A review by lindentea
The Houseguest: And Other Stories by Amparo Dávila

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I mean sure I was unsettled, but I was also underwhelmed by the writing and annoyed by the editing. Chalk this up to me just not being a short story girlie overall, but I found it hard to get invested or intrigued by most of these short stories (though some of them I did really like, shoutout Moses and Gaspar) and it didn't help that they were 1. vague to the point where a lot fo the abstraction felt more bothersome than eerie and 2. so similar in themes that they blended together. Which brings me to complaint 2: why the fuck, if you're translating a writer's work into a language for the first time, would you not include an introduction, and translators notes, discussions, etc?? Not to be like please-hold-my-hand but hey, tell me the fucking context the writer's working with. I think to not have done so did a great disservice to these short stories, as well as just the general way they were curated/ordered.