Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Goodreads Summary

Certain Dark Things combines elements of Latin American mythology with a literary voice that leads readers on an exhilarating and fast-paced journey.

Welcome to Mexico City, an oasis in a sea of vampires. Here in the city, heavily policed to keep the creatures of the night at bay, Domingo is another trash-picking street kid, just hoping to make enough to survive. Then he meets Atl, the descendant of Aztec blood drinkers. Domingo is smitten. He clings to her like a barnacle until Atl relents and decides to let him stick around.

But Atl's problems, Nick and Rodrigo, have come to find her. When they start to raise the body count in the city, it attracts the attention of police officers, local crime bosses, and the vampire community. Atl has to get out before Mexico City is upended, and her with it.

What I liked:

Moreno-Garcia sets up a fascinating world where vampires exist as other evolved hominids. It's truly fascinating.

What I didn't like:

I felt like this was a very short introduction into her vampire-filled world. The first half of the book was really slow. And it's a very short book.

Terrible things happen to our characters without a lot of time to process it. We care but she won't let us care too much.

Her two protagonists had zero chemistry. That's weird, right? She made them both up. But I didn't feel it; it felt very forced.

I liked it but I wanted to love it. I hope she delves back into this strange world with a better plot and character development.