I've said it once and I'll say it again - Latinx authors are truly IT. There is so much pain and beauty in our books, it makes me so proud to be a Latina.

I took my time with this one, as I did not want to miss a single thing and I wanted to live in and absorb all of these pages.

This book was gritty but tender and beautiful in it's exploration of all it's characters. Such a human book. I loved every second of it.

THE FIVE WOUNDS is a book with a lot of heart. As someone raised Catholic, I deeply appreciate Catholic culture in literary novels, but I also love the way Kirstin Valdez Quade expands the practice to be relevant to her characters. I loved this family and think of them often.

In her timely novel, Kirstin Valdez Quade introduces readers to a family in a small New Mexico town. Beginning and ending in Holy Week, The Five Wounds spans a year in which 33-year-old Amadeo tries to redeem himself, his martyr-ish mother, Yolanda, hides an illness, and his 15-year-old daughter, Angel, becomes an unwed mother who out-matures all characters combined.

I recently spoke with Kirstin Valdez Quade about the novel and its origins. Here’s our conversation:

Kirstin Valdez Quade’s The Five Wounds is such an amazing read that I want everyone to pick it up so I can talk to you about it! Her characters are flawed, vulnerable, and so completely rendered that I felt like I was inhabiting their point of view. And the writing is just beautiful - wise and sad and hopeful. There were so many moments where I just wanted to sit a while with one of the lines. SO good!

This was a brilliant and beautiful debut! I love an intergenerational family drama and this certainly delivered. I will definitely read the author's future work!

The Padilla family has had their ups and downs...but mostly downs. Amadeo is in his early thirties, an alcoholic, and living with his mother, Yolanda, when he participates in the Good Friday procession as Jesus in the belief that suffering as Christ will allow him to transcend his own despondence. Before the procession, his pregnant teen daughter, Angel, shows up after a fight with her mother. The story follows Angel and her pregnancy and the five generations of the Padilla family.

Initially, I thought this was going to be more of a focus on the procession and the ritual around that, but it was only in the first few chapters of the book and not the sole focus. The novel is written from the POV of Amadeo, Yolanda, Angel, and Angel's teacher, Brianna. The primary focus spans a pivotal year in the Padilla family. Kristen Valdez Quade has created characters who are flawed yet empathetic and endearing and the narrative is beautifully written. Quade is able to touch on the experiences and emotions of her characters that brought them to life. Wonderful book!

Spectacular storytelling! These characters will stay with me for a long, long time. I loved this book.

Ignore the odd-looking cover and dig in.

Special thanks to W.W. Norton & Co for the advanced copy via the NetGalley app.

Impressive debut from Kristin Valdez Quade. I really enjoyed the fact that so many threads of this story were fleshed out well. The novel was rich and complex. I'm going to go back and pick up her short story collection so I can read the story this book was born from. *Advance copy provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Told from three generations of perspectives, this story details a year in the life of one family going through it. Between addiction, devastating medical diagnoses, unplanned pregnancy, parents unable to parent… a lot is happening. This was devastating in the way that everyday life can just gut you… while also equal measures hopeful in that things sometimes just get better too… one small step at a time.

I'm so glad I found this book through Roxane Gay's Audacious Book Club picks. I loved reading about the Southwest US which I don't think is highlighted enough in literature and characters were beautifully drawn.

4.5 stars.

Kirstin Valdez Quade is a fantastic writer. Her ability with imagery is phenomenal and I loved the moments wherein she captured an emotion or idea so succinctly yet powerfully. The characters in The Five Wounds are also complex and at times quite dislikeable, yet very realistic because of it. I also love a family saga and I feel that this took some of the classic tropes of that sub-genre and twisted them on their head, which made this feel fresh and engaging. My one critique is that the novel, given that it's close to 500 pages, did feel like it dragged at times, but the last 50 pages or so really packed a punch in terms of action and character growth. I'm definitely interested in checking out Quade's debut short story collection, Night at the Fiestas, as well as whatever she writes in the future!

Thanks to W.W. Norton and Kirstin Valdez Quade for providing me an advanced copy of this work from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The Five Wounds is available now.

I loved this book. This is great writing, great characters, great story. You know someone is a great writer when the story is about regular people, with flaws, living in a tiny, desert town, and it is the most engrossing story you've read in a while. I'm really impressed with the sense of place and the way she makes New Mexico come alive, as well as with her ability to take on so many topics (teen pregnancy, addiction, cancer, death, family dynamics and misfunction, and have them all come across so realistic, so not preachy... I cannot wait to read her future writing. I'm going to have to look up her short stories now.

I felt kinda meh about this one. Not really connected with the story, even though I did read the whole thing. I would read further books by the author. This one to me is bland.

2/5 Stars

This book was felt extremely slow and tedious, I almost put it down after the first 80 pages. Every time I was tempted to give up on it, it improved a little so I kept at it, but in the end i'm not sure if it was worth it. While the second half of the book was more engaging I still didn't love it. It was very true to life and sad, well written but I didn't love the characters (really any of them), so I didn't care what happened to them (except Angle and Connor).

And still they moved forward. Amadeