Review: Each of Us a Desert

Each of Us a Desert by Mark Oshiro
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Mark Oshiro's second novel is a fantasy in which protagonist Xochitl (pronounced "Sō-chi") has inherited the onerous position of cuentista in her village of Empalme. The cuentista is a role similar to a confessor with a dash of therapist. She listens to the stories, confessions, fears, sorrows of her fellow villagers and then releases them to Solís, the sun god, acting as a conduit for their absolution. A role she neither sought or wants, Xochitl longs to break away and find a different life for herself.

This is on the one hand a beautiful novel of self-discovery encouraging young people to follow their dreams to make the best of themselves and their opportunities to lead fulfilling lives, not being shackled by the expectation of others. I loved Xochitl and Emilia and the road they travel together. And I also loved the gorgeous line drawings denoting location and time of day that head various chapters. But linguistically, I was frustrated by this novel. There is such a hash of Spanglish (and no glossary, so I strongly suggest reading on an eReader like Kindle if you're not a Spanish speaker, so you can look up translations not made in the course of the text more easily) and I was bothered by the actual colloquial use of some of the terms, such as cuentista, which means "liar" in Castillian Spanish. As a Latina reader, I'm frankly increasingly bothered by the Spanglish mashup in books for young people. I feel it just deteriorates a beautiful language reducing it to catchphrases for the English speaking population. I know that's not the author's intent, but it's my reaction to the style. Sorry but es mi veridad.

Overall, a beautiful story, albeit in a style I personally found frustrating.

The audiobook, which I'm listening to on release day, is beautifully narrated by Frankie Corzo.

I received a paper and digital review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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