vikreadstons 's review for:

Salt Bones by Jennifer Givhan

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Six stars, easy!  READ THIS BOOK! This is a beautiful mix of thriller, mystery, horror, and heart. 

Mal is a badass butcher and mother to two daughters. But she is haunted by La Siguanaba after a friend’s cousin disappears. Soon after, her daughter Amaranta also goes missing. We see the lengths a mother will go to recover her child, as well as the darkness, tragedies, and secrets that can haunt a small town and the families that reside there. 

The way family dynamics and secrets were explored was done so amazingly! All of these characters are so real and flawed. They do not always make model citizens and that is what’s so special. We see a mother doing whatever she needs to do to get her daughter back, regardless of the consequences. We see a young daughter who is lost in every sense of the word just trying to understand. And then we see my soul sister, Griselda - an eldest daughter trying so hard to straddle the line between being loyal to her family and listening to her heart. I identified with her so deeply.

There is also a very important discussion about colonization of these small border towns and environmental decay. I think we so easily forget how so much indigenous land was swept up and abused for monetary gain by the white ruling class. This inequity is very visible in the layout and attitude of the town.

I love how Givhan takes the legends like La Siguanaba that are truly terrifying and gives them a twist, while also calling to light that horror can just as easily come from the mundane and supernatural alike.