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rmperezpadilla's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Vomit, and Gore
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal death, Trafficking, and Grief
Minor: Child abuse
tree_star's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Gore
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Body horror, Grief, Animal cruelty, Death, and Animal death
mandkips's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Death and Gore
Moderate: Animal death and Animal cruelty
Minor: Domestic abuse and Alcoholism
puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gore, Murder, Trafficking, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol
meagangrace's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Gore, Death, Murder, Animal death, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Vomit, Animal cruelty, and Child abuse
Minor: Alcoholism and Domestic abuse
hannahr's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gore, and Grief
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Murder, and Vomit
Minor: Infidelity
apierlessbridge's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Violence and Emotional abuse
piperlee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Violence, Vomit, Murder, Grief, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Animal death
the_grimdragon's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Each of Us a Desert is the sophomore novel from Mark Oshiro. If this is any indication, Oshiro is a damn fine writer that will be around for a long time to come!
Following sixteen year old Xochitl, a cuentista in the village of Empalme, Each of Us a Desert is a story about stories. Given these special powers at just eight years old, Xo listens to stories of the villagers, then leaves them to Solís, the sun god, scattering them back to the earth. These stories are confessions that they will no longer need to bear the weight of, purging secrets from their lives, their bodies during the prayer ritual. The cuentista takes on the sin, yet once they return the story to Solís, it is forgotten.
Except one day, Xo decides she doesn't want to give up a particular story. Rather, she ventures out of her village on a quest to save her people, her only companions are her thoughts & the magical lines of poetry she finds hidden amongst the dunes.
For the first time in her young life, Xochitl is following her heart, her desires. But will the story consume her?
"Each of us a desert, alone and vast."
Each of Us a Desert is a post-apocalyptic fantasy coming-of-age story that is exquisitely queer, subverting the genre & the western gaze. The worldbuilding is vivid & atmospheric, taking place in a queernorm desert society with a diverse cast of characters, including nonbinary & Latinx rep, as well as a sapphic main relationship. I swear my little queer heart grew ten sizes while reading this! Oof.
Mark Oshiro's writing is beautifully intense & tangible. Exploring themes of immigration, history & trauma, Each of Us a Desert is a brutal, achingly emotional novel. It's about overwhelming loneliness, grief, pain, sacrifice, love & support. It's that sense of isolation, when you feel like you never quite belong. It's about that little flicker of hope that one grasps onto, while searching for your place in this unpredictable world.
Each of Us a Desert is the kind of book where I had finished & then immediately wanted to start reading again, so that I could find things that I had missed.
CW: Violence, abuse, gore, visceral horrors.
(Big thanks to Tor Teen/Tor Books for sending me a copy!)
Graphic: Gore and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death
plumpaperbacks's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
However, the downfall for me was the extremely slow pacing. I was invested at first but slowly lost interest as the story dragged on, and I considered putting the book down unfinished. There was just barely enough intrigue for me to continue, which is why I took longer than I expected to read it.
Additionally, when I finally reached the end, I found it unsatisfying, and more open than I would’ve liked. Oshiro created something that could’ve been fascinating, but the meandering pace hindered that. I do think that the themes of faith and self-honesty and making your own path were interesting and managed well, though.
The last thing I’ll address is the unapologetic Latinx nature of the novel, something I’ve seen in many YA books, but as I recall, not quite to this extent. The story is full of Spanish poems and phrases and food, written in a way that’s also understandable for those like me with very little knowledge of the language. I did like this element.
While Each of Us a Desert wasn’t my cup of tea, I’d recommend it to those that enjoy slower stories, thematic stories, and unique fantasies. I plan to read Oshiro’s debut, which I will hopefully enjoy more.
Representation
- full Latinx cast
- main sapphic romance
- numerous queer side characters
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Death, and Vomit
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Excrement
Also contains mention of murders.