A review by tensepopcorn
Sabrina & Corina by Kali Fajardo-Anstine

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This short story collection is very hard to give a star rating. It had such a strong start, I enjoyed the first three stories. They were sad, yes. This whole collection is about Latina characters and culture in/around Colorado. It didn’t seem like any of the stories connected, I related to a few of the stories but like I said, so so sad. The writing is beautiful, but I would recommend checking out all of the triggers in this one. 

Sugar babies: 5/5 
-Very good and touching characters. 
Sabrina & Corina: 4.5/5
-Hit close to home for me. 
Sisters: 5/5
  • this was probably my favorite story in this collection. I wasn’t expecting it to impact me when reading. 
Remedies: 3/5
  • Again, tragic story but moving. I didn’t really like how it ended. I was wanting more.
Julian Plaza: 3.5/5
  • very very sad. I liked the story but I wanted more. I didn’t like how it ended. 
Galapago: 2/5
  • I really didn’t enjoy this one. I understand the frustration of the main character but still. 
Chessman Park: 3.5/5
  • another sad one. Very good but still lingering and not in a good way. 
Tomi: 3.5/5 
  • this was another good story and probably my third favorite. 
Any Further West: 3/5
  • I really felt bad for the main character, her mother was terrible and really selfish. This one was heartbreaking. It was still great!  “Any Further West” is a great title due to the mother going west but it my opinion she can’t go west ENOUGH. The mother will never have enough space between her and her home. 
All Her Names: 2.5/5 
  • pretty good, not much to say not as good as the last one. I did enjoy the narrator here.
Ghost Sickness: 2/5
  • good but the ending fell way flat for me.  But i think it was about to have a story about the father in another story. 
All and all I’m giving this collection a 3.5 but I’m rounding up to a 4. The audiobook was really well done. I liked all of the narrators. I would probably go back and reread a few stories when I buy the physical version. 
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