Have you read a book and thought, “Well. Now what about that?” You are not sure what you are feeling about it. Oh, you know it is not a “I disliked this,” but is it a “I liked it” read? Amazona was like that for me.
Canizales story (translated by Sofia Huitron Martinez) is a multiple layered story about how Columbia’s actions against their native population and the land affect everyone; and not just in their country, but worldwide. There were several bumps for me due to the lack of color in most of the images (red is used in several places, but not always in a way you might think). This made it hard to sometimes realize who is who, who was speaking, or even to feel out the personality of a character at times. Some all black images, while important, make some of the plot points lost. This literal black-out, felt forced.
Everything is emotional. In fact I probably should just put “Emotional” in all caps, or at least in that upper case E. While we follow the character Andrea, as she returns to her village to bury her daughter. However, she has a deeper purpose, too. Everything feels realistic, if not a bit surreal at times as well. This mixture of these opposites fit the idea of the indigenous person’s journey to connect to the past, their roots and the now. While also having a connection to the land. But the reality is that this is a real thing that happened/happens/happening. The people are killed, thrown from their homes, and the land is ripped apart for gold (literal and figurative).
The issues I have had up to this point are nothing compared to the plot point (spoiler) where a character from Andrea’s past is conveniently there to help her. Though it was a strong plot twist, it was not altogether believable. Some slurs are used, showing of the acts of violence, the infant in the box, and a sexual situation are shown, yet almost everything feels as if it is there for painting the scene and not for gratuitousness.
