Name: Sabrina & Corina
ISBN: 9788899767631

Kali Fajardo-Anstine

Sabrina & Corina

Shelby Doherty

Kali Fajardo-Anstine's magnetic story collection breathes life into her Indigenous Latina characters and the land they inhabit. Set against the remarkable backdrop of Denver, Colorado-a place that is as fierce as it is exquisite-these women navigate the land the way they navigate their lives- with caution, grace, and quiet force. In "Sugar Babies," ancestry and heritage are hidden inside the earth, but have the tendency to ascend during land disputes. "Any Further West" follows a sex worker and her daughter as they leave their ancestral home in southern Colorado only to find a foreign and hostile land in California. In "Tomi," a woman returns home from prison, finding herself in a gentrified city that is a shadow of the one she remembers from her childhood. And in the title story, "Sabrina & Corina," a Denver family falls into a cycle of violence against women, coming together only through ritual. Sabrina & Corinais a moving narrative of unrelenting feminine power and an exploration of the universal experiences of abandonment, heritage, and an eternal sense of home.

Stories

Sabrina and Corina

my first meander into short stories (I told sara I wasn’t hot enough to read story collections and she said you’ll never get there if you don’t try so here I am). i didn’t like that they were over so quickly! i like having time with characters i like getting to know them and the women in the stories i would very much like a little more time with. but also it’s writers like fajardo-anstine that make me especially wonder how i would be described in a book she is SO good with words. each little snippet brought new life and new sadness i listened to much of this on walks and then on a train and was thoroughly in Denver wherever she wanted me

Jules 

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • Latinas of Indigenous descent living in the American West take center stage in this haunting debut story collection—a powerful meditation on friendship, mothers and daughters, and the deep-rooted truths of our homelands. “Here are stories that blaze like wildfires, with characters who made me laugh and broke my heart.”—Sandra Cisneros FINALST FOR THE STORY PRIZE • FINALIST FOR THE PEN/ROBERT W. BINGHAM PRIZE FOR DEBUT SHORT STORY COLLECTION Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s magnetic story collection breathes life into her Latina characters of indigenous ancestry and the land they inhabit in the American West. Against the remarkable backdrop of Denver, Colorado—a place that is as fierce as it is exquisite—these women navigate the land the way they navigate their lives: with caution, grace, and quiet force. In “Sugar Babies,” ancestry and heritage are hidden inside the earth but tend to rise during land disputes. “Any Further West” follows a sex worker and her daughter as they leave their ancestral home in southern Colorado only to find a foreign and hostile land in California. In “Tomi,” a woman leaves prison and finds herself in a gentrified city that is a shadow of the one she remembers from her childhood. And in the title story, “Sabrina & Corina,” a Denver family falls into a cycle of violence against women, coming together only through ritual. Sabrina & Corina is a moving narrative of unrelenting feminine power and an exploration of the universal experiences of abandonment, heritage, and an eternal sense of home. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Public Library • Kirkus Reviews • Library Journal “Sabrina & Corina isn’t just good, it’s masterful storytelling. Fajardo-Anstine is a fearless writer: her women are strong and scarred witnesses of the violations of their homelands, their culture, their bodies; her plots turn and surprise, unerring and organic in their comprehensiveness; her characters break your heart, but you keep on going because you know you are in the hands of a master. Her stories move through the heart of darkness and illuminate it with the soul of truth.”—Julia Alvarez, author of How the García Girls Lost Their Accents “[A] powerhouse debut . . . stylistically superb, with crisp dialogue and unforgettable characters, Sabrina & Corina introduces an impressive new talent to American letters.”—Rigoberto González, NBC News

alina s

the writing is incredible but it took me so long to get through this. the pacing is slow

mighty dragon 

Kali Fajardo-Anstine's magnetic story collection breathes life into her Indigenous Latina characters and the land they inhabit. Set against the remarkable backdrop of Denver, Colorado-a place that is as fierce as it is exquisite-these women navigate the land the way they navigate their lives- with caution, grace, and quiet force. In "Sugar Babies," ancestry and heritage are hidden inside the earth, but have the tendency to ascend during land disputes. "Any Further West" follows a sex worker and her daughter as they leave their ancestral home in southern Colorado only to find a foreign and hostile land in California. In "Tomi," a woman returns home from prison, finding herself in a gentrified city that is a shadow of the one she remembers from her childhood. And in the title story, "Sabrina & Corina," a Denver family falls into a cycle of violence against women, coming together only through ritual. Sabrina & Corina is a moving narrative of unrelenting feminine power and an exploration of the universal experiences of abandonment, heritage, and an eternal sense of home.

Fraser Simons

This would have been an easy 4, or maybe even 5 stars for me had it felt a bit more cohesive and even. Some stories are definitely incredible and those contrast with some others where the characters or voice or premise felt tacked on or less substantial. When it’s at its best this is rooted so well thematically and with vivid concrete details that communicate so much, so well. 

The problem with short story collections is that for me to get the same enjoyment I need a solid through line and quality, which is just hard to do when it’s so many different stories of varying goals. Plenty would be strong decoupled from this format and those strongest ones, I feel, would drive the intent of the book much better without the extra weight.

Flavia Louise

3.225 stars on average
I usually struggle with short story collections and I did with this one as well. Some stories I really liked - Sugar Babies and Ghost Sickness were my favorites - others I didn't like as much.

Jeff Brown 

A very well done collection of short stories. It was the story of "Sabrina & Corina" that first hooked me. After that, almost every one I read, I liked more than the previous one. One day, hopefully soon, I will reread this. 

Each story had its own set of sad circumstances that keeps pushing you on to read -- only to leave you wanting more. It makes you wish they were novellas instead of short stories. They were that compelling. 

The stories are about Latina and/or indigenous women living in an area of Denver. Sometimes they leave, sometime they want to or do return home. Their everyday realities are marked by many social injustices: poverty, racism, sexism, addiction, parental neglect, emotional and physical abuse. The situations sound bleak, but the author writes the stories in a way that isn't overly depressing to read. It is a must-read.

Likes:
- There is a very strong overall theme to this collection and you can easily see how all of these stories are related and why they merit being included in the same collection.

Dislikes: 
- Did not feel emotionally invested in any of the stories or characters. Felt like the endings were quite abrupt and not fully fleshed out.
- There was a lot of hype for this book and I was really excited to get the chance to read it. Overall I felt disappointed
- I felt like sometimes it was hard to distinguish who is who. I also found it hard to read two different stories back to back, as I could get confused about the characters and plot.
- Lots of Goodreads reviews say that this book is very sad, and because of this difficult to read. While I do think that all of the stories and their topics are sad, I never felt emotional while reading these stories.

Erin 

You know. I really like Denver. Which is not something I ever expected, but here we are. 

Sugar Babies: 3.5 stars. I really liked this one, but I think this author has a lot more potential. Really looking forward to the rest of the collection. 
Sabrina & Corina: 4 stars. Really quite sad actually. 
Sisters: 3 stars. I don't really know how I feel about this one. It's not my favourite. 
Remedies: 5 stars. I really liked this one, it was heartwarming in a way. 
Julian Plaza: 4 stars. It's always interesting when a parent works in a nursing home. 
Galapago: 5 stars. I liked this one a lot. 
Cheesman Park: 5 stars. This one was excellent. 
Tomi: 4 stars. I didn't think I would like it, but here we are. 
Any Further West: ? stars. I read this 20 minutes ago and could not tell you a thing about it. 
All Her Names: 3 stars. Fine. 
Ghost Sickness: 3.5 stars. These last few stories have really felt like they've dragged on.

Sabrina & Corina

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