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theperfectblues's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual violence, Suicide, and Rape
anniejohannie's review
4.0
For the first 50 pages or so I thought maybe this book was too weird for me. Then something shifted and I began to love its weirdness. Rufina lingers in my mind.
How does grief cling to us and how do we cling to grief? How and where do we make our home? How does one move through a space as a privileged visitor?
Though not a particularly happy book, I liked this quote: “Happiness, you should know, is just another way of remembering who you are.”
How does grief cling to us and how do we cling to grief? How and where do we make our home? How does one move through a space as a privileged visitor?
Though not a particularly happy book, I liked this quote: “Happiness, you should know, is just another way of remembering who you are.”
greensalbet's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This story takes place over three days in the fictional town of Ciudad de Tres Hermanas in New Mexico. Sister Rafina has set a challenge for her brother, Rafa: Work the tourist mall posing as human statues for three days, earn as much as they can, and then leave behind the town where their family has struggled and suffered. They will also be fleeing the grief from the loss of their deceased mother and her ghostly apparition.
Rosalind is an unhinged women who struggles with depression, though these words are never spoken in the story. Her children both adore and fear her. On a slow stroll home after buying a cigarette that breaks in half Rafa frets when giving it to her. "Instead of letting him put a match to what was left of it, his mother strode into the kitchen. When she returned, she had a paring knife. She used it to stab the front tire on his bicycle. 'I've had enough of you,' she'd told him, and slammed the front door," (44).
The narrative arch of this novel bounces back and forth quite a bit between the story line and individual character's flashbacks, making it difficult to follow the first third of the novel. Add to this the actions of several imaginary characters such as an angel, the sister's dead baby, the sibling's dead mother's ghost, plus the Grandmothers to All, and you have a novel with many interruptions.
The writing was, at times, also uneven. It bounced between exquisite characterization and expansive descriptions of the desert and mountain landscape to long ruminative passages that, again, slowed the story. "The mother whimpers which is better than the wailing. Outside, trees loiter alongside the road, blocking any sunlight. Grass blankets the yard, high enough to hide the gravel kicked up from the occasional car. Skunks waddle alongside the trickle or fiver while raccoons wash and prepare their feasts," (61).
Early in the story Rafa considers stealing a watch from a tourist's wrist: "He'll have to think about what he can do. He'll need to orient himself toward action. He might have to steal. Could he steal it? The Explorer taught them this skill, too, on slow days, how to make sure on the walk home through the crowded plaza that wallets were slipped from back pockets and purses were slipped from shoulders with no fuss. In Rafa's mind, these thoughts are buried under wet sand. His head is not something attached to his body but rather orbiting his body. This whole scene he's in now could be taking place in a tin can rusting in an arroyo fifty miles away. Which is to say he's barely here. This is a man whose soul has already begun to unhinge itself. You know what this means," (11).
Then, a few pages later, Figueroa writes a stunningly intimate scene from Rafa's perspective as he lights a cigarette for his mother: "He'd struck the match against a loose brick on the portal and cupped his hands around her lips. This had been how the explorer had done it. Rafa had been watching the ways in which the Explorer had treated his mother closely. The way he pulled her to him, or pushed her away. His hands had been larger than her face and were often relocating her in space as if she were a figurine -- from the floor to the counter, the stool to the couch, from the bed to the top of the dressers. Rafa rounded his fingers near the flame, his pinky finger resting on her upper lip. Her eyes did not leave his for the duration of this gesture," (43).
The novel came together for me in the last third when the Explorer's identity and actions were fully explained . It was then that the character motivations of brother Rafa, sister Rufina, and mother Rosalind became clear, and I was finally invested in them. Had the book given readers more of this in the beginning, I believe the beauty of the writing could have been savored and cherished rather than challenged because of the difficulties in figuring out the plot.
Rosalind is an unhinged women who struggles with depression, though these words are never spoken in the story. Her children both adore and fear her. On a slow stroll home after buying a cigarette that breaks in half Rafa frets when giving it to her. "Instead of letting him put a match to what was left of it, his mother strode into the kitchen. When she returned, she had a paring knife. She used it to stab the front tire on his bicycle. 'I've had enough of you,' she'd told him, and slammed the front door," (44).
