Paradais

Unfortunately, Paradais by Fernanda Melchor is a read that left me somewhat disconnected from the characters and the plot. The narrative was disjointed and difficult to follow, with a large ensemble of characters that were hard to differentiate. While I can see the appeal for readers interested in intense, gritty portrayals of societal issues, I found the writing somewhat weak and the reading experience a bit of a struggle.

Fernanda - you have a depraved mind - and I love you so much, for it.

Hard to put words to how this made me feel. I might have been primed to finish it tonight, and I felt truly cored like an apple by the end. The whole time, Melchor's praise is like a corkscrew to the eye, digging and digging into the nerves until I was left as electric with misery as Polo. Incredible work here. 

My only gripe is that I felt the start was a tad slow, but the whole thing is so short that you're through the whole thing in the amount of time it takes to flinch at the sound of a gunshot. My g-d.