Salt Bones fulfills the “family” square on CBR17 Bingo.
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
Salt Bones is a story of myth, which missing girls matter, and cycles of generational pain. I was really excited to read this based on the premise of Persephone and Demeter story through a Mexicali perspective, and this was great. There are so many different mother-daughter dynamics explored, and all of them dealing with different kinds of trauma.
The Veracruz family seems to be cursed because twenty years ago Mal’s younger sister, Elena, went missing and now her younger daughter, Amaranta, has also gone missing. The family has not always dealt well well Elena’s disappearance and Mal’s mother in particular become vicious and blamed Mal for Elena’s disappearance. Now that Amaranta is missing, Mal can understand where her mother is coming from, but also she decides she wants to do better and apologize, as well as continue using techniques her therapist has taught her.
There are so many family secrets as well, from infidelity coming to light because of the stress to who Amaranta and Griselda’s father is. Mal and Gus have been together for years, connected by how they both lost someone they loved and working together to find any evidence of what may have happened to Noemi, Gus’s daughter, and Elena. But because the whole town and community believe Gus is responsible for his daughter’s reappearance and the way his grief has shaped him, they don’t feel able or ready to disclose their relationship and Mal’s daughters’ paternity.
I really loved the mystery of what happened to the girls and the way folklore monsters were part of the story and the resolution. Sometimes what we think of as monsters are really the visions to guide us to an answer. In many ways this is a heartbreaking story, but in the end it’s also full of hope and positivity. These characters are surviving their trauma and finding ways to move forward to a better future, and I love that.