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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was strange and hard to really find my way in to what was going on. It all made sense in the end and I propbably felt the lockdown scenary and comments on the situation a little to spot on atm.
Despite that I would still recommend it as it is well written and following some interesting characters.
Despite that I would still recommend it as it is well written and following some interesting characters.
I loved this a lot - I think Herrera managed to write something relevant but not obvious, dark but not depressing, and original but not kitschy. I especially loved the names - "the Redeemer," "the Unruly," etc.
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
read this during a quinceañera… bruh moment
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Police brutality, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Blood
Minor: Drug use, Sexual assault, Suicide, Vomit
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The writing here was overall great, there were some lines that made me stop reading for a second and just think. I liked the ambiguity of the characters, their aliases, and the way they interacted with one another did a great job of showing their relationships without spending too many words telling it.
The concept was simple, a little on the nose considering everything we’ve just gone through (the stores with signs saying Out Of Masks really hit home, which is uncanny, because this was published in 2013). I like that the author created this little world in an epidemic and merely used that to provide atmosphere instead of waxing poetic about it. Very gritty. I also liked how they formatted speech, forgoing quotation marks. I like unusual writing in that way.
I didn’t love the plot, and with a novella like this, to not have a gripping plot is a problem. Luckily it was short enough to just power through. I thought it was overdone and not transformed in an interesting way. It hit all the beats I was expecting it to, never deterred.
It’s an okay book, I probably wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, but I did enjoy the prose.
The concept was simple, a little on the nose considering everything we’ve just gone through (the stores with signs saying Out Of Masks really hit home, which is uncanny, because this was published in 2013). I like that the author created this little world in an epidemic and merely used that to provide atmosphere instead of waxing poetic about it. Very gritty. I also liked how they formatted speech, forgoing quotation marks. I like unusual writing in that way.
I didn’t love the plot, and with a novella like this, to not have a gripping plot is a problem. Luckily it was short enough to just power through. I thought it was overdone and not transformed in an interesting way. It hit all the beats I was expecting it to, never deterred.
It’s an okay book, I probably wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, but I did enjoy the prose.
I liked this book a lot more than his "Signs...." There is a lot that happens in 100 pages. A plague is ravaging a small town in Mexico, while one man, The Redeemer, a former lawyer, must broker the exchange of two young bodies, Romeo and "Baby Girl," between two rival families. A sort of Mexican Romeo and Juliet, forbidden lovers that meet their end, each taken hostage by the other family. Some of the characters have funny nicknames, like his love interest "Three Times Blonde" and his buddy and protection, the "Neeyanderthal." The story alludes to the drug war and the violent murders in Mexico.
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No