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avidly_eclectic_reads 's review for:
Salt Bones
by Jennifer Givhan
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Y'all, using genre to tackle serious topics? That's where it's at. Jennifer Givhan's latest novel, Salt Bones, blends horror and mystery to spectacular effect: for beautiful storytelling, social and political commentary, and heartfelt metaphors about community and motherhood. Givhan's story traces the intwined legacies of colonial, ecological, and gendered violence and the resultant multi-generational traumas through an investigation into missing and murdered Chicana and indigenous girls.
Malamar Veracruz is an artesanal butcher in El Valle, a small town on the shores of the Salton Sea in SoCal, where she and her family witness the slow creep of environmental disaster as years of agricultural exploitation and climate change turn the land and air toxic. Mal, her daughters, and their extended family all have distinct relationships to the place, feelings which are complicated by intergenerational violence and trauma. Mal's sister Elena disappeared when she was in high school, as did another young local woman, and when one of Mal's young coworkers goes missing, and a local leyenda of a horse-headed woman begins haunting Mal's dreams, the past and present collide.
This story is a mystery, and it is also full of supernatural elements which are blended throughout the story, creating a deeply unsettling atmosphere and setting. In particular, I appreciated how the supernatural was included so seamlessly here, in a way that didn't necessitate over-explanation but that enhanced the sense of place and its history. The mystery is masterfully constructed, the end gathering all the threads of the story to weave an image of decades of trauma.
I do want to acknowledge that an important part of this book's craft is in its use of Spanglish, English and Spanish alternating beautifully, naturally. I grew up speaking Spanish, and I adored this. But if you don't know Spanish, you will probably have to look some stuff up, and I want you to know that going in so that you can really appreciate it: it is so, so cool that Givhan was able to include it at this volume. It really is an integral part of the reading experience of this book.
Malamar Veracruz is an artesanal butcher in El Valle, a small town on the shores of the Salton Sea in SoCal, where she and her family witness the slow creep of environmental disaster as years of agricultural exploitation and climate change turn the land and air toxic. Mal, her daughters, and their extended family all have distinct relationships to the place, feelings which are complicated by intergenerational violence and trauma. Mal's sister Elena disappeared when she was in high school, as did another young local woman, and when one of Mal's young coworkers goes missing, and a local leyenda of a horse-headed woman begins haunting Mal's dreams, the past and present collide.
This story is a mystery, and it is also full of supernatural elements which are blended throughout the story, creating a deeply unsettling atmosphere and setting. In particular, I appreciated how the supernatural was included so seamlessly here, in a way that didn't necessitate over-explanation but that enhanced the sense of place and its history. The mystery is masterfully constructed, the end gathering all the threads of the story to weave an image of decades of trauma.
I do want to acknowledge that an important part of this book's craft is in its use of Spanglish, English and Spanish alternating beautifully, naturally. I grew up speaking Spanish, and I adored this. But if you don't know Spanish, you will probably have to look some stuff up, and I want you to know that going in so that you can really appreciate it: it is so, so cool that Givhan was able to include it at this volume. It really is an integral part of the reading experience of this book.