A review by marywahlmeierbracciano
Alebrijes by Donna Barba Higuera

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

With Spanish thoughtfully sprinkled throughout, Alebrijes is set in a post-apocalyptic North American dystopia in which Indigenous survivors live amongst white settlers, whose regime wishes to erase their language, culture, and people.  The Cascabeles have been forced into slavery, with never enough to eat.  Orphans Leandro and Gabi make ends meet by stealing from the rich, but when Gabi gets caught, Leandro takes the fall.  He is not banished to the outlands to be eaten by giant worms like many before him—instead, a renegade physician places his mind inside a metal hummingbird drone, and he’ll never see Gabi again unless he completes a special mission.  I was stunned by Donna Barba Higuera’s imagination, especially regarding the Cascabel music and dance.  Fans of The Last Cuentista will love this book, especially the epilogue!

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Genocide, Racism, Slavery, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Death of parent