These Vengeful Wishes by Vanessa Montalban

“As the truth unfolds, readers will find themselves captivated, racing toward an unforgettable conclusion. Recommended purchase; hand this to fans of Trang Thanh Tran’s She Is a Haunting and Krystal Sutherland’s House of Hollow.” —School Library Journal.

They think the dark can hide their wickedness. But I see into their rotten hearts.

A vengeful female spirit with a thirst for justice ignites a teen girl’s rage in this new YA horror by award-winning author, Vanessa Montalban.

When her stepfather is arrested, aspiring artist Ceci moves back to her mother’s hometown of Santa Aguas, an eccentric small town steeped in the legend of La Cegua, the specter of a wronged witch who appears on lonely roads at night, luring untrustworthy men to their deaths.

Ceci and her mother take up residence in the abandoned manor of the Sevilla family, rumored to have been cursed by La Cegua, where she begins to uncover a past connected to her mother. The more she learns of the Sevillas, the more Ceci finds herself forming a strange affinity with the feared Cegua, who she suspects is the one inspiring her paintings of a mysterious door in the forest.

When the very door Ceci has been painting appears in the woods, she ventures through it with her new friend, and maybe crush, Jamie. Together, they discover a well for granting wishes. The well of La Cegua.

After learning others are also searching for the well, Ceci must confront the truth of her mother’s past and prevent La Cegua’s wishes from being used for the wrong reasons. Every wish has its price, and La Cegua never forgets the ones who have wronged her.