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A review by lucialarsen
Each of Us a Desert by Mark Oshiro
5.0
Let me tell you a story Solís...
"Each of Us a Desert" is a line from a poem Xo finds buried in the sand. In this queer post-apocalyptical fantasy novel, Xo is la cuentista of her village, able to take others stories and return them to their god Solís. Truth is the moral standard of this world. Solís once burned the land for its sins and they live under the threat of retribution if they do not unburden themselves to la cuentista, again and again and again.
Xo is trapped by her role in the community, unable to live for herself, and feels as if the only one who understands is the mysterious la poeta who leaves her poems buried across the desert. Not until she leaves her home with Emilia, a stranger she is not sure she can trust, does she begin to tell her own story to Solís, daring to question whether their god is listening, or if they are all completely alone- each of us a desert.
This novel had everything, queer romance, adventure fantasy, magical poems, a narrator grabbling with their own faith in the presence of an indifferent god, and the power of stories, the ones we take and the ones we share. Right up to its gut-wrenchingly satisfying ending, this novel gripped me, asking what it means to be free, to be seen.
"We are the stories we tell one another."
"Each of Us a Desert" is a line from a poem Xo finds buried in the sand. In this queer post-apocalyptical fantasy novel, Xo is la cuentista of her village, able to take others stories and return them to their god Solís. Truth is the moral standard of this world. Solís once burned the land for its sins and they live under the threat of retribution if they do not unburden themselves to la cuentista, again and again and again.
Xo is trapped by her role in the community, unable to live for herself, and feels as if the only one who understands is the mysterious la poeta who leaves her poems buried across the desert. Not until she leaves her home with Emilia, a stranger she is not sure she can trust, does she begin to tell her own story to Solís, daring to question whether their god is listening, or if they are all completely alone- each of us a desert.
This novel had everything, queer romance, adventure fantasy, magical poems, a narrator grabbling with their own faith in the presence of an indifferent god, and the power of stories, the ones we take and the ones we share. Right up to its gut-wrenchingly satisfying ending, this novel gripped me, asking what it means to be free, to be seen.
"We are the stories we tell one another."