition, though the history is intriguing enough to keep the reader invested. Ultimately, this is Malinalli’s story, and Castro’s rich and lush telling of it is more than enough to keep the story fresh and invigorating. Pleasure may be immortal, but Castro ensures that finding eternal love can be the most exciting thing of all.
![](https://fanfiaddict.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Immortal.jpg)