Review by Booklist Review
Garza's excellent debut paints a rich portrait of the inhabitants of Galveston and other parts of southern Texas. The baseball prodigies, Jess and Luis, the former of whom has a drug-dealing father in prison, are but one strand in a web of interlocking characters. Throughout, Garza plays with voice, chronology, and perspective in a manner reminiscent of Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad (2010). The narrative moves back in time to accompany Mercedes as she crosses the border with coyotes as a child, and then zigzags from character to character, picking at the fabric of each of their histories. Garza also captures the effects of many real events. There are numerous veterans of the Iraq war, and Hurricane Ike looms over much of the novel. Written in lyrical, nearly hypnotic prose that makes the reader feel the Texan humidity, this is a brilliantly plotted, startling, and richly rewarding exploration of the myths that bind people together, generational traumas, and the remarkable adaptability of humans.
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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Garza debuts with an accomplished account of the ties between members of a Galveston, Tex., Filipino and Mexican community as they prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Ike in 2008. Though there are many connected accounts from different points of view, the narrative centers on Carly Castillo, who longs to leave Galveston. After Carly's mother returned to the Philippines without her, Carly was raised by her grandmother Magdalena, who is now declining from dementia. Magdalena tells her they're the descendants of the Karankawa Indigenous tribe, trying to impart a tie to Galveston even as Carly longs to explore life elsewhere. Carly's boyfriend, Jess Rivera, a promising baseball player, helps support his family by working with local fisherman Vinh Pham. Since his father was incarcerated, Jess's mother rarely leaves the house, and the matriarch role has fallen to the eldest of his four sisters, Yvonne. Though readers might have trouble keeping track of the many characters, the strong sense of place carries through no matter who is talking, whether individual characters or a chorus of Filipino church members who scrutinize Carly ("we are afraid that what we suspect is true, that she has a Filipina mother but no Philippines anywhere in her"). This is a worthy love letter to Galveston. (Aug.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Descended from the Karankawas, an Indigenous people of southern Texas, Carly Castillo calls Galveston home but still wants to leave; her parents' abandonment will reverberate painfully as long as she stays there. But boyfriend Jess Rivera, now a seaman, prefers to remain. As friends, family, and coworkers circle this couple, Hurricane Ike looms ferociously on the horizon. With a 75,000-copy first printing.
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