4 reasons:

• For taking a fresh look at the Terres de l’Ebre region in southern Catalonia along the Ebro River, while incorporating the legends of foreign folklore.
• For shying away from the central Catalan dialect and decidedly and imaginatively embracing linguistic diversity.
• For inventing a new, slimy monster that makes the landscape of history one of the protagonists.
• For placing a rural community at the heart of a horror story in true Stephen King style.

2 evaluations:

• A mystery that brings together the rise of rural tourism and the best of the horror tradition. 
• A story that draws you in thanks to its phantasmagorical setting, the references to European conflicts, and characters thirsting for revenge.

4 reasons:

• For the acts of barbarity against bodies, reflected in a hungry jungle.  
• For the stark and cruel criticism of the use and abuse of human bodies for food alone.
• For the poetry of the macabre, the prose of horror, the soul of a jungle which, like the world, is always hungry for more blood.
• Because venturing into the jungle means getting at the root of the abuse women have endured throughout history. 

2 evaluations:

• A book that’s one blow after another.
• Blasted book!

4 reasons:

• For creating lovable characters who win you over.
• For bringing together philosophy, fable, poetry and humour.
• For imagining a post-apocalyptic world where destruction turns into construction.
• For using dialogue to spark reflection.

2 evaluations:

• A book that creates a world you won’t want to leave.
• A utopian idea that offers us a new paradigm of community.

4 reasons:

• Because just when we think we’ve seen it all, along comes this novel to show we can’t trust anyone or anything.
• For the perfect example of an unreliable narrator with undecipherable secret messages. 
• Because the blurred timelines and characters with multiple versions of themselves make for a game that is as mental as it is stimulating.
• For being a thriller especially for writers, one that explores the ins-and-outs of creativity. 

2 evaluations:

• The crowning of a queen of the fantastic thriller on the national and international scene.
• To put it bluntly: It blows your mind!

4 reasons:

• For consolidating an emerging career in the fantastic genres.
• For daring to fictionalise his own experiences, demonstrating the cathartic value of horror.
• For breathing new life into fantastic genres in Catalan by introducing the reference points of new generations.
• For an accurate depiction of a stage in life as complicated as adolescence.

2 evaluations:

• A young author very much involved in expanding genre literature in Catalan through creation, translation and outreach.
• Well-versed in the fantastic genres, Cotes has internalised their structures and strategies and has been able to incorporate them into his own work.

4 reasons:

• For being a period drama featuring an impeccable portrayal of the life of a Spanish family whose past permeates their present.
• For being a costumbrista novel in the true Spanish style of the genre, with magnificent prose and horror as subtle as they are realistic. 
• For being a Gothic(-esque) melodrama in which suspense, romance and mystery come together to make us see horror in the most everyday acts.
• A costumbrista retelling that transplants the drama of Greek mythology into the heart of a small fragmented family. 

2 evaluations:

• A highlight of the year in Spanish fantasy.
• For its use of Spanish traditions and history as a framework for horror stories: think the popular Spanish comedy Farmacia de guardia, but with a horror twist that you don’t see coming.

4 reasons:

• For challenging the role of women with a biting, critical vision. 
• For taking an impassioned stand against speciesism without the need to humanise the animals.
• For exploring human psychology when the future is cut short.
• For inventing an original and unsettling end of civilisation told through a remarkable witness.

2 evaluations:

• A unique narrative voice that surprises us and constantly renews itself.
• A highly unusual exploration of loneliness that points the finger at the artifice of our society.

4 reasons:

• For her honesty in constructing her own dystopian and fantastic vision. 
• For making no concessions to history’s cruelty.
• For reclaiming the mutant tradition as a metaphor for people who are marginalised.
• For making young people as drivers of change in a society seeking a more just future.

2 evaluations:

• An adventure story packed with death and destruction where challenges are overcome through unity.
• A book that shows dystopia is not a dead genre.

4 reasons:

• For being a beautiful story of magic and youth.
• For being a shape-shifting rite of passage featuring mystery and true friendship.
• For being an exhilarating YA story about finding your place, about discovering who you are, and also about a mystery.
• For being a modern fable which reminds us that what matters is learning how to overcome our differences. 

2 evaluations:

• It combines nostalgia for the summer of your life with the excitement of a new beginning.
• A magical spin on the classic Spanish TV series Verano azul!

4 reasons:

• For his extraordinary, inspired and unerring capacity to write genre for any audience.
• For having been a mentor to many people, (nearly) everyone’s first introduction to literature and an advocate for the genre at all times.
• For his ability to write hard-core science fiction, fantasy and even horror across decades and generations, representing the genre at home and abroad.
• For his contribution to enriching Spanish YA and fantastic literature. 

2 evaluations:

• He redefines what it means to be a fantastic classic by staying on the shelves for years.
• He continues to help introduce today’s young readers to non-mimetic genres.