Reviews

The Last Karankawas by Kimberly Garza

Only show reviews with written explanations

kdawn999's review against another edition

4.0

It’s refreshing to read such a well-crafted, literary narrative that’s set close to home. The languages and voices are powerful in their individuality, their collectivity. I like the daring jumps between character perspectives, and I liked to see the storylines intersect. Hats off to a very creative “glossary” at the end, which is really the final chapter. The bold moves pay off to give a loving, kaleidoscopic view of Texas. There were times I wish we returned to certain narrators more, though we aren’t left with too many loose ends (If you read the glossary). The scope is ambitious, but I did yearn a little for an insular focus on a single family. But this is not a melodramatic tragedy, this is about weathering difficulties, about real problems, about choosing your roots or uprooting.

literarylaila's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

moth_dance's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

A novel in short stories. A spiritual saga about Texans. A love-letter to family and land.

Kimberly Garza has created something so profound and rich, that my own trauma of living through Ike--the main hurricane that looms over each chapter and character--has been cleansed. There's hope in each story but also a natural dread that lives in the soul of every working-class immigrant and POC family who's tried to start a life, or is running from one.

Whether it's the family mythos of being "one of the last Karankawas" or that guilty urge to leave the island in search of somewhere, anywhere better or the brutal but peaceful life working out on one of the many boats in the Gulf, everyone's life is tied to one another and the land upon which they came from and arrived at.

**I also had the honor of meeting and listening to Kim while working one of her book tour events. She is so humble, clever, and funny. A really wonderful human. I'm excited to follow her glowing career where ever it may take her.