Scan barcode
2treads's review
challenging
fast-paced
3.5
I did not expect to be so intrigued by the subject matters that Alegría explores in these 3 novellas. With snippy prose we see the collision of the manifested, the supenatural, and the mystical versus the physical, rooted reality.
The Talisman follows Karen as she tries to come to terms with her trauma and it's repercussions, the rigidity of her Catholic school and father, and the relationship that she cultivates with a nun which she uses almost lasciviously to terrorize Sister Mary Ann.
Family Album showcases the slow realization of distancing oneself from the political upheaval and social unrest in one's birth country and the unfurling of understanding can come at the realization of the mental suffering of a close family member.
Village of God and the Devil is a roiling portrait of life on a small island where the mystical meets physics, the inhabitants have surreal encounters, and death is sated to be fed every year.
Alegría definitely has drawn from her Latin American background and her interest in where the line between reality and the fantastical lies.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Sexual assault
Minor: Torture and Animal cruelty
More...