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Book Review: Jawbone by Monica Ojeda translated by Sarah Booker

cover art for Jawbone by Monica Ojeda

Jawbone by Monica Ojeda., translated by Sarah Booker

Coffee House Press, 2022

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1566896214

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

Bookshop.org  | Amazon.com )

 

Fernanda wakes up, disoriented, to discover she has been kidnapped by Miss Clara, her literature teacher. Figuring out how she got there is the first step in navigating a twisty narrative.

 

Fernanda, her close friend Anne, and their friends had found an abandoned, isolated house where they told horror stories, participated in violent dares, and worshipped the White God (as friend groups of teenage girls do). Fernanda and Anne pushed their limits further than the other girls, but Fernanda finally reaches hers.

 

Anne is forced to take extra lessons from Miss Clara after the teachers discover an irreligious drawing of an insect god in drag. Miss Clara has closely modeled herself on her mother and has anxiety and frequent panic attacks that result in repetitive and neurotic behaviors and self-harm, making her a perfect target for Anne, who is angry with Fernanda for drawing boundaries. Anne uses her conversations and assignments with Miss Clara to manipulate Miss Clara’s anxieties and turn her focus on Fernanda as a villain victimizing Anne…

 

The writing varies in style. Parts of the book record Fernanda’s therapy sessions; conversations between Anne and Clara;  and a long essay on “white horror” by Anne for Clara. Others get into the mental state of Clara or Fernanda which are quite disorienting, vivid, and sometimes gut-punching, with insect and body horror. The descriptions of physical responses to anxiety and panic attacks are hard to read. It gets harder and harder to trust any perception of events.

 

There is so much left to the imagination that it creates a real sense of unease. The violence keeps escalating but a lot of it happens off the page. This is generally effective but left me confused with the ending. There is so much left to the imagination that it creates a real sense of unease.

 

This is far from being a straighforward narrative, Readers who enjoy experimental narratives and unreliable narrators will find much to recommend it, though. ,.

 

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

 

Editor’s note: Jawbone was a finalist for the 2022 National Book Award in Translated Literature. 

Book Review: True Story by Kate Reed Petty

cover art for True Story by Kate Reed Petty

True Story by Kate Reed Petty

Viking, 2020

ISBN-13 : 978-1984877680

Available:  Hardcover, Kindle edition, audiobook Bookshop.orgAmazon.com )

 

Alice Lovett is a strong, damaged character who survives by way of the life of a ghostwriter. It’s a thankless job, yet one she seems to relish. Living out the fantasies, triumphs, and tragedies of others might keep her sane.

 

It might help keep her own demons at bay.

 

True Story alternates between formats: narrative, screenplay, journal, and others: as the reader can discern, it might be a welcome defense mechanism against the horror that occurred one fateful evening when Alice was a teenager. The inventiveness of the novel, including the horror movie scripts where Alice displays her inner turmoil in a safe manner, makes it an entertaining read, as the forms come flying at the reader in a dizzying speed, yet each one fits perfectly into place in this puzzle of a story.

 

During a party in 1999 when the high school team celebrated their championship victory, Nick Brothers encountered Alice. Did something terrible happen?

 

Nick denies it. Alice can’t remember anything from the evening. However, the demons plague her. Nick and Alice both unravel over the course of the next sixteen years. With Nick devolving into alcoholism, and Alice struggling to trust anyone, life is bound to collide in disastrous ways.

 

While not a horror novel, True Story is an effective psychological thriller that mixes in other genres well and carries a strong message.

 

This one deserves all the accolades.  Recommended.

 

 

Reviewed by David Simms

 

Editor’s note: True Story is a nominee on the final ballot for this year’s Bram Stoker Awards in the category of Superior Achievement in a First Novel.