Muñeca is a gothic sapphic romance that releases this June. We follow Natalia, a witch who has recently taken on a job to work as a caretaker for Violetta Miramontes, a young woman paralysed mysteriously a few years ago. Natalia is convinced it is a curse; it’s part of the reason she sought out the job in the first place, and she is determined to be the one to break it.
We have several potential suspects: Violetta’s husband, Andrés, a sleazy man who travels for work, and also her mother Inés, the one hiring the caretakers to look after her bedbound daughter. Unbeknownst to both of them, Violetta can blink to communicate, and so Natalia begins to work her magic to figure out exactly what happened.
Weaved between this, we have snippets of Natalia’s life, including her queer friendship group and the lack of relationship she has with her grandmother, who was also a witch. At the same time, she is falling very quickly for Violetta.
Muñeca is a novella, so we move through the story fairly quickly. The relationship between Natalia and Violetta felt a little rushed because of this. Violetta is reliant on Natalia to set her free, and Natalia is drawn to Violetta for her own selfish interests.
The gothic elements reminded me of The Hacienda and Midnight Rooms: there is an unsettling feeling that persists throughout the book as Natalia must work to protect Violetta from those around her without getting caught. Muñeca means doll, and whilst the most obvious link here is the fact that Violetta is like a doll, unable to move or do anything in her paralysed state, this crops up again in another, more sinister way.
This is one to watch out for when it releases this summer!
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