kayla_biblioteca 's review for:

Salt Bones by Jennifer Givhan

5.0

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-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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Jennifer Givhan masterfully mixes true crime, family drama, thriller, and folklore in this enthralling story of loss and resilience. Malamar leads a challenging and seemingly haunted life, becoming a mother much too early to her youngest brother and picking up the pieces to become the backbone of her family after the mysterious and tragic disappearance of her sister. Now, decades later, history seems to be repeating itself, with disappearances and the hauntings of La Siguanaba, the horse-headed woman. Is she there as a threat or as a protector? Does she prey on the women of the community or give them guidance? The legends are not clear and Malamar has a lot of conflicting, confusing evidence to work through in her search for the truth. The mix of Spanish and English and the raw emotion of the character’s voices in this book kept me fully engaged and wanting more each time I picked up this book. It was hard to put down, but always exciting to pick back up the next time an opportunity to dive back into the dark and haunting world of the Salton Sea presented itself. If I could read it again for the first time, I would!

Thank you so much to Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for an early copy of this book!