Curated by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books)
For today's post, in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, I'm sharing five reviews of books by Latinx authors that we've loved.
This season, to highlight the hundreds of book reviews we already have on our Unabridged site, we plan to feature our book reviews within curated lists. We thought that often, putting together a list of books to choose from can help you if you're looking for a specific type of book whether that be for a reading challenge, mood reading, or a book club. We hope that these curated lists help you, and you can click on each one to dive into the full review!
All reviews are our own, and we're quoting passages from the reviews here for reference. You can follow the link to read more about each selection. If you choose to purchase any of the books, our affiliate links for Bookshop.org and Libro.fm are within the full reviews. If you plan to buy from either of those organizations, we get a small commission when you use our links, and we appreciate your support!
Okay, on with the books!
Benjamin Alire Sáenz's ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE: A Must-Read Book (from Ashley):
"Okay, so a little bit about the book (and why you should bump it up to the top of your TBR stack immediately)... but no spoilers! I promise.
"This story centers on Aristotle (Ari) Mendoza, a Mexican American teenager who is very accustomed to being a loner. His siblings are much older than he is, so he often feels like an only child, and he keeps to himself at school.
"Part of what I find so striking about this novel is the way that Sáenz articulates so clearly exactly what it feels like to be a teenager. To be a bit of both an adult and a child, with those parts battling it out in a body that is neither a child nor an adult. We watch Ari discover pieces of himself as he goes through his journey." Click to read the full review.
Zoraida Córdova's THE INHERITANCE OF ORQUÍDEA DIVINA — A Magical Book Anchored in Reality (from Jen):
"Zoraida Córdova's The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina begins with a letter. Orquídea Montoya is dying, so she calls her relatives to her home in Four Rivers to claim their inheritance. She’s lost touch with most of them, having driven them away with her secret keeping and stubbornness. Still, each has been marked in some way by their relationship.
"Orquídea’s home is fueled by magic, a magic she brought with her when she moved to Four Rivers from Ecuador decades ago. And then she never left. When her family—and especially her grandchildren Marimar, Rey, and Tatinelly—arrive, they find that Orquídea is becoming a tree, transforming as she sits, helpless in the center of her home." Click to read the full review.
Ashley also reviewed this book here!
"Certain Dark Things is full of things I already knew I loved:
"Vampire stories? Check. (I’m such a sucker for them all. Pun belatedly intended.)
"Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s ability to transfer her fabulous, gritty writing from genre to genre? Check.
"A noir alternate history set in Mexico City (in which different species of vampires, of course, play a role)? Check." Click to read the full review.
Daniel José Older’s THE BOOK OF LOST SAINTS (from Jen):
"The book’s narrator is Marisol. A ghost. She is one of three Cuban sisters, two of whom were lost during the Cuban Revolution. Marisol, the youngest, has returned in spirit form to seek vengeance and to discover the truth of her disappearance before her spirit also disappears. She haunts her nephew, Ramón, son of Nilda, planting her memories in his dreams in hopes both of being remembered and of spurring him on to investigate the truth of what happened to her.
"Older’s novel is gritty and real, and Marisol is the perfect narrator for such a book. She doesn’t shy away from sex or nudity or violence. Instead, she embraces all that is life, hungry for vitality and eager to anchor herself to the world in all its beauty and ugliness. She is also inherently curious, eager to take in everything about the people around her, about the home she lost, about the world as it is now." Click to read the full review.
"Paola Santiago is obsessed with the mysteries of the world: how humans can use algae to reduce fossil fuel use, what it's really like in space, why her mother won't let her get a dog, why her family never has enough money. But most of all, she wants to know why she wakes up every night with nightmares about the river.
"With Paola, Tehlor Kay Mejia has written an appealingly authentic twelve-year-old protagonist who is anchored firmly in what is objectively real. When her mother warns Paola about the dangers of the river, Paola scorns her fears because they’re not grounded in science--instead, they’re based in ghost stories, like the one about La Llorona." Click to read the full review.
(A note to our readers: click on the hashtags above to see our other blog posts with the same hashtag.)
Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.
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