The GOOD: Interesting Puerto Rican setting and culture. Neat idea about inherited story-visions. Fun 1970's timeframe.

The BAD: A bit racially motivated. Speaking to classism, but calling it racism. A tiresome topic. A smidge of irritating feminism reactions for no other reason than modern culture over-sensitivity. Shoved in a same sex relationship at 93% with obvious purpose to sneak it in at the end of the book and only to satisfy a diversity bingo checklist. I bailed ( )

"Don't the stories that aren't true say as much about us as the ones that are?...And we won't get into the concept of what truth really is. It's like different cameras all photographing the same object. We all experience events differently and with our own particular angle."

The Storyteller's Death by Ann Dávila Cardinal was December's pick for #ReadPuertoRican book club and it was the sleeper hit I needed to end the year with. Dávila Cardinal brings 1970's Puerto Rico to life with this generational saga full of secrets, ancestral gifts, scandals and magical realism. Ann's storytelling ability weaves this unforgettable tale that hooks you in from the very first sentence. At its conclusion, you are left thinking about the Sanchez family and wondering about everyone's fate.

Not only was the prose in this one beautiful and rich, but the way Dávila Cardinal handled its deep themes was tender and unique. She gave us a family story that uncovered Euro-centrism, colorism, classism, himophobia, machismo, emerging feminism, stigma about storytelling and gifts, and secrets galore. She showed us all the layers that could be hidden in one family across generations and how those secrets have repercussions for future generations.

The character of Isla reminds us that storytelling is as important as the storyteller. She personifies what it means to be an agent of change in your family first and how speaking up is the only way to sustain future generations. To break toxic cycles, one must confront the past head on and call out the negative behavior and traits. It's never too late to right a wrong so seeking out truths is never a wasted feat. She also reminds us about the power of storytelling and the perspective of the storyteller. andIsla embraces the space of unbelonging and carves out a path for herself that brings healing to her family. The magical realism elements added a special touch to the story and really brought the characters and Puerto Rico to life. If you're a fan of family sagas and magical realism, pick this one up. Dávila Cardinal will keep you hanging on her every word. This is definitely one of my top ten 2022 reads. ( )

The Publisher Says: From International Latino Book Award-winning author Ann Dávila Cardinal comes a gorgeously written family saga about a Puerto Rican woman who finds herself gifted (or cursed?) with a strange ability.

There was always an old woman dying in the back room of her family’s house when Isla was a child...

Isla Larsen Sanchez’s life begins to unravel when her father passes away. Instead of being comforted at home in New Jersey, her mother starts leaving her in Puerto Rico with her grandmother and great-aunt each summer like a piece of forgotten luggage.

When Isla turns eighteen, her grandmother, a great storyteller, dies. It is then that Isla discovers she has a gift passed down through her family’s cuentistas. The tales of dead family storytellers are brought back to life, replaying themselves over and over in front of her.

At first, Isla is enchanted by this connection to the Sanchez cuentistas. But when Isla has a vision of an old murder mystery, she realizes that if she can't solve it to make the loop end, these seemingly harmless stories could cost Isla her life.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: A young-adult fantasy-with-mystery that utterly charmed me. When Isla's unusual ability to recall, if that's the word, the stories of her family's past. If it involved one of her ancestors, she can see it! Like she was there! What a fascinating, and honestly useful, paranormal ability to have. She's got a window into her family's past that could be hugely important because, well, History is nothing but His Story and isn't it the greatest thing ever when Her Story can be told?! I was so excited!

"Reality" had to intervene, stupid boring reality!, just like it always does...not everything that happened in the past was pretty. We know this, but Isla can see it because her abuelita, on her death, passed the mantle of being a cuentista, Story-Woman, to her. Suddenly Isla's mother's sad descent into alcohol abuse and her consequent abandonments of Isla with her grandmother in Puerto Rico made more sense...it's never explicitly said, but Isla's mother seems like someone who really couldn't handle the very dark gift of becoming a cuentista. Isla's painful childhood of betrayal and loss and coping with mental illness's consequences uniquely prepares her to cope with the true burden of Remembering her family's history. And it gives her the strength to right old wrongs.

What a great idea, right?! And what a great market to target with this message, that everything that happens to you can be used to build something wonderful if you use it that way; something I truly wish more people were taught from little on up to spike the victim gun we tend to hold at our own heads. Isla's struggles with grief...her own, her mother's...at her father's early death were not dwelt on or minimized. Her mother's ongoing struggles with alcoholism are honestly, forthrightly presented as the major issue they can't help but be, yet aren't sensationalized or pounded into dust as the hobby-horse gets ridden. I was completely delighted with the storytelling voice, as well. In all, this sounds like a five-star rave, doesn't it...so why's there a "4" in front of the "5"?

Because, in service of speed I suppose, Isla faces next to no obstacles in her quest to understand the decidedly mixed blessing of becoming a cuentista. Anyone she needs to speak to, they're still alive and they're available now and they're eager to help. Hmm, that's a bit too easy...then there's the underexamined role of colonialism (internalized and not) inherent in stories about Puerto Rico's past and how that impacts her grandmother's growing up, her mother's choices, the whole kit and caboodle. The stories and their injustices were, it's true, redolent with the issues of racism and colorism, but these factors could have benefited from some further reflection in Isla's viewpoint's evolution. It's a small niggle. And it's way more than outweighed by the delight I felt in immersion into a family whose language world is Spanish-inflected English. This is something I very much enjoy and, while I'm bringing it up to you as a positive, there are readers who won't feel comfortable with it and thus might make their decision to read the story or not on that factor.

On the whole I wish they would take the plunge and get the book from the library. Try the waters! There's nothing to lose except a small investment of time in that case. The strong possibility, in my view, of broadening one's horizons a bit more is well worth the risk. It's a lovely story and Cuentista Dávila Cardinal has the chops to bring you along on one really excellent ride. ( )