A review by bratatouille
Candelaria by Melissa Lozada-Oliva

4.0

Hey this was weird as shit! I read a lot of books. I read a lot of literary fiction. I don’t think I understood what was happening in this. But like, it was so intriguing?? It’s blunt and violent and jumbling. It’s based on a Guatemalan family so some of the dialogue is in Spanish. You can figure out a lot of it based on context clues, but I do feel that I didn’t get as much out of this book as I could have if I remembered any Spanish or came from a Latin background. The twists are so wild and fun. This is somehow a cult book, a magic book, AND a family book. Sometimes I felt that the sentence structure was a little wonky but it sort of fit the eclectic and foreign vibe of the whole story. The timeline hops back and forth a little bit and I had to retrace my steps a few times. Not sure if I can claim that I liked any of the characters other than Candelaria but I did care immensely about them liking each other. Some passages were blatantly funny and I love that the cult fronted as a cycling gym wellness center thing. There are some really good moments that reflected on motherhood, sisterhood, and girlhood in general. If you liked bunny but were looking for something more graphic and visceral, this is probably up your alley. I’ve got mixed opinions, but it was a fresh and interesting read with disturbing moments and a cool old lady character, and that’s all I’m really looking for. I might read it again further down the line.