There is a certain time in life when our friends are the most important people in our lives particularly as we are on the cusp of adulthood. They’re the people we tend to spend the most time with, are prepared to share our inner selves with and they seem to get us on a level that our parents do not any more. Those bonds are incredibly strong but how far would you go for them? Would you tell a lie? Protect them? Avenge them? Kill for them? This is the huge crux at the heart of Gabino Iglesias’ fantastic horror novel House of Blood and Rain where we meet five teenagers in Puerto Rico hit be a tragedy, pushed into a dark path of revenge and find themselves into a web of supernatural danger on top. It’s one of the best horror novels I’ve read in a while.

Gabe knows his friends are precious to him Paul, Tuvo, Xavier and Bambi have grown up together, live in each other’s houses and know each other’s lives intimately. They laugh, get high, play and also know when to stand up for one another be that when Tuvo gets attacked by his family for being gay or when Paul’s girlfriend gets unwanted attention. They’re all starting to find adulthood and Gabe’s own girlfriend Natalia starts to plan a new life for them in the US. But tragedy strikes when Bambi’s mother Maria is shot down at the nightclub she works at. She was a strong part of the boy’s lives and a surrogate to Gabe when his own father died in a storm. Bambi tells them that this was past of a gang attack and wants to find the people responsible and the boys out of a sense of honour follow on. Things soon get very bloody and point to a very dangerous gang which has a rumour of dark powers protecting them and while a huge hurricane called Maria bears down on the island the five find how far vengeance can push someone and also how destructive it can be too.

This story grips you in number of ways and in particular the feeling that it’s a whispered confessional. Gabe who is our primary narrator bar the odd chapter focusing on an external character Prather heart out in this story. A tough guy who is happy to also share vulnerabilities with us. The kind that only his friends, close family and girlfriend see. He plants a picture of this group that have lived in each other’s pockets, had to survive a hard life in Puerto Rico and yet will do anything for one another. For a tale that will move into horror, violence and intense drama the early chapters are also filled with a group that love one another as brothers. It’s quite key to how the rest of the story goes that we know how close these charters are and how much they are prepared to do for one another. These relationships are so tight that anything happening to one means the others will act. The bit we as the reader finds out is how far things go.

In many ways this could have been a crime thriller and it would on that still be excellent. Maria’s death is a catalyst where Bambi beseeched the others to help him find his mother’s killers. From trying to find the first witness things escalate and we as the witness to Gabe’s tale get to see the acts the guys are surprised to find they are prepared to get involved with. If these were tough gang members perhaps it would have lost its edge but the five really are not they’re just five teenagers on the verge of adulthood and we get shocked that Gabe a solid hard worker, muscled and wears glasses suddenly finds that he is very capable of violence and letting his own rage at events finally pour out. This tale is very much about the seductive power of revenge and anger but also importantly the consequences it has not just on those around you but the souls of those carrying it out. In many ways horror is often about surviving a monster and there are ones to are here but for me the heart of this story is will our own main characters survive and also prevent themselves becoming monsters forever.

What moves it beyond a crime thriller is the way the events we follow are tinged with a growing sense of the supernatural. In many ways Iglesias supports that by bringing Puerto Rican history and culture to life and then highlighting the strange ghost stories and superstitions of the island. This is a place where many religions cross paths and blend gods from Christian and African traditions and there are places people are afraid to go. Just as much as the appropriately named hurricane Maria beats down on the island we see these storms are known for bringing monsters and there are many dark interludes where we see these strange events take place and exact a high cost from the very young to the very old. It paints a picture that Gabe’s actions are all happenings against a backdrop of a powerful forces that may protect and seek to hard his friends. This builds and builds as we discover the gang that is responsible for Maria’s murder is well known for some mysterious rituals out at sea.

The final act of the book is brilliantly constructed with the crime elements being mixed with true cosmic horror and the tension rises and rises that we increasingly feel Gabe and his friends are out of their depth and going to be in trouble. Iglesias can turn a violent fight into something much more supernatural and terrifying which really hammers home how big these powers are and that drives us all to the book’s finale. It beautifully comes together as Gabe realises the price for his actions and keeps having to ask himself if this is worth it and the response he makes is often hitting us hard as to does he actually have any choices or is he going to be sucked into this dark world he finds himself now a part of. We are warned at the start we are all part of ghost stories but who is now being haunted?

House of Blood and Rain has the feel of an intimate confession told to us being whispered in the dark . Finely balanced like a knife being waved between the forces of love and friendship on one side and the dangers of violence and dark magic on the other. We’re never too sure either up to the end which way the knife is finally fall on. Intimate, powerful and genuinely unsettling it’s a beautiful story I very strongly recommend.

This book is so layered and so intriguing, I truly don't think I have read another book like it before. I really enjoyed the characters, their flaws and the storyline. The writing is also gorgeous. I'm definitely interested in picking up more from this author.

A good story, although I would have liked the hurricane to be a bit more central to the writing. The writing style I feel also left something to be desired, it felt juvenile and did not flow well

A well-crafted story with plenty to appreciate. The pacing, characters, and plot twists kept me interested throughout. I'm looking forward to seeing how readers respond once it's released!

