Temporada de huracanes / Fernanda Melchor / 2017
A novel so propulsive it's nauseating. This horror begins with the bloated body of a so called bruja showing up dead on the bank of river. The novel traces perspectives of characters around her: a sexually abused 13 year old runaway who she gives abortive medicine; two of the young men connected to her death, who engage in a frenzy of drugs, taboo sex, and petty crimes driven by poverty; the sister of one of these young men, who snitched them out. The rhythm is dangerously enchanting, the language vulgar and geniously encapsulates the idiom of Mexico, and the effect is dazzling and disgusting. It's a hard book to get through, as any book with sexual violence and torture scenes should be. A stunning work of horror and the social realities of Mexico's underbelly. I recommend it to anyone interested in horror, shifting perspectives, Mexican lit, Latin American lit, queer lit, and witchcraft. 4.5/5