Scan barcode
patlo's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
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
5.0
GORGEOUS retelling of the historical events of Spanish conquistadors under Hernán Cortés entering the city of Tenochtitlan and meeting with the court of emperor Moctezuma.
It's rare that, as I'm reading a book, I wished it were MUCH longer, or a series. But this one is an entire world, and reimagines a dense and complex world that many of us have some passing familiarity with. It's trippy hallucinogenic; it thrives in court politics and religious variety; its characters are all well shaped. The reader's head swims in a fast paced, dense story with color and flavor everywhere.
Think multicultural Game of Throes meets Hunter S. Thompson packed into a 220 page novella.
TIP: Don't skip the author's notes to the translator in the first pages.
It's rare that, as I'm reading a book, I wished it were MUCH longer, or a series. But this one is an entire world, and reimagines a dense and complex world that many of us have some passing familiarity with. It's trippy hallucinogenic; it thrives in court politics and religious variety; its characters are all well shaped. The reader's head swims in a fast paced, dense story with color and flavor everywhere.
Think multicultural Game of Throes meets Hunter S. Thompson packed into a 220 page novella.
TIP: Don't skip the author's notes to the translator in the first pages.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Murder and Rape
theboricuabookworm's review
challenging
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I saw a review that called this book hallucinatory and that is incredibly accurate. Both in the actual uses and portrayals of hallucinogenic substances but also in a wonderfully vibrancy and vivid setting. I could genuinely picture the chinampas and soaring temples of Tenoxtitlan as well elaborate clothing and costuming of both parties. It was some of the most vivid storytelling I've ever experienced that attributed more to showing and not telling than one would think.
I have never had much interest in witnessing a fictionalized account of the arrival of the Spaniards in LatAm until I read this book. It is evident in every line the breadth of Enrigue's knowledge of the history but also his want to make this story a fictional one. Although the amount of quips and witty remarks I'm sure abounded during the conquistadores' time. This is a work of translation in more ways than one as we also follow Cortés's translators as they navigate Moctezuma's court as well.
Enrigue wrote an intensely grotesque, sometimes vulgar, all around ride of a speculative historic fiction that I don't think I'll ever do justice in describing. However it is a story I loved if only in how those that hail from a colonized place can appreciate letting our colonizers get their comeuppance.
cw: brief mentions of rape (on page and past occurance); colonization; violence; misogyny; gore; blood
I have never had much interest in witnessing a fictionalized account of the arrival of the Spaniards in LatAm until I read this book. It is evident in every line the breadth of Enrigue's knowledge of the history but also his want to make this story a fictional one. Although the amount of quips and witty remarks I'm sure abounded during the conquistadores' time. This is a work of translation in more ways than one as we also follow Cortés's translators as they navigate Moctezuma's court as well.
Enrigue wrote an intensely grotesque, sometimes vulgar, all around ride of a speculative historic fiction that I don't think I'll ever do justice in describing. However it is a story I loved if only in how those that hail from a colonized place can appreciate letting our colonizers get their comeuppance.
cw: brief mentions of rape (on page and past occurance); colonization; violence; misogyny; gore; blood
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Colonisation, Drug abuse, and Gore
Minor: Rape
aleyajo's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Fascinating look at Tenochtitlán history and what could have been.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Death, Gore, Violence, Drug use, Addiction, Colonisation, Blood, and Drug abuse
More...