“All stories are ghost stories.”

Well, I didn’t know what to expect going into this story- I’ve never read any of Gabino Iglesias previous work. There is so many emotions flowing through me whilst reading this book. A coming of age that had me crying and struggling to stop. It has been quite some time since I’ve read a story with such beautiful prose, the words tumble off the page and seep into your bloodstream. It makes you consider different scenarios, different cultures, different traumas.

A story of friendship, grief and growth. A dark and moving story with such a strong undercurrent of resilliance flowing through it. There is some fantasy elements and to be honest that would usually bug me but this…this worked really well and did nothing but add to the already heartbreaking storyline.

All that lies between love and grief and madness

Veering from criminal tragedy to queasy horror, this is not an easily classifiable book, and it's all the better for that. Beginning with the rock solid friendships of five misfit Puerto Rican boys-almost-men, when true tragedy strikes they must decide which way they will jump: into the melee of the lives around them, or away, to lonely salvation. Before they can take that leap, however, strange and fantastic portents arrive with the approaching hurricane, and the world it leaves behind is both better and worse than before.

The book shifts from moment to moment, alive with all kinds of perspectives on Puerto Rico and its people. The book doesn't shy away from the strange relationship with the United States but this isn't what the novel's about. This is very much a story of Puerto Rico, of its present day, its people, their dreams and, above all, their myths. Be prepared to have your heart broken over and over.

Four and a half stars, rounded up to five.

My DuoLingo has clearly been paying off because I understood all the Spanish speaking conversation in this book!! I loved the premise of this book and really enjoyed all the boys’ characters. There was so much emotion and power sewn into their stories!

This is the first of Gabino Igleasias books that I’ve read and it certainly won’t be the last. I’ve taken a little while to write this as I was toying with whether or not to give this 5 stars or not. I’d say this is a 4.5 read for me.

The book is focuses around a group of five childhood friends and their quest to avenge one of their mothers who was brutally gunned down and left for dead. To say that this story is raw, emotional, violent and disturbing is probably an understatement. And I ate it up, page after page. Igleasias has the power to transport you straight into a story, and feel that everything is completely authentic, even at the more supernatural and mythical elements of the book started to come into play, I questioned nothing. Everything fit so perfectly. There were many times this book made me sit up and go “sorry what just happened”, and that’s the kind of twists I love.

I would say that although I picked this up expecting to just get a horror novel, more unfolded than I initially expected. The story is told mostly through Gabes perspective and he takes you along for the ride, every time I thought it was too dangerous, it took a darker more twisted turn. Probably one of my most surprising and favourite reads.

Thank you to Titan Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is one of the most emotional books I think I have read in a long time. It’s brutal and yet beautiful. It explores so much be it both mythical and real and everything in between but at the heart it is coming of age story that focuses on the cruelty that is in the world but also the beauty.

The writing is absolutely fantastic. I am not sure I’ve ever read anything like it in the way that Iglesias captures the human condition but also the brutality of not only nature but humanity as well. It’s tense and yet emotional. Dark and yet light. I will admit it took me longer to read than normal but that was because I think this book needs to be savoured, to really understand what the author is showing and the story.

Everything from the characters to the writing is perfect and I can honestly say this was an easy if emotional 5 stars.
As always thank you to Titan Books and Netgalley for my copy. My review is always honest, truthful and freely given.

I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and publisher.

This book was so powerful, shocking and raw. It’s incredible. The intensity starts from the first page and it doesn’t let up for even one minute. It’s a rare talent that can maintain that level of intensity without becoming overwhelming and losing tightness of plot, but this one manages it so well.

This book perfectly blends both human, supernatural and natural world threats. There is no safety for the characters as they try to survive a hurricane, the violence of people and a threat that begins to unveil as they walk down a path there is no return from.

We follow a group of friends who seek to support one of their number after his mother is murdered. And really, this is a story of friendship, of the close bonds formed through stepping up for your friends when they need you, through the way a good friend can make all the difference. This is a touching, emotional, often brutal story with a thread of hope in the darkness through the kindness and companionship.

This book was excellent. I couldn’t put it down.

Back in 2023 I read Gabino Iglesias’ The Devil Takes You Home and said at the time it was one of my books of the year. Stunning, I think I called it.

And now we have House of Bone and Rain.

If you’ll permit me a short outburst? If you’re of a delicate nature, look away now.

Holy *fuck*. THIS BOOK. OMG.

Ahem.

Actually, if you’re of a delicate nature and that offends you, this book is not for you. Know only that you’re missing out on something incredible.

I thought (and still think) that The Devil Takes You Home is incredible, and chances are if you’ve spoken to me at any point over the past year and mentioned books even in passing, I’ll have got this kind of semi-crazed look in my eyes and said you HAVE to read this.

Brace yourselves, cos Iglesias has got a new one. He has a way with language and setting and you can just feel the thunderstorm rising and the shadows moving and what’s that in the corner OMG RUN RUN NOW RUN FAST.

