Review: Bochica by Carolina Flórez-Cerchiaro

Bochica

by Carolina Flórez-Cerchiaro

Release Date: May 13, 2025

2025 Atria/Primero Sueno Press

Ebook ARC; 256 Pages

ISBN: 978-1668062579

ASIN: B0DHV14VQJ

Audiobook: B0DLCRMMH2

Genre: Fiction / Horror / Gothic

Source: Review copy from publisher

 

2 / 5 Stars

 

Summary

In 1923 Soacha, Colombia, La Casona—an opulent mansion perched above the legendary Salto del Tequendama waterfall—was once home to Antonia and her family, who settle in despite their constant nightmares and the house’s malevolent spirit. But tragedy strikes when Antonia’s mother takes a fatal fall into El Salto and her father, consumed by grief, attempts to burn the house down with Antonia still inside.

Three years later, haunted by disturbing dreams and cryptic journal entries from her late mother, Antonia is drawn back to her childhood home when it is converted into a luxurious hotel. As Antonia confronts her fragmented memories and the dark history of the estate, she wrestles with unsettling questions she can no longer Was her mother’s death by her own hands, or was it by someone else’s?

My Thoughts

Bochica definitely had a lot going for it, but the execution fell flat for me. Despite a haunted atmosphere, creepy things that go bump in the night, secrets galore, a haunted mansion, ghosts, cryptic journals, and a mystery, nothing really happened. Nothing. I really wanted to like this one, but the whole thing fell flat, from beginning to end.

 

What I did like and appreciate were the legends and discussions about the Muisca people as I didn't really know a lot about them. Learning about the different figures that play an important role in the spiritual life of the Muisca people was fascinating, and I really wish the author had used that a bit more in the story. There was also some discussion about the impact of the Spanish colonization and how it affected the people and some of the steps they took to protect the land. However, that being said, there were also a lot of tropes being used as well to depict Indigenous peoples, some of them discombobulated and contrary to what was originally mentioned, and I did have a problem with that. If you are going to use something to be a red herring, don't use these misconceptions as that is not very impressive.  There was also a lot of discussion about women and their role in Colombian society during the 1930s and how frustrating it could be for a woman who wanted to do something different than be a wife and mother. Women's roles were very limited during this time period and I empathized with a FC who wanted to do something more with her life and felt constrained by the men around her. The idea that a woman has to become evil in order to get what she wants in society should have been discussed more in the novel as I think that was an important theme in this book.

 

Antonia herself is a strong-willed character, but she is pretty one-dimensional in nature and we don't really get to know her very well. We don't learn very much about her time in the mansion, something I thought would have been important to the story. Despite the theme of women's rights running through the book, the author chose to have Antonia in a relationship for her to get out of her situation rather than on her own merits, something I did not appreciate.  The story itself was pretty formulaic and predictable, and despite all the elements available to give one the creeps, there was actually nothing to the story.  There were many plot holes and so many things were just glossed over in such a way that the reader was supposed to just accept them. Not this reader.

 

Verdict

Bochica had a lot of potential, but more emphasis on creating a plot that the reader has to figure out rather than a reader just accepting how things are would be beneficial. I had high hopes for this book, but this definitely could have used some editing to make it more powerful.  Overall, I think this suffered from a plot full of holes, a story that had potential but essentially was more in the nature of telling you what was happening rather than letting you figure it out, and little suspense.