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Soledad by Angie Cruz
“Could it be that that’s just the way things go between people? Irreconcilable differences, which can’t really be explained or solved.” What could have been a polyphonic tragicomedy exploring trauma, abusive and dysfunctional relationships, generational and cultural divides, sex, love, and desire, is let down by a cast of cartoonish characters, repetitive dialogues and interactions,…
1990s, 2000s, 20th century, abuse, ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS, adolescence, Adult, America, Angie Cruz, Contemporary, DEATH, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), Dominican American author, dominican republic, drama, Dreams, family, female authors, girlhood, grandmothers, illness, intergenerational, jealousy, latin america, latin american, latin american diaspora, latinx author, lesbian side characters, lgbtq+ side, MAGICAL REALISM, MELODRAMA, men who are sleazy, migration/immigration, motherhood, mothers & daughters, navel gazing, NEW YORK, no quotations marks, published in 2001, read in 2023, sex, sex scenes that are yikes, sexual assault/abuse/rape, SEXUALITY, Soledad, style over character, trauma, trying and failing @ feminism, unrequited love, womanhood/femininity -
Seven Empty Houses by Samanta Schweblin
Having found Samanta Schweblin’s Mouthful of Birds to make for a relatively disturbing collection of short stories I was intrigued to read more by her. Seven Empty Houses even promised a thematic unity in its seven stories, as they all featured strange houses. Sadly I found the motif to be explored/utilized in a rather underwhelming…
2 STARS, Adult, argentina, argentinian author, collection of short stories, Contemporary, creepy setting, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), female authors, ghosts/spirits, haunted house, hauntings, HORROR, latin america, latinx author, LITERARY FICTION, MAGICAL REALISM, published in 2015, read in 2022, Samanta Schweblin, Seven Empty Houses, short stories, surreal, SUSPENSE, weird -
Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez
“You have something of mine, I passed on something of me to you, and hopefully it isn’t cursed, I don’t know if I can leave you something that isn’t dirty, that isn’t dark, our share of night” Although I have previously quoted Lady Gaga’s iconic “talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same,…
1980s, 1990s, 4 STARS, abuse, Adult, ALIENATION, all of the trigger warnings, argentina, argentinian author, atmospheric, big books, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, boyhood, child abuse, CHILDHOOD, coming of age, creepy setting, cults, dark, DEATH, england, FANTASY, fathers & sons, female authors, friendships, gay side characters, graphic content, GRIEF, grotesque, growing up, GUILT, haunted house, HISTORICAL FICTION, HORROR, illness, latin america, lgbtq+, loneliness, Mariana Enríquez, missing girls, missing persons, morality, occult, orphans, otherness, Our Share of Night, parallel universes, PARANORMAL, POWERS, published in 2019, queer, read in 2022, road trip, sexual assault/abuse/rape, strong sense of place, summer reads, SUPERNATURAL, toxic relationships, tragedy, TRANSLATED FICTION, trauma, unrequited love, violence -
Portrait of an Unknown Lady by María Gainza
“Strange: It has come to me that one doesn’t write to remember, or to forget, or to find relief, or to cure oneself of some pain. One writes to plumb one’s own depths, to understand what’s inside.” Having found Optic Nerve to be a puzzling yet thoroughly compelling book I was very much eager to…
1st pov, 3.25 stars, Adult, argentina, argentinian author, ART/CREATIVITY, ARTISTS, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Contemporary, existentialism, female authors, GRIEF, history, introspective, latin america, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, María Gainza, My reviews, MYSTERY, navel gazing, obsession, Portrait of an Unknown Lady, psychological, published in 2018, read in 2022, reading, TRANSLATED FICTION, unnamed narrator -
The Houseguest: And Other Stories by Amparo Dávila
Whenever an author is compared to Shirley Jackson, I feel compelled to check their work out. More often than not, upon reading their stuff, I end up rather perplexed by the comparisons to Jackson. In the case of Amparo Dávila, well, this comparison isn’t wholly unearned. Jackson and Dávila’s approach to the horror genre certainly…