It’s brutal and dark and heartbreaking and spiritual and tense and a whole load of other words that just end up with me, semi-crazed eyeball guy, going JUST READ THIS.

Add it to your list folks. Write it down in block capitals, in your best pen or pencil, and underline that title twice. Heck, make it three times.

I can’t recommend this highly enough.

I was really excited for this one and the first third lived up to expectations with jarring violence and great narration, but with the passing of hurricane Maria, the story stagnated and Gabe and the plot drifted into a repetitive cycle, which the last quarter of the book couldn't make up for.

Iglesias is clearly a talent and a boon to the industry given his propensity to elevate others, but this doesn't live up to the likes of Zero Saints and genuinely felt like something that would feel more powerful if it were 150 pages shorter.

This was fine. I don't think I was the intended audience as some parts were confusing however that's more cultural.

"All stories are ghost stories"

This book broke me. I finished it then cried. I cried out the emotion and the tension and the sheer beautiful brutality of it. This author has a powerful relationship with language and it shows in every part of the storytelling.

"Revenge is the most beautiful, most destructive ballet in the world"

This is a story about vengeance but it is also a story about the power of friendship and the endurance of pain, both emotional and spiritual. It is honest and dark and incredibly moving, also brutally realistic and heart stoppingly tense.
It has fantastical elements but they feel like they exist in reality just outside our perception of the world, I haven't read anything for a long long time that got to me quite like this story and these characters did.

In The Devil Takes You Home there's a scene I could describe to you in intricate detail even years after reading it. House Of Bone and Rain has about five such scenes. This tells me that Gabino Iglesias is only just getting started. And thank goodness for that.

Highly Recommended. But be prepared to go without sleep and don't look behind you.

House of Bone and Rain is a novel about revenge, as five Puerto Rican friends must come together to face the horrors in their lives. Five friends—Gabe, Xavier, Tavo, Paul, and Bimbo—in Puerto Rico are used to death, hearing all stories are ghost stories, but when Bimbo's mother is killed, they agree to help him avenge her. As they fight their way to get information, a hurricane comes, and the lines between revenge, natural disaster, and otherworldly happenings are blurred.

Though positioned as a horror novel, House of Bone and Rain is more complex than that (the comparisons with Stand By Me perhaps reflect this fact well). The narrative is told mostly from Gabe's perspective and it offers a complex picture of not only these friends, but others around them, and the lives they lead. Gabe, for example, is torn between his home, his friends, and the memory of his father's death, and his girlfriend's dream of leaving Puerto Rico. Even as Gabe is drawn into the violence of revenge and taking on a drug kingpin, he is also looking for purpose, and also sees the mystical happenings that show the world not to be as simple as some paint it.

The narrative is a coming-of-age story mixed with a classic revenge narrative: boys growing up and violence begetting violence, but also the undercurrent of colonialism and ecological collapse. It feels like a crime thriller film mixed with horror and I really enjoyed that, and the fact it didn't shy away from the weird side of the horror as well. If you go into the book just expecting horror, you might find a lot of the book quite a different tone, but there's a lot packed into it. Iglesias doesn't give answers to everything and this works well as a coming-of-age novel that acknowledges the things that haunt you as you grow up can't always be resolved or explained away.

I was a big fan of Gabino Iglesias’ Zero Saints when I read it back in 2015 and The Devil Takes You Home was my favourite book of 2022 (I’m not saying that makes me unique – the book won Shirley Jackson and Bram Stoker awards) so I had big hopes and the smallest amount of trepidation in reading his new book House of Bone and Rain.
I’m pleased to say that Iglesias’ new book is a VERY worthy follow up I read in two sessions: and even that was trying not to race through it to savour the writing.
The author uses a phrase early on – Todas las historias de fantasmas – All stories are ghost stories. And three stand alone books in now it’s clear that’s his philosophy: whether a small time crook, a hitman’s mission or, as here, in the tale of childhood friends Gabe, Xavier, Tavo, Paul and Bimbo trying to live and survive in Puerto Rico, we may start off in a world of crime, but the ghosts are always close by.
Things start bad here and get worse quickly. Bimbo’s mother has been shot dead and Bimbo wants revenge. And because the friends have a motto they live by: ‘someone (expletive) with one of us, they (expletive) with all of us…’ they’re there for him. Even if it means going through the ranks of the biggest drug czar in Puerto Rico.
There’s an ill wind blowing in – literally: as the boys start planning revenge, Hurricane Maria is getting closer, and according to local lore, such storms bring evil spirits with them.
The book starts big and never slows down – it’s the opposite of a slow burn…EXCEPT… are we really talking supernatural elements here or is it just local superstition? When the answer comes with the storm it’s done with the author’s previous horrible beauty. I found myself noting and re-reading long passages once I’d finished the book (too caught up in the narrative first time round) just to marvel at the way he can write such horrible things so incredibly well.
This book is a lot of things – a brutal coming of age story, an eco-political insight, a story of friendship, trust and loyalty…and some nasty things happening.
To say more than that would spoil things – but if you enjoyed the author’s previous work you’ll need no more urging to pick this one up. And if you haven’t? You’ve not read anything like this before.