At first, I was very invested in the story, wanting to know about Mildred and her otherwordly effects on the town. I was curious about the town itself and the odd people that lived there. However, my attention was rather quickly lost and by the half-way point I’d more or less lost interest. The style of the writing made it easy to get lost and I had a hard time keeping the different characters in order as not only were there so many of them, but there was so little information about what was actually happening that even if I remembered everyone’s name, there’s little chance I remembered who in the hell they even were. Plot wise, it was a challenge to decypher what was going on. Moments were highly disturbing in a way that I normally would enjoy but the imbalance of the style took away from the few elements I did like.

I love travelling through books and read voices I normally wouldn’t, and I feel like I got that feel with this book even if I maybe didn’t connect to the story, I can appreciate reading something completely different from what I usually read.

Set in the Ecuadorian Andes gave this a pretty unique feel to me, and one could tell there is a clear thought behind the book.

A Carnival of Atrocities by Natalia García Freire
Rating: 4/5

This book swept me into its haunting world in the Ecuadorian Andes, where the town of Cocuán pulses with myths, madness, and old wounds. Freire’s writing is mesmerizing, mixing earthy imagery with surreal, almost mythical tones as the story of Mildred—ostracized and wronged—unfolds. The voices of the nine narrators weave together a tale of eerie beauty and tragic weight, reminding me of the poetic intensity of Shirley Jackson or Gabriel García Márquez. It’s not a light read, but if you enjoy dark, atmospheric fiction where reality and folklore blur, this will stick with you long after you close the book.

It’s definitely one of those novels where the language and vibe steal the show over plot. If you’re okay with that, dive in—you won’t regret it!