1960s, 20th century, 3 STARS, 3rd pov, Adult, Amparo Dávila, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, collection of short stories, curses, female authors, GOTHIC, grotesque, HISTORICAL FICTION, HORROR, latin america, latin american, latinx author, MAGICAL REALISM, mexican, mexican author, Mexico, My reviews, paranoia, PARANORMAL, published in 2018, read in 2021, reading, short stories, surreal, The Houseguest, TRANSLATED FICTION -
This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno
The blurb for This Thing Between Us is somewhat misleading. After reading it, I went into this novel expecting to be a tale about this couple who buy a possibly evil home smart speaker only to discover that said home speaker is a mere speck in the story and that the events described in the…
1st pov, 2.5 STARS, Adult, America, American, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Contemporary, DEATH, graphic content, GRIEF, Gus Moreno, HORROR, latin america, latinx author, loneliness, male authors, MARRIAGE, MEXICAN AMERICAN AUTHOR, Mexico, My reviews, MYSTERY, PARANORMAL, published in 2021, read in 2021, reading, SUPERNATURAL, This Thing Between Us, THRILLER, widows -
It Is Wood, It Is Stone by Gabriella Burnham
Aside from its pretty cover It Is Wood, It Is Stone doesn’t have a lot to offer. It is one of those novels that is very much all style, no substance. Plot and character development are sacrificed in favour of gimmicky narrative devices and flashy metaphors. I finished this less than a week ago and…
1st pov, 2 STARS, Adult, ALIENATION, America, american brazilian author, ARTISTS, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, brazil, cheating, Contemporary, cultural dissonance, ennui, female authors, Gabriella Burnham, It is wood it is stone, latin america, latin american, latinx author, lgbtq+, LITERARY FICTION, MARRIAGE, My reviews, navel gazing, published in 2020, purply prose, queer, read in 2021, reading, SEXUALITY, slow pacing, style over character, stylised prose -
Eat the Mouth That Feeds You by Carribean Fragoza
An exceedingly underwhelming collection. The cover and title of Carribean Fragoza’s debut collection succeeded in making me want to read it. After reading the first three stories, however, I found myself feeling rather underwhelmed by Fragoza’s storytelling. I, later on, decided to give this collection another shot, hoping that I would find the other stories…
2 STARS, Adult, ALIENATION, America, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Carribean Fragoza, collection of short stories, Contemporary, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), Eat the Mouth That Feeds You, female authors, FOLKLORE, grotesque, HORROR, latin america, latin american, latinx author, MAGICAL REALISM, MEXICAN AMERICAN AUTHOR, Mexico, migration/immigration, motherhood, My reviews, paranoia, published in 2021, purply prose, read in 2021, reading, short stories, style over character, stylised prose, surreal -
The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova
When she left Ecuador for good, she learned how to leave pieces of herself behind. Pieces that her descendants would one day try to collect to put her back together. In The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina, Zoraida Córdova combines an intergenerational family drama with magical realism, and the end result will certainly appeal to fans…
20th century, 3.5 STARS, 3rd pov, Adult, America, American, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Contemporary, curses, DEATH, drama, Ecuadorian American author, fairytalesque prose, family, FAMILY SAGA, FANTASY, female authors, gay side characters, HISTORICAL FICTION, latin america, latin american, latinx author, lgbtq+ side, m/m side, MAGICAL REALISM, My reviews, published in 2021, read in 2021, reading, The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina, Zoraida Córdova -
Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
DISCLAIMER: as I did not like Velvet Was the Night my review will be, alas, a negative one. If you are a fan of SMG or you happen to love this novel, congratulazioni. Please, don’t @ me just because I don’t feel the same way as you do, I get it, YMMV. If you are…
1970s, 2 STARS, 3rd pov, Adult, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, drama, female authors, latin america, latin american, latinx author, mexican, MEXICAN AMERICAN AUTHOR, Mexico, missing girls, missing persons, My reviews, MYSTERY, Noir, Not Like Other Girls, published in 2021, read in 2021, reading, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, slow pacing, SUSPENSE, THRILLER, Velvet was the Night
luce [is reading] 