"The dogs barked.
The sun cleaved the rocks."
- last two lines on page 180

This is a story of two girls coming of age in a working-class neighborhood in the Canary Islands. We follow the narrator's complex feelings of desire, jealously, and interconnectedness with her best friend Isora. This is written from our 10/11 year old narrator's perspective, so words are misspelled and quotations forgotten. The novel follows a non-linear form, as does one's mind. A study of two characters, or rather of our narrator and her study of Isora, there is not "plot." I quite enjoyed reading this book, though I didn't connect with it as much as I was hoping to. Although I understood their purpose, I wasn't the biggest fan of the misspelled words and was kind of taken aback by the frequent sexual references. Developing one's sexuality is a part of coming of age, though the way this book tackled that topic felt like a lot to read. I want to challenge myself to read books that make me uncomfortable in this way though, so overall it was a positive reading experience. I always love reading translated fiction and I am pretty sure this was long listed for the International Booker Prize!