Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - The Bullet Swallower

Title: The Bullet Swallower
Author: Elizabeth Gonzalez James
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 3.25
Pub Date: January 23, 2024

I received a complimentary eARC from Simon & Schuster Canada via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted

T H R E E • W O R D S

Dark • Bloody • Entertaining

📖 S Y N O P S I S

In 1895, Antonio Sonoro is the latest in a long line of ruthless men. He’s good with his gun and is drawn to trouble but he’s also out of money and out of options. A drought has ravaged the town of Dorado, Mexico, where he lives with his wife and children, and so when he hears about a train laden with gold and other treasures, he sets off for Houston to rob it—with his younger brother Hugo in tow. But when the heist goes awry and Hugo is killed by the Texas Rangers, Antonio finds himself launched into a quest for revenge that endangers not only his life and his family, but his eternal soul.

In 1964, Jaime Sonoro is Mexico’s most renowned actor and singer. But his comfortable life is disrupted when he discovers a book that purports to tell the entire history of his family beginning with Cain and Abel. In its ancient pages, Jaime learns about the multitude of horrific crimes committed by his ancestors. And when the same mysterious figure from Antonio’s timeline shows up in Mexico City, Jaime realizes that he may be the one who has to pay for his ancestors’ crimes, unless he can discover the true story of his grandfather Antonio, the legendary bandido El Tragabalas, The Bullet Swallower.

💭 T H O U G H T S

I don't recall how The Bullet Swallower ended up on my radar, yet it was on my list of 2024 releases to check out. It took me longer to get to than I originally expected, partly because I was waiting to borrow the audio version from the library. The synopsis sounded like something I would do better tandem reading, so that's what I did.

Spanning generations, the story is told from two separate timelines and tackles racism, border politics, intergenerational trauma, and the lasting impact of colonization, all while being loosely based on the author's own grandfather. It's a story of revenge and redemption at its core, while also telling the history of a cursed family.

The action scenes were well developed and intense, however, there was definitely a lull in the pace between these scenes. The magical realism aspect took me by surprise, yet it fits the tale. However, my main issues with the storyline is how this magical element didn't feel as fully developed as it needed to be. In my opinion, if you're adding this type of element to a story it needs to be done with intent and full development.

The Bullet Swallower is certainly entertaining, yet it somehow left a lot to be desired. The plot itself wasn't highly memorable and I'll be hard pressed to recall much about it down the road. I can understand the polarizing reviews on this one, as it definitely isn't going to be for everyone. The writing itself was solid, so I would definitely be willing to read something else written by Elizabeth Gonzalez James in the future.

📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• family sagas
• westerns
• magical realism elements

⚠️ CW: violence, gun violence, murder, death, child death, animal death, grief, blood, gore, racism, racial slurs, colonialism, injury/injury detail, xenophobia, alcohol, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempt, suicide, pregnancy, infidelity, police brutality, torture, cursing

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"The past is not so far away as you might think, nor the future for that matter. No man lives free from history."

"Kindness is its own reward," she said, "but cruelty is a self-inflicted wound."

Content Warnings

sydneynorman's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

4.0

Finished reading: June 24th 2024

"Time does not move forward. It circles, spirals, pivots, and repeats. Echoes of another's memories live within us, impelling us around and around, ensuring that the story closes itself, that the pattern resounds, that the picture from up high is a shape infinitely repeating."

REVIEW

[Family sagas can go both ways for me, but I couldn't help but adding The Bullet Swallower after reading the blurb. Western meets magical realism; such an intriguing combination! I've seen this story being compared to Gabriel Garcia Marquez... A dangerous comparison, but I think in this case it's justified as it does have that same lyrical prose and magical feel about it all. The magical realism itself isn't too overpowering though, and instead The Bullet Swallower is mainly a mix of a family saga spanning generations, a proper western including your bandit anti-hero and a story about revenge and redemption. The story uses a dual timeline structure, switching between 1895 featuring Antonio Sonoro (El Tragabalas) and 1964 with his grandson Jaime Sonoro. Dual timelines can also go both ways for me, and I did prefer Antonio's POV as it was simply more riveting, but I liked how the two completemented each other. The switches between the timelines were a bit abrupt at times and the pace itself was slower than expected, but as a whole there is no doubt that the story was still able to keep me under its spell until the very end. The writing itself was beautiful, and one to be savoured instead of rushed through in order to fully appreciate it. I know this isn't my usual read, but I'm so glad I gave The Bullet Swallower a chance!

Content Warnings

thedailyhailey's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The arc of the main historical character (Antonio Sonoros) is action packed and interesting. It’s definitely the most compelling part of the book. The modern arc is slower and seems to have a lot more internal focus. I think the whole book could have just been the historical arc and it would’ve been as good if not better, but the last chapter finally ties the two together and does a decent job justifying the modern arc. I just think it could have been more compelling or interesting earlier. Over all an enjoyable and unique story.

Content Warnings

judassilver's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

autonomous_lass's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

tak_everlasting's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

i loved the writing style, even though i found it a bit distant. the plot was interesting and really got me thinking, even though it is (necessarily) gory. the concept of

history being a spiral rather than a straight line always moving toward better and nicer things

is important to consider.

i knocked a star off because i found the characterization of women in this to be very stilted. it's not a first person point of view either, so i found it a bit strange that we are meant to sympathize fully with a man who, by his own repeated admission, drinks, has sex with other people, regularly abandons his wife and family, and refuses to devote himself to the job he has chosen (farming) because he finds it boring.

meanwhile, his wife works the land they have, stays home with his kids, and accepts him whenever he shows up for a few days in between his adventures. she accepts him back every time, after a brief fight over where he's been, because she is a Good Wife who doesn't exist outside of her relevance to her husband. he doesn't even consider the unfairness of this himself

until the end of the book, by which point this is no longer relevant and only contributes to his growth of becoming a better person.

and yes, i understand that this is par for the course in westerns, but that doesn't make it less exhausting. i'm not asking for anything extreme, like her becoming a bandit herself, just that she be allowed to have a breaking point, some limit to her saintly forgiveness.

this pattern of characters that exist to fill a role that they cannot escape from is repeated in other characters, which makes anyone besides the leads rather uncompelling. they must serve the main character, at the expense of their own existence.

which isn't entirely a bad thing, and does in some ways lend to a nuanced reading of the book. it's also tied to the magical realism of it all. but if, like me, you read because you enjoy connecting to the characters, you're pretty much out of luck.

Content Warnings

blair_w's review against another edition

Go to review page

Even though it is a short book it felt dragged out. It just wasn’t holding my attention so I chose to drop it.

Content Warnings

More...