I stan HARD! This may be the best collection I've read in years. Pick this up ASAP!!
I loved everything about this collection. There were so many lines I re-read over and over again in hopes I will remember them forever.
Mariana Enriquez brings the senses alive with her descriptions of the putrescent. Her addicting stories read like freshly unearthed urban myths and legends, full of yearning, filth and witchcraft. They make me feel gross and I love them for it. Her voice demands your attention. I haven't been this excited about a book in quite some time, and I will greedily consume anything she produces in the future.
In a time when being queer meant (at best) imprisonment under a brutal dictatorship, five women band together in the beginnings of friendship. They create a safe haven in a beach hut along the coast, where they are free to be who they are and love who they want. A triumph, a celebration, and a mourning all in one.
The title will hopefully make you pick this up but I promise this collection is so satisfying, especially the very last short story in this book. Wild!
Ever wonder what happens when a bunch of renowned international writers gather for a weekend? No ego is left un-bruised in this novel. But I promise it's much more than the drama that unfolds between the writers. Mona is a character that will stay with you for a long time.
Blanco was the first openly gay, Latino, immigrant, as well as the youngest person to be the US inaugural poet when he read for Obama's second term. He brings this energy with him in this collection, his beautiful language depicting such heartbreak toward America's tendency for gun violence, racism, and LGBTQ oppression. Throughout, you can see him struggling with the idea of nationhood, digging his way closer to the answer of how to truly love a country.
I could not put this book down. Marisol's spirit visits her nephew Ramon in modern-day New Jersey and prompts him to unearth painful family history and discover what happened to her after she disappeared during the Cuban Revolution. This story is many things - funny, heart-warming, captivating - and it is one of the few books that can make me laugh and cry while reading the same page.
If you have seen Paris is Burning or Netflix's Pose, you should read this book. This story is a fictionalized telling of the real House of Xtravaganza family members as they navigate 1980's New York, from walking in balls to walking the piers. Cassara shows us the dangers that can come with finding one's way in a bigoted society and shines a light on the strength, determination, and humor of these characters who ache to be seen.
If you enjoyed the novel American Dirt, then I DARE YOU to pick this up.
This explores the real lives of undocumented Americans and what they have contributed to this country. You may find yourself surprised to find what they have done for all of us.
