Fernanda Melchor

The Witch is dead. And the discovery of her corpse has the whole village investigating the murder. As the novel unfolds in a dazzling linguistic torrent, with each unreliable narrator lingering on new details, new acts of depravity or brutality, Melchor extracts some tiny shred of humanity from these characters--inners whom most people would write off as irredeemable--forming a lasting portrait of a damned Mexican village.

Like Roberto Bolano's 2666 or Faulkner's novels, Hurricane Season takes place in a world saturated with mythology and violence--real violence, the kind that seeps into the soil, poisoning everything around: it's a world that becomes more and more terrifying the deeper you explore it.

Hurricane Season

Shortlisted for the 2020 International Booker Prize Now in paperback, Fernanda Melchor’s Hurricane Season is “a bilious, profane, blood-spattered tempest of rage” (The Wall Street Journal), that casts “a powerful spell” (NPR): “a narrative that not only decries an atrocity but embodies the beauty and vitality it perverts” (The New York Times) The Witch is dead. And the discovery of her corpse has the whole village investigating the murder. As the novel unfolds in a dazzling linguistic torrent, with each unreliable narrator lingering on new details, new acts of depravity or brutality, Melchor extracts some tiny shred of humanity from these characters—inners whom most people would write off as irredeemable—forming a lasting portrait of a damned Mexican village. Like Roberto Bolano’s 2666 or Faulkner’s novels, Hurricane Season takes place in a world saturated with mythology and violence—real violence, the kind that seeps into the soil, poisoning everything around: it’s a world that becomes more and more terrifying the deeper you explore it.

Gelaine Trinidad

Lindy

A strong beginning and ending; gets lost in the middle.

Ruby Huber

Hurricane season made me feel physically ill and so I did not finish it, with only 30 pages left. Before the rly nasty bits tho I started to like the writing style, feeling like it was a running river that I was floating in. Then it ralidly turned into white water rafting and I had to get off the ride. But I think an amazing achievement as far as writing goes!

Soumia Abdallah

this was so gruesome and almost every character was morally apprehensible but somehow so human and the sentences never seemed to end but you almost didn’t want them to cause you knew it would go somewhere horrible and it doesn’t seem right to say this was the most beautiful thing i’ve every read but it was

Alexia Cambaling

​CWs: Homophobia, Transphobia, Underage sex, Pedophilia, Prostitution, Drug Use, Teen Pregnancy, Abortion

​How can I describe Hurricane Season but as a storm? A flurry of words that make up a dark, gritty, and gripping narrative. I've read many books during the first half of this year, a few of them I consider to be some of the best books I've ever read and none could compare to Hurricane Season. One of the most intense books I've read, certainly one of the darkest as well. This is the kind of book which if I ever get around to some sort of fluency in Spanish some day, I'd love to read in the original language. However, as good as Hurricane Season is, it's really difficult to talk about the book and say that I recommend it because it won't be for everybody. 

​The content warnings above aren't for show, be warned. Hurricane Season explores a lot of dark topics and provides a deep dive into the minds of its characters, the good, the bad, and the ugly. There isn't really a black or white kind of morality, but several shades of gray. You get a glimpse into the lives of people who live in the small Mexican town of La Matosa and see the bleakness and the difficulties they face.

​The book is kind of a noir in which in the beginning of the book, a body was found. The body belonged to a woman the townspeople call the Witch, a mysterious woman clad in heavy veils, known for her parties, and folk remedies. She's also known for having helped some women get abortions and in general, she's quite the controversial figure. Her death forms a very important and significant part of the narrative, but I wouldn't necessarily call it a mystery. The who killed her part is insignificant. It's easy to guess who did it from the first few chapters. It's what led to her killing and the circumstances around it which made the story gripping. 

​There are few truly sympathetic characters in Hurricane Season. I'd say that the only one I truly felt sorry for was Norma because she's literally thirteen and shouldn't have been placed in the situation she's in. She isn't perfect but she really wasn't at fault for her circumstances and her story can be at times the hardest to read. All of the other characters I enjoyed reading about. I wouldn't say I hated any of them but I'd say that every character in this book is complex, all shades of gray, not truly good, while also not being all bad either. They have complex motivations, their pasts are explored, you see why they become the way that they are and how their circumstances have shaped them as people.

​Hurricane Season is difficult to read. I've had to put it down at times to reflect on the words in the pages and sometimes I'd think that it's too hard for me to handle, but I just kept pushing. Again, I'll reiterate that the book is a hard read. It goes places I didn't expect and sometimes in shocking ways too. Hurricane Season isn't just difficult because of its subject matter however. It's also a difficult read style-wise. It makes use of very long, winding sentences and explores its characters psyche that way. I titled this review "A Storm of Words" because it feels like that, a storm. A whirlwind of the thoughts and emotions raging through its characters. It's part of what makes the book so difficult, but also rewarding. This kind of style perfectly matches the book and helps set the tone so well.

​Overall, while I loved this book, I have a hard time saying that I recommend it. Normally when it comes to books I love, I'd say yes, I recommend it. However, with this one, I'd say heed the trigger warnings. This book doesn't kid around when it comes to triggering content. It's very harsh and sometimes unforgiving. An excellent book, but definitely not for everybody. It can get very descriptive too, so I'd be wary about that if any of the warnings above is your trigger. A great book, but difficult to recommend.

Teresa Schultz

This was a hard read, both in terms of subject matter (big ol' CW for rape and child abuse and other stuff) but also the technical writing style. Melchor definitely knows what she's doing in how she writes this book - her use of stream of consciousness and run on sentences definitely has a sweeping feel to it, evoking that sense of chaos you would get in a hurricane. On the other hand, it definitely makes it hard to follow what is happening. I think for the most part that the work on the reader's part is worth it - although it does take time to get used to the flow of the writing, ultimately the story that's slowly unraveled is a worthy one. I do wonder if so many run-on sentences were needed, though.

Julia Kouwenhoven

Nina Saarinen

The Witch is dead. And the discovery of her corpse has the whole village investigating the murder. As the novel unfolds in a dazzling linguistic torrent, with each unreliable narrator lingering on new details, new acts of depravity or brutality, Melchor extracts some tiny shred of humanity from these characters--inners whom most people would write off as irredeemable--forming a lasting portrait of a damned Mexican village.Like Roberto Bolano's 2666 or Faulkner's novels, Hurricane Season takes place in a world saturated with mythology and violence--real violence, the kind that seeps into the soil, poisoning everything around: it's a world that becomes more and more terrifying the deeper you explore it.

Hurricane Season

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