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A review by rosepoints
Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia
2.0
let me start with the positive: the author's writing style is vivacious and drew me in right away. here are some of my favorite lines: "sun child, hair permanently whisked by wind, you were happy once." and "something greater than themselves swam in their blood; this would be their war." i can see why others wouldn't like it but the style was gorgeous and i really enjoyed it.
however, the writing style alone does not make up for the disparate collection of short stories that comprise this novel. even though each story and character is supposed to be intertwined with each other, i felt like they were so disconnected. i personally don't mind non-linear narratives; i didn't mind it in a similar intergenerational saga like celeste ng's. however, the characters' interactions with each other are minimal and dry and given the brevity of the book, the number of characters ultimately detracted from the quality of the plot.
i also felt like ana and her mother were ancillary to the plot, serving only to uphold jeannette's role in the story and to include a short story on deportation on ice. if you took them out of the novel, it wouldn't have changed a single thing about the ending. instead, i think it would've been more interesting to focus solely on the family from cuba, delving more deeply into cuba's history and the traumas in their family. also, i'm sure that the author didn't mean to do it, but there are some paragraphs where it just seems like she's upholding the narrative that addicts can't be cured, and that's not super great.
finally, i would heed the warnings about sexual abuse and assault. it is a common narrative throughout the book and i wasn't expecting it to be that prevalent.
altogether, i would still look forward to seeing what other books gabriela garcia writes in the future since i think she has a lot of potential, but this novel was a miss for me personally.
however, the writing style alone does not make up for the disparate collection of short stories that comprise this novel. even though each story and character is supposed to be intertwined with each other, i felt like they were so disconnected. i personally don't mind non-linear narratives; i didn't mind it in a similar intergenerational saga like celeste ng's. however, the characters' interactions with each other are minimal and dry and given the brevity of the book, the number of characters ultimately detracted from the quality of the plot.
i also felt like ana and her mother were ancillary to the plot, serving only to uphold jeannette's role in the story and to include a short story on deportation on ice. if you took them out of the novel, it wouldn't have changed a single thing about the ending. instead, i think it would've been more interesting to focus solely on the family from cuba, delving more deeply into cuba's history and the traumas in their family. also, i'm sure that the author didn't mean to do it, but there are some paragraphs where it just seems like she's upholding the narrative that addicts can't be cured, and that's not super great.
finally, i would heed the warnings about sexual abuse and assault. it is a common narrative throughout the book and i wasn't expecting it to be that prevalent.
altogether, i would still look forward to seeing what other books gabriela garcia writes in the future since i think she has a lot of potential, but this novel was a miss for me personally.