Reviews

The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James

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sparksbooks's review against another edition

4.0

I think this was the first western I’ve read in a long time and it has me wanting to check out more from this genre. There was a certain magic to the dual storylines of Antonio and Jamie Sonoro happening about 70 years apart. Both grandfather and grandson felt larger than life in their own ways - as a bandido and a movie star. I love how Jamie became more and more obsessed with finding out the true story of his grandfather, despite his father protesting this and arguing against wanting to learn more about the man - due to some very clear trauma caused by the man.

The story grips you tight and leaves you holding onto your cowboy hats as it takes you jaunting across Mexico and Texas, through a heist gone bad, border disputes, Texas Rangers, and healing and spiritualism that consume the latter part of Antonio’s story. Jamie learning about the cosmic debt and who ends up paying the dues is fantastically revealed and the icing on the cake of this beautiful story.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for my copy of this book as a #SimonBooksBuddy.

skytrenches's review against another edition

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3.5

This is really out of my comfort zone haha but i thought this was super well written! I guess I thought the jamie timeline was unnecessary?

jehnya's review against another edition

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4.0

Such an atmospheric read! I could easily imagine the setting of this book. I had this in audiobook form, but would like to pick up the physical book and re-read it to really take in the writing style. I think it would make an amazing movie.