These Vengeful Wishes

When Nicaraguan American Cecilia “Ceci” Navarette, an aspiring artist, sends an anonymous tip to the police, her step- father—with whom she lives in luxury due to his shady business dealings—is arrested for fraud. With him in jail and divorce proceedings imminent, Ceci and her mother are forced to move back to her mother’s hometown of Santa Aguas, which is shrouded in fear of the legend of La Cegua, a female spirit with the face of a horse skull. As Ceci moves into her new home—a mansion her mother received in the divorce—she unearths the history of its previous owners, whose male members all died young. Upon Ceci finding a door in the woods near the house, she uncovers a well in a scene that looks uncannily like her own paintings. Urged by a mysterious voice, Ceci uses the well to make wishes that grant her wildest desires. But each wish comes with a price. Though the convoluted plot occasionally disorients, the complexly rendered characters and their relationships are a bright spot in this revenge-fueled horror novel by Montalban (A Tall Dark Trouble). Ages 14–up. (Feb.)