The narrative arch of this novel bounces back and forth quite a bit between the story line and individual character's flashbacks, making it difficult to follow the first third of the novel. Add to this the actions of several imaginary characters such as an angel, the sister's dead baby, the sibling's dead mother's ghost, plus the Grandmothers to All, and you have a novel with many interruptions.
The writing was, at times, also uneven. It bounced between exquisite characterization and expansive descriptions of the desert and mountain landscape to long ruminative passages that, again, slowed the story. "The mother whimpers which is better than the wailing. Outside, trees loiter alongside the road, blocking any sunlight. Grass blankets the yard, high enough to hide the gravel kicked up from the occasional car. Skunks waddle alongside the trickle or fiver while raccoons wash and prepare their feasts," (61).
Early in the story Rafa considers stealing a watch from a tourist's wrist: "He'll have to think about what he can do. He'll need to orient himself toward action. He might have to steal. Could he steal it? The Explorer taught them this skill, too, on slow days, how to make sure on the walk home through the crowded plaza that wallets were slipped from back pockets and purses were slipped from shoulders with no fuss. In Rafa's mind, these thoughts are buried under wet sand. His head is not something attached to his body but rather orbiting his body. This whole scene he's in now could be taking place in a tin can rusting in an arroyo fifty miles away. Which is to say he's barely here. This is a man whose soul has already begun to unhinge itself. You know what this means," (11).
Then, a few pages later, Figueroa writes a stunningly intimate scene from Rafa's perspective as he lights a cigarette for his mother: "He'd struck the match against a loose brick on the portal and cupped his hands around her lips. This had been how the explorer had done it. Rafa had been watching the ways in which the Explorer had treated his mother closely. The way he pulled her to him, or pushed her away. His hands had been larger than her face and were often relocating her in space as if she were a figurine -- from the floor to the counter, the stool to the couch, from the bed to the top of the dressers. Rafa rounded his fingers near the flame, his pinky finger resting on her upper lip. Her eyes did not leave his for the duration of this gesture," (43).
The novel came together for me in the last third when the Explorer's identity and actions were fully explained . It was then that the character motivations of brother Rafa, sister Rufina, and mother Rosalind became clear, and I was finally invested in them. Had the book given readers more of this in the beginning, I believe the beauty of the writing could have been savored and cherished rather than challenged because of the difficulties in figuring out the plot.
mybooktasticlife's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
mityaq's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It was strange and eerie story. The themes were universal and felt much bigger than the story itself, transcending the weekend it was set in.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault and Suicide
Minor: Abortion
kimberlyespinal's review
3.0
if you’re considering reading this, TW: sexual assault/rape.
beautifully written. I love the magical realism and the articulation of the different realities characters in the book lived. I think some parts, especially some of the final chapters, were really heavy - not sure I’d pick this up again for mainly that reason.
beautifully written. I love the magical realism and the articulation of the different realities characters in the book lived. I think some parts, especially some of the final chapters, were really heavy - not sure I’d pick this up again for mainly that reason.
shanviolinlove's review
5.0
Powerhouse writing. The plot is simple, yet explosive. The writing is gorgeous, evocative, every sentence a poem. Jamie Figueroa has located the music in language and weaved a compelling story of family, trauma, migration, healing, magic. The story itself takes place over the course of a weekend (three parts entitled "Friday," "Saturday," and "Sunday"), but the story chronicles the lifespan of siblings Rafa and Rumira as they were raised by their mother Rosalinda (now deceased, but her ghost is just as active and present as ever) and then her lover, the Explorer, who leaves behind an irrevocable mark and hurt. While I did find the character Rosalinda hard to digest at times (many pivotal details about her character are revealed much later in the novel than helpful for reader empathy, imo), I was drawn to the haunting refrain of the story, the music, the question of what exactly is going to happen. Again, the plot itself is rather simple and straightforward, but presented in an intricate web of different narratives. It's one of the few books I can see myself rereading in the near future. I'll be looking for more work from Jamie Figueroa.
fifi_'s review
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
toasternoodle's review
This was a story meant to heal, I think, and I expected to like it. I didn't. The writing was nice, but the style and narrative didn't do much for me personally.