Reviews with content warning for Cancer - Sabrina & Corina: Stories

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Sabrina & Corina: Stories by Kali Fajardo-Anstine

16 reviews

tensepopcorn's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This short story collection is very hard to give a star rating. It had such a strong start, I enjoyed the first three stories. They were sad, yes. This whole collection is about Latina characters and culture in/around Colorado. It didn’t seem like any of the stories connected, I related to a few of the stories but like I said, so so sad. The writing is beautiful, but I would recommend checking out all of the triggers in this one.

Sugar babies: 5/5

-Very good and touching characters.

Sabrina & Corina: 4.5/5

-Hit close to home for me.

Sisters: 5/5

this was probably my favorite story in this collection. I wasn’t expecting it to impact me when reading.

Remedies: 3/5

Again, tragic story but moving. I didn’t really like how it ended. I was wanting more.

Julian Plaza: 3.5/5

very very sad. I liked the story but I wanted more. I didn’t like how it ended.

Galapago: 2/5

I really didn’t enjoy this one. I understand the frustration of the main character but still.

Chessman Park: 3.5/5

another sad one. Very good but still lingering and not in a good way.

Tomi: 3.5/5

this was another good story and probably my third favorite.

Any Further West: 3/5

I really felt bad for the main character, her mother was terrible and really selfish. This one was heartbreaking. It was still great! “Any Further West” is a great title due to the mother going west but it my opinion she can’t go west ENOUGH. The mother will never have enough space between her and her home.

All Her Names: 2.5/5

pretty good, not much to say not as good as the last one. I did enjoy the narrator here.

Ghost Sickness: 2/5

good but the ending fell way flat for me. But i think it was about to have a story about the father in another story.

All and all I’m giving this collection a 3.5 but I’m rounding up to a 4. The audiobook was really well done. I liked all of the narrators. I would probably go back and reread a few stories when I buy the physical version.

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katieperk's review

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sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

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readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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sarahemhavens's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A

4.0

Sabrina & Corina is a collection of short stories on a range of topics including death, sickness, grief, loss, oppression and also culture, history, love, family, strength in the face of adversity, perseverance, and coming of age.

More specifically, the topics that I found most moved by were the talk of ‘westward expansion’, the destruction of native peoples and cultures, whitewashing and gentrification, western medicine vs herbal medicine, and the mistreatment and objectification of women.

Of the eleven stories, my favorites were:
Remedies
Tomi
Any Further West
All Her Names
Ghost Sickness (this one shook me most)

Biggest takeaway quotes/thoughts for me:
- “afraid of letting any amount of death work its way into me”
- “that was the first time that I missed someone while sitting right next to them”
- “Sabrina was to forever face ceilings and casket tops padded in pink satin”
- white people (“Generations of tragedy free living”) steam rolling over native culture, destroying their lands and throwing up concrete gentrification jungles that only erode years later in our failing society. (The us’ history and mistreatment of peoples never fails to devastate me, nor should it - we should constantly be reminding ourselves and educating ourselves, not try to brush anything under the rug like we tend to in the us)
- “people, we learned, weren’t permanent and neither were their sicknesses”
- “maidens strapped to railroad tracks and cowboy heroes shot dead” (“heroes”)
- “money comes with chains”
- “you make me feel full, I’m heavy with you”

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asainspace's review

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emotional funny mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Clever, beautiful, interesting short stories/character sketches. I was really invested in every character even though the stories were short. A quick read. Will definitely be reading more by this author!

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