A review by sophiadale
Sabrina & Corina: Stories by Kali Fajardo-Anstine

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I picked up this book because it was the first contemporary fiction set in Denver that I’d seen after growing up outside it. The characters were so vibrant, each story a standalone world that was so true. Yet each story brought so much hardship that the prevailing emotion became a knot of dread, wondering what terrible thing would befall this next woman. The depictions of violence against women, the disappointments, the dearth of happy endings became hard to read over time. I kept thinking the phrase “life is nasty, brutish, and short.” Still, these fictional short stories were real life, and for that reason, we can’t look away. I know these girls and these lives and they deserve their day in the sun.