RaveLos Angeles Review of BooksWhen I first heard about Juliana Delgado Lopera’s debut novel, Fiebre Tropical, I was ecstatic. Someone, it seemed, had experienced the same thing I had and wrote a novel about it, and did it in the captivating, riotously funny, code-switching, foul-mouthed voice of Francisca ... a bold, stylistic, and deeply moving examination of generational sadness, deferred desire, and the budding seeds of personal revolution that is entirely their own ... Lopera avoids the easy answer...and her ending suggests that Francisca is bound to make more than a few false starts before finding a path that works for her, but throughout Fiebre Tropical I was struck by the confidence her narrator possessed.
Rebecca Makkai
RaveLos Angeles Review of Books...a heartbreaking meditation on AIDS, loss, and friendship ... By deftly weaving together Yale’s, Nora’s, and Fiona’s stories, Makkai finds surprising resonances across time and experience, offering a timely commentary on the price of memory and the role of art in securing legacies at risk of being lost ... it’s tempting to see The Great Believers as the latest entry in the genre of straight women writing about gay male trauma ... Makkai’s focus here is on recuperating the overlooked history of the women caretakers ... What makes The Great Believers great is Makkai’s skill at uncovering facets of a historical record many of us may feel we already comprehensively understand. What makes it an enduring work of fiction is the elegance with which it transmutes the quotidian...into an evocative time capsule that captures the essence of an entire life.
Ocean Vuong
PositiveThe Los Angeles Review of BooksVuong doesn’t shy away from depicting how nativist fear and suspicion can fill private and public spaces with a language of violence ... But for all his laments, Vuong holds out hope for a life that isn’t defined by fear...Vuong’s major contribution in Night Sky With Exit Wounds is to push back against the inclination to let fear define the exile’s life.
Yann Martel
MixedThe MillionsMartel’s religiosity is a practical an elegant one. There’s much to recommend it on that score. And, who knows? Martel may be right. Ultimately, it may come to pass that the story with God is not only the better story but also the necessary story. Maybe. But I’m still not convinced.
