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A review by youreawizardjerry
Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
This was SICK. Textbook and colloquial definition aha🤙 anyways
The almost stream-of-consiousness style of storytelling was difficult to get used to initially, but I gave it another chapter as a last shot at making it work and am glad that I did. In structure alone, Hurricane Season intimately captures the experience of sharing horror stories with friends. Additionally, the atmosphere and dialogue, down to the smallest quips, are crafted with a profound honesty. I've never read anything formally like this before but being Mexican it felt refreshingly familiar (not the subject matter [tho part of it] but the treatment of it) The larger thematics of the book are universal, but it hit strikingly close to home for me in a way I didn’t anticipate. I'm grateful for the opportunity to explore those emotions.
I read a review beforehand that noted this book had some of the most vile descriptions OP had ever read, and I... agree (I read brando's chapter while on the train and had to laugh at the absurdity of the pages contrasted with the morning peace of the commute LOL) But it is infinitely darker than traditional guts and gore of cuentos in this genre and I strongly advise checking the CWs to know exactly what you are signing up for when you open this up expecting just another haunted small town story. There is great sadness and evil in these pages above anything else, depicted in the rawest unrelenting fashion. It is absolutely NOT for a lot of people. 5/5 for the complexity captured and the prose, truly a great feat, especially when considering how easily it could’ve turned into profanity drivel in different hands. In an interview Fernanda said that she’d need therapy after writing this and I have a lot of respect for the authenticity that she reached for even though it strained her to that point. I will definitely read this again, but not for a very long time.
In all La Matosas of the world, there is so much violence where there need not be. If only a handful of things were different. It isn't fair but one day it can be because thankfully, witches never die.
The almost stream-of-consiousness style of storytelling was difficult to get used to initially, but I gave it another chapter as a last shot at making it work and am glad that I did. In structure alone, Hurricane Season intimately captures the experience of sharing horror stories with friends. Additionally, the atmosphere and dialogue, down to the smallest quips, are crafted with a profound honesty. I've never read anything formally like this before but being Mexican it felt refreshingly familiar (not the subject matter [tho part of it] but the treatment of it) The larger thematics of the book are universal, but it hit strikingly close to home for me in a way I didn’t anticipate. I'm grateful for the opportunity to explore those emotions.
I read a review beforehand that noted this book had some of the most vile descriptions OP had ever read, and I... agree (I read brando's chapter while on the train and had to laugh at the absurdity of the pages contrasted with the morning peace of the commute LOL) But it is infinitely darker than traditional guts and gore of cuentos in this genre and I strongly advise checking the CWs to know exactly what you are signing up for when you open this up expecting just another haunted small town story. There is great sadness and evil in these pages above anything else, depicted in the rawest unrelenting fashion. It is absolutely NOT for a lot of people. 5/5 for the complexity captured and the prose, truly a great feat, especially when considering how easily it could’ve turned into profanity drivel in different hands. In an interview Fernanda said that she’d need therapy after writing this and I have a lot of respect for the authenticity that she reached for even though it strained her to that point. I will definitely read this again, but not for a very long time.
In all La Matosas of the world, there is so much violence where there need not be. If only a handful of things were different. It isn't fair but one day it can be because thankfully, witches never die.