Book Summary:
Ladydi Garcia Martinez grew up in a place where no girls were born. Where there were no women, only – that isn't quite true, now is it? She grew up in a place where the world wasn't safe for girls or women, so she was raised to look like a boy.
It's not the start one would expect in life, but it is the life she knew. However, her simple work gets much more complicated as cartels, and others venture ever closer. Worse, it seems like everyone she knows and loves tricke away.
My Review:
Wow. Prayers for the Stolen hits hard. I mean that. Yet there's something about the writing that feels so hopeful and alive, despite all the heavy elements of the story. There's something beautiful about that!
Ladydi is a character that never lingers on the bad. It happens, she acknowledges it, and she moves on. As such, the pacing in Prayers for the Stolen is pretty fast. It's also worth noting that there are no parentheses when characters talk. You'd think that would be off-putting, but you get used to it. It just becomes another quirk of Ladydi's storytelling method.
Long story short, Prayers for the Stolen is worth the read. I'm so glad my book club picked this, as I might not have heard about it otherwise (despite the fact that there's already an adaption for it? How did I miss that?!).
Highlights:
Stream of Consciousness
Adaptation
Coming of Age
Trigger Warnings:
Kidnapping
Rape
Assault/Violence
Child Death
Drugs
Animal Death
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Reviewed by Quirky Cat on
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 10 February, 2023: Finished reading
- 10 February, 2023: Reviewed