¡Hola, mi gente!
I hope y’all are staying safe and hydrated during these stressing days. Today I want to talk about a book I read last month that I ABSOLUTELY loved. I’ve been trying to write this review for a while, but could never get the words to describe it. I finally could piece something coherent, so let’s jump to it!
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, LGBTQ+
Content Warnings: animal violence, on-page graphic violence, injury, death, abuse (both emotional and domestic)
From award-winning author Mark Oshiro comes a powerful coming-of-age fantasy novel about finding home and falling in love amidst the dangers of a desert where stories come to life. Xochitl is destined to wander the desert alone, speaking her troubled village’s stories into its arid winds. Her only companions are the blessed stars above and enigmatic lines of poetry magically strewn across dusty dunes. Her one desire: to share her heart with a kindred spirit. One night, Xo’s wish is granted—in the form of Emilia, the cold and beautiful daughter of the town’s murderous conqueror. But when the two set out on a magical journey across the desert, they find their hearts could be a match… if only they can survive the nightmare-like terrors that arise when the sun goes down.
Hauntingly poetic and unique, Each of Us a Desert was a book that grabbed me from page one. There were times when I just wanted to mark every single page because the writing style is amazing.
The story follows Xochitl, a young girl that lives in Empalme, one of the small cities that came together after the world was completely burnt. She is a cuentista, a person who is destined to take the stories from people and returning them to Solís, the god of this world. If she doesn’t take their stories, the guilt turns into a monster that can kill them once they get too strong. After years of taking the stories of everyone in the city, Xochitl is exhausted, but feels like there’s no way out of this life.
This all changed when the fire nation attacked when one story she takes shakes her entire being. Xochitl starts to wonder about her destiny, her own story… and decides to make a choice for herself for the first time in a long time.
“I wanted it more than anything. To be free of these responsibilities and rules and expectations. I wanted my own life.”
As she runs from Empalme, she confronts the reality that maybe everything the village has told her, everything the village believes, is a lie. Through her journey, she confronts many of her prejudices and the barriers other had raised for her. The story takes us through a journey with Xochitl, making us see how expectations from others tend to shape our lives and how we can discover ourselves when we break free from those chains.
“I believed in myself despite everything that told me not to. Is that really so bad?”
THINGS I LIKED
- I truly loved how atmospheric Oshiro’s writing is, the way it touched important themes and topics, and the world building. The descriptions of the desert and the cities made me feel like I was there.
- The poetry interwoven with the story feels magical on its own; unapolegetically bilingual and full of beautiful images, too.
- The mythology surrounding Solís and cuentistas was super interesting. Los Pálidos, los sabuesos, los guardianes and cuentistas play a vital part in Solís’ play. The relationship between these actors is as important to the story as the characters and their motives: their existences have been marked by fire and blood. It’s imporant to keep in mind that, like Oshiro has explained many times, this is a fantasy book, not a book based in mythology from our world.
- From the way we explored the world created in this book, I was left wanting more. I would love to explore more of the cities mentioned through the book without the sense of urgency of this particular story. It would be great if Oshiro could return to this world later, maybe in a short story or a companion novel, and we could take a better look of one of those far away cities we never visited with Xochitl.
THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE
- I needed 5 more pages to get a better sense of the ending.
- Although I love the writing style, some times I would feel extremely lost because too many things were happening at the same time.
One important thing I have to mention is that Each of Us a Desert is NOT a romance. It has a very small romantic arc, but the romance is not one of the main themes of the book, contrary to what a lot of the things I’d read at that time stated. I actually appreciate this now that I’ve had time to think about the book as a whole, but when I read it I was under the impression that this would be the story of a sapphic romance in a fantasy world and I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get that. Instead, it is the story of a fantasy world with some (mild) elements of sapphic romance. This is not something I didn’t like, but something to keep in mind when one is going into the story.
When I was commenting this book with Gabi (she has a review of the book too!), we both found it a little ironic that the book is mainly about expectations and our expections for the romance where the only things we felt the story fell a little flat.
Overall, Each of Us a Desert was a book that surprised me in the best way. It has stayed in my mind for a long time after reading it. I’ll probably end up rereading it once my finished copy arrives, because the story and the characters have me enchanted. I’m fairly certain that y’all will see this book among my favorite reads of the year.
4.5/5★
I’m really happy that I got to participate in this tour and I’m excited to see what other people thought about the fantastical world Mark Oshiro has created. If you haven’t done it yet, you can register your preorder here before September 14 to receive a beautiful art print with one of the poems in the book.
*Keep in mind that all quotes used in this reviews are taken from the ARC copy. Once I get my finished copy, I’ll check them, but they might not appear on finished books like this.
What’s your most anticipated release of September? Is Each of Us a Desert on your TBR? Let me know in the comments!
Besos,
Linda
Miss Linda Bennet 