Piñata: A Novel

Leopoldo Gout

Mar 2023 · Spotify Audiobooks · Narrated by Krysta Gonzales

About this audiobook

A Head Full of Ghosts meets Mexican Gothic in Piñata, a terrifying possession tale by author and artist Leopoldo Gout.

Carmen Sanchez is back in her home country of Mexico, overseeing the renovation of an ancient cathedral into a boutique hotel. Her teen daughters, Izel and Luna, are with her for the summer, and left to fill their afternoons unsupervised in a foreign city.

The locals treat the Sanchez women like outsiders, while Carmen's contractors openly defy and sabotage her work. After a disastrous accident at the construction site nearly injures Luna, Carmen's had enough. They're leaving.

Back home in New York, malevolent and unexplainable happenings seem to swarm the Sanchez family, throwing their lives into chaos. And it might be too late for them to escape what's been awakened...

Inspired by the true, horrific history of how the Spanish conquistadors used piñatas to force Aztec children to break their gods, Piñata is a possession horror story about how the sinister repercussions of our past can return to haunt us.

Ratings and reviews

Overall, Piñata was an interesting and engaging read. I think this was primarily due to the characters, for me. All of the main cast managed to capture my interest and I ended up caring about even the small things going on in their lives (even the kids, which is not usual for me.) I also was intrigued and found it to be a pleasurable experience to hear a story told from another cultural perspective than I usually encounter and greatly appreciated that the author didn't flinch or shy away from the reality of colonialism when exploring historical elements. The main criticism I have of the book overall is the pacing. The horror elements in this and main, driving force of the plot felt like an extremely slow burn for me and seemed to drag its heels. I felt like the story was slightly unfocused because of how long the buildup went on. However, this wasn't entirely a negative thing. I found myself more interested and engaged in the daily life events of the characters and their individual dramas more than I did with the horror elements or possession plot-line. While I don't think these elements were poorly done or uninteresting, I do think it detracted from the sense of urgency or fear in the plot. In all, though, I do think it was an enjoyable story and think it's worth a try.