THE INHERITANCE OF ORQUIDEA DIVINA

Are you a reader who is all in for MAGIC? For ghosts? For trees who are human, people who are stars, and skeletons who speak? Then welcome to the world of Orquídea Divina, who mysteriously summons her descendants to witness her death and receive their inheritance. But when her grandchildren Marimar, Rey and Tatinelly arrive, they become witnesses to a mystical transformation that opens up more questions than answers about their history. Years later, when a strange figure begins targeting members of the Montoya clan, they must reunite in their grandmother’s native Ecuador to learn the origins of their magic and their family’s extraordinary past.

This lyrical novel was just the thing to kick off my spooky season and get outside of my usual reading genres. While I enjoyed the subtle magical realism in the first half a bit more than the true fantasy elements at the story’s conclusion, it is a unique and beautifully crafted novel full of lush settings and clever surprises. The dark fairy tale details in Orquídea’s home and in the traveling circus brought the story to life, as did the lovely narration by Frankie Corzo on my audiobook from @libro.fm . Recommended for fans of Addie LaRue!

Fun fact: Jameson, the Montoyas’ rooster with many lives, is called a “zombie chicken” by the story’s children, and for a while I considered making a “zombie chicken soup” for this post! But in the end I settled on white and dark chocolate bark with rose petals, because how could I ignore the rose blooms that grow out of the Montoyas’ very beings? This is an easy and delicious treat, and my first time using rose petals in a dessert. They smell amazing and look so beautiful!