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marhill31's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 Stars
I have a soft spot for coming-of-age stories. I don’t have a good explanation for why those stories appeal to me as a reader. But, they do. When I found out about this first novel from Colombian author Gloria Susana Esquivel, I knew I had to read it.
Animals at the End of the World tells the story of a six-year-old girl named Ines growing up in a chaotic house she shares with her mother and grandparents. Ines has an active imagination like most girls her age and uses it to escape the simmering family tensions ready to explode at any time.
Ines meets another girl named Maria and the two form a friendship. At first, Ines comes to rely Maria’s boldness and curiosity as a source of strength in navigating her family dynamics. Also, Maria convinces Ines to leave the family house to see the animals that roam the Bogota streets.
Ines yearns to have a relationship with her father and imagines many scenarios where she could leave her home to live with him. He attempts to have a relationship with his daughter. However, he has own issues and will eventually disconnect from her.
Robin Myers translation reads like a page-turning thriller that I finished in two days. Animals at the End of World is a solid but heartbreaking novella of a young Colombian girl trying to find her way among people who love her but not connected to each other as one would hope for in a family.
I hope this novella finds an American audience and I’m looking forward to reading more of Gloria Susana Esquivel’s fiction translated in English.
I have a soft spot for coming-of-age stories. I don’t have a good explanation for why those stories appeal to me as a reader. But, they do. When I found out about this first novel from Colombian author Gloria Susana Esquivel, I knew I had to read it.
Animals at the End of the World tells the story of a six-year-old girl named Ines growing up in a chaotic house she shares with her mother and grandparents. Ines has an active imagination like most girls her age and uses it to escape the simmering family tensions ready to explode at any time.
Ines meets another girl named Maria and the two form a friendship. At first, Ines comes to rely Maria’s boldness and curiosity as a source of strength in navigating her family dynamics. Also, Maria convinces Ines to leave the family house to see the animals that roam the Bogota streets.
Ines yearns to have a relationship with her father and imagines many scenarios where she could leave her home to live with him. He attempts to have a relationship with his daughter. However, he has own issues and will eventually disconnect from her.
Robin Myers translation reads like a page-turning thriller that I finished in two days. Animals at the End of World is a solid but heartbreaking novella of a young Colombian girl trying to find her way among people who love her but not connected to each other as one would hope for in a family.
I hope this novella finds an American audience and I’m looking forward to reading more of Gloria Susana Esquivel’s fiction translated in English.
misterhorse's review against another edition
5.0
María debía entender que yo no era la niñita débil que había conocido. Ahora era Inés animal valiente. Había perdido tres dientes más y podía sumergirme en el fondo de una piscina y aguantar la respiración por diez segundos. (...) Era Inés fiera. Inés submarina. Inés halcón-tiburón martillo.
noide127's review against another edition
2.0
Me da un poco bastante de ansiedad. El lenguaje es muy... elaborado/onírico/poético para mi gusto, cae en lugares comunes.
australisima's review against another edition
4.0
Hace tiempo que no me enganchaba con la mente de un personaje como me enganché con la mentecita de Inés. Pude identificarme con las ideas absolutas que se viven en la infancia, como el terror que le tenía al fin del mundo, la desesperación por la imagen paterna, o las visiones sobre la amistad con María. La voz de Inés como narradora es deliciosa, te lleva de la mano a jugar en el encierro de su casa en Bogotá y te deja la sensación de lo irrecuperable del tiempo transcurrido desde que tú mismo fuiste Inés.
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