Ferocious ... It is in Iglesias’ stark, authoritative, sometimes surprisingly beautiful descriptions of the grit and pessimism of urban Puerto Rico that his prose turns electric.
Sometimes these fantastical flourishes don’t work alongside Iglesias’ gritty reality. At other times, they help lighten dark episodes. Certain bloody scenes are too long and too lurid, but when Iglesias gets the balance right there is no denying the raw, visceral power of his prose and the relentless driving force of his narrative.
The novel’s grittiness is balanced by language which contrasts the beauty of the island with its dangers, both seen and unseen ... Iglesias has crafted a coming-of-age story that blends friendship, vengeance, and mysticism in beautifully written prose that demonstrates the thinness of the boundary between the spiritual world and grim reality.
