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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
A dark novel that explores the lives of the women and girls of backwoods Mexico, a world where men are largely absent, and women and girls are stolen off the street or taken from their houses at gunpoint. From here, it only gets worse...
Stylistically, the book drifts in a simple, dreamlike stream-of-consciousness. Written in the first person, with no quotation marks and sudden flash forwards (and the odd flashback). It's hard to avoid the fact that the author is drawn more to the broader story of gender in modern Mexico than she is the individual characters, who are loosely drawn and not particularly well-developed.
Worth a look.
Stylistically, the book drifts in a simple, dreamlike stream-of-consciousness. Written in the first person, with no quotation marks and sudden flash forwards (and the odd flashback). It's hard to avoid the fact that the author is drawn more to the broader story of gender in modern Mexico than she is the individual characters, who are loosely drawn and not particularly well-developed.
Worth a look.
There is beauty hidden in this haunting tale of a less than peaceful Mexico.
Devastatingly good--heartbreaking to think that girls and women are probably living like this in many places throughout the world.
I don't want this story to be realistic, but I am afraid it is.
I am not from Mexico, and although I read the news about drug crimes, I can't make sense of has been happening there for decades. This novel was written by someone who is not from Mexico, and certainly didn't have these experiences. I have no idea if she managed nevertheless to create an authentic story. I would like to hear from indigenous people of rural Mexico whether or not this story rings true to them.
It's definitely a moving story, which shows the brutal effects of both mundane pesticide spraying in the mountains and direct, intense violence by drug cartels on the women and children of small communities who are defenseless against either.
Although the focus shifts in the second half of the book to the violence committed by the drug traffickers, who often seem above the law, the pesticide use is more insidious, and completely & irrevocably above the law. I was hoping the main character would have some realizations about that, like she had about her family, which were heart-wrenching.
It's hard to read about this brutality, and imagine that it could be true to life. It is even harder to absorb the known reality; the effects of pesticides on all the people in the entire continent of Central America should not be a surprise to any of us in the north who eat these fruits every day.
I am not from Mexico, and although I read the news about drug crimes, I can't make sense of has been happening there for decades. This novel was written by someone who is not from Mexico, and certainly didn't have these experiences. I have no idea if she managed nevertheless to create an authentic story. I would like to hear from indigenous people of rural Mexico whether or not this story rings true to them.
It's definitely a moving story, which shows the brutal effects of both mundane pesticide spraying in the mountains and direct, intense violence by drug cartels on the women and children of small communities who are defenseless against either.
Although the focus shifts in the second half of the book to the violence committed by the drug traffickers, who often seem above the law, the pesticide use is more insidious, and completely & irrevocably above the law. I was hoping the main character would have some realizations about that, like she had about her family, which were heart-wrenching.
It's hard to read about this brutality, and imagine that it could be true to life. It is even harder to absorb the known reality; the effects of pesticides on all the people in the entire continent of Central America should not be a surprise to any of us in the north who eat these fruits every day.
Reminded me of Chanda's Secret. Emotional. Beautiful writing. Will definitely look for more from this author in the future.
Wow. It's hard to say that I loved this book when the subject matter is so awful. It's beautifully written. Her narrative style was so vivid, I began to itch whenever she mentioned the ants. What a remarkable girl Ladydi is. A beautiful, heart-breaking story.
It was a good read, but sad overall. It's hard to tell, or want to tell,if the book is true to the human traffic situation in Mexico but overall is a journey that is hard to finish simply because nothing good happens to any of the characters.
Loved. Writing and storyline are a bit all over the place but kept me interested. The cultural significance is very important.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
The central character in this novel feels like a journeyer, almost like Alice through the looking glass, observing the world with roots that run deep into the earth. She tells us about her mountain village, about the horrible fates that have befallen those that live there, the ways in which corruption and curses and violence have created chasms between everyone. It is heartwrenching and horrible. I did not know much about the real life situations facing women in Guerrero, but the author conveys the truth embedded within this fiction in a compelling way, and it made me want to know more. The story then feels unreal yet too real, and as you follow Ladydi through her life, you're constantly confronted by violence, and still, the will to persist and survive.