millhousethecat 's review for:

Salt Bones by Jennifer Givhan

4.5

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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It may not look like Mal Veracruz has much to show for her life, living on the outskirts of the bubbling, sulphuric remains of the Salton Sea, but she’s done her best.

Despite the frightening, sudden disappearance of her sister, Elena, when they were kids, Mal has become a skilled butcher and raised two daughters on her own. She cares for her parents, supports her brothers, and carves out small pieces of time for herself.

But when another local girl - and then another - goes missing, old wounds, deeply ingrained fears, and  La Siguanaba, the horse headed woman - plague Mal’s every moment.

The town, the lake, these things have been overrun by rich white men, like the Callahans: father, son, and grandson. They destroyed the lake with farm runoff but continue to thrive through questionable means. 

Mal and her daughters, Griselda and Amaranta, are pulled into the sphere of these men, and as they fight to extricate themselves, they discover long held secrets that could destroy each and every one of them.

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Holy. Cow.

Billed as a retelling of Persephone and Demeter, combining Latina and Indigenous culture, this book is gripping and twisty and completely surprising.

The storytelling is beautiful and complex, examining motherhood, familial ties, and the death of land once held sacred.

It’s got elements of crime fiction, horror, magical realism, and family drama - each so well crafted, like puzzle pieces locked together, waiting for you to put the last in place. 

Mal is fierce and flawed and one of the best female protagonists I’ve read in recent memory. She is poetic and raw and I fell in love with her.

Vibe check: True Detective: Night Country and Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng