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A review by mariewordaddict
Each of Us a Desert by Mark Oshiro
2.0
A friend recommended this to me when I was looking for a "banned book" to read. .
I think there was a lot of potential here. It's a unique perspective and original world building and storyline. Unfortunately, I found it very disappointing and impossible for me to continue
The setup for why the young woman is a "cuentista" and what that is, to me was poor from the beginning, so I never became invested in her eventual happiness.
The society apparently worships and fears the sun but the constant references to Solis are obsessive and get dull quickly. The monsters and nightmares are less scary psychologically or physically as they are random. Raining blood, ok... but why? Etc.
Then there are the Spanish words inserted awkwardly all the time as if this isn't a novel but a vocabulary building workbook. I've definitely read books with a strong Latino/Latina/Latine cultural background and Spanish mixed in, but they flowed more naturally. I think even without this factor the writing was also stunted and the young woman's emotional processing was like that of a younger child.
I pushed myself to continue until the theoretical turning point in the drama when the two girls meet. When I reached it, but still wasn't enjoying it, I decided this isn't how I want to end my recent reading slump, by forcing myself to read something I'm not enjoying. Oh well.
I think there was a lot of potential here. It's a unique perspective and original world building and storyline. Unfortunately, I found it very disappointing and impossible for me to continue
The setup for why the young woman is a "cuentista" and what that is, to me was poor from the beginning, so I never became invested in her eventual happiness.
The society apparently worships and fears the sun but the constant references to Solis are obsessive and get dull quickly. The monsters and nightmares are less scary psychologically or physically as they are random. Raining blood, ok... but why? Etc.
Then there are the Spanish words inserted awkwardly all the time as if this isn't a novel but a vocabulary building workbook. I've definitely read books with a strong Latino/Latina/Latine cultural background and Spanish mixed in, but they flowed more naturally. I think even without this factor the writing was also stunted and the young woman's emotional processing was like that of a younger child.
I pushed myself to continue until the theoretical turning point in the drama when the two girls meet. When I reached it, but still wasn't enjoying it, I decided this isn't how I want to end my recent reading slump, by forcing myself to read something I'm not enjoying. Oh well.