Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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The Lover from the Forest

The Lover by Silvia Moreno Garcia

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I have been interested in reading Silvia Moreno Garcia for a few years. Her Amazon Original was an opportunity to dip my toes into her library. I can mark another passport stamp as she is from Mexico, and the story is set in a mysterious village. CBR15 Passport Challenge: Books from different countries (book 3 of 3) SPOILERS AHEAD! We meet Judith in “The Lover”. She lives in a small village and makes a wish to bring her lover to her. Soon, a hunter named Nathaniel […]

“She had a knack for quiet insurrection.”

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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A fairy tale that is both familiar and new. Plot: Casiopea is living with her grumpy sexist grandfather, timid mother and hostile cousin in effective slavery because her and her mother had no where else to go when her father died. One day she stumbles on a large wooden box. In opening it, she releases a Mayan god, trapped in captivity for decades, and he wants revenge. One problem, she’s now his power source. Shenanigans ensue. I don’t remember quite which review sold me on […]

“In her spare time, she looked to books or the stars for company”

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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Caseopea Tun is basically treated as a servant by her grandfather, cousin, and extended family because her mother ran away and made an ill-advised marriage. Caseopea suffers the indignities mainly because her tyrannical grandfather has promised to leave her some money once he dies. However, during another turbulent row with her spoiled cousin Martín, he reveals that their grandfather has no intention of leaving anything to Caseopea. She feels furious and rebellious, which leads to her opening the forbidden chest at the bottom of her […]

“But then, all children come to hold grudges against their progenitors … Although I have made monsters, I have also performed miracles.”

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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Every time I try to watch The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996 version, as I am an elder millennial, an “Oregon Trail” generation child) all I want is for that movie to be good. It had promise, didn’t it? And yet, each incomprehensible scene devolves into a farce, and anyway I haven’t stayed up long enough to watch a complete movie in several years. I may put it on again tonight, because even if the end is terrible I won’t even be awake to see […]

monsters and miracles in Mexico

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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CBR Bingo Square: In the Wild I do love a good retelling, and early sci-fi seems especially ripe for the revisionist takes, given how centered they are on white male protagonists, and how absent the perspectives of women and POC are. So the idea of Moreno-Garcia’s follow-up to Mexican Gothic being a retelling of The Island of Doctor Moreau was a very appealing one, especially with moving the action to the Yucatan peninsula and engaging with Mexico’s history of indigenous resistance. Carlota, the eponymous daughter, is one of […]

It was always aliens who had built the pyramids. Nobody could conceive of any Indigenous group erecting anything more complex than a hut.

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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I loved Monstserrat (Momo) and Tristán. I think they are my favorite Silvia Moreno Garcia characters. I loved them individually and especially together. I liked, but did not love the story they were in. And it wasn’t so much the plot, because that’s great, but there were times when I was frustrated with the info dumps. I think we got bogged down in detail too many times. Monserrat and Tristán have been friends since they were children, when Monserrat saved Tristán from bullies. Momo is […]



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