The Possession of Alba Díaz

Drama to adventure to horror to revenge tale- this book packed it all in. Isabel cañas writes incredible characters and creates worlds that tempt and terrify. I can't wait to see where she leads me next.

Never have I wanted a book to become a movie SO BAD I LOVED LOVED LOVED this book! The atmosphere was amazing and the YEARNING OF THAT MAN UGH

Isabel Canas draws you in with every book. Impossible to put down. Definitely my new favorite author.

Um, well it’s not a DNF, but at times it was hard work making myself push through and keep reading.The writing style is WEIRD. It would be chugging along with lyrical descriptive writing, typical of Gothic settings, then all of a sudden random bursts of modernism: “f—!” “f— you!” “I owe you one” “That’s not at all ominous” [/s], “EXCUSE you.” Tiffany-effect or not, these things just took me right out of the 1765 setting.Also too much adverb-style writing. “[She] has given a dismissive wave, as effortlessly haughty as a duchess.” I know what a dismissive wave looks like, and really a few of these are fine but I do not need a metaphor/simile after every. Single. Gesture or sentence a character makes. And they’re all so dramatic too. Every word Alba says—“Fear swept over her, encasing her in ice.” “It made her want to peel her skin off and flee.” And yeah, it’s a horror novel, so some of this would be fitting and fine, but my goodness, it’s actually like everything she says. As a result, all this filler-writing makes the pacing of the book SOOOOO slow even though if you go back and think about, things ARE happening.Anyway yea idk I read it through once and it wasn’t complete torture, but I’m not going to remember much about this book 3 months from now and I won’t be re-reading.

The Possession of Alba Diaz is a story situated in 1765 in Zacatecas, Mexico. A deadly plague forces all the rich families to leave the city and find safety in an isolated silver mine. One of the families that has come to the mine is that of Alba Diaz, who happens to be an orphan girl who was adopted by a rich family, along with her fiancé, Carlos Monterubio. This isolated mine, in theory, should bring these people security, but soon they will find out that it is not as safe as they were made believe.At the time Alba arrives to said mine, she begins to experience unexplainable events such as: sleepwalking, hallucinations, convulsions, and the feeling that something cold and furious lives within her. It is not a simple flu or cold she can get rid of—it’s a presence that possess her and torments her from within. While isolated in the mine, she is surrounded by family secrets and by a community that is extremely religious. Alba feels trapped and fights desperately against this force that takes over her.At the time, Elias is introduced, who happens to be Carlos’ cousin. He has just arrived from Spain. He carries a lot of baggage full of shadows and marked by alchemy. In a sense he is a lot like Alba, trying to find his place in the world, but his intentions on this run a lot deeper. He is attracted to the darkness and what the church would call witchcraft. Although Alba is set to marry Carlos, she feels this strange electric pull with Elias. She knows it’s wrong, but she has never felt this way with anyone, especially not with Carlos. The feelings deepen all while Alba’s possession worsens. As Elias sees Alba suffer, he decides to risk it all by trying different methods, resorting to occult practices and confronting the church in order to save her.In essence, The Possession of Alba Diaz is a gothic/historical novel that combines both horror and romance. Through Alba, Isabel Cañas shows us not only fear of the supernatural, but also the fight a woman has put up in order to find her true place in her world that is plagued by colonialism, spiritual repression, and social control. Alba will realize that her true strength does not come from what other expect from her, but from what she decides she needs and wants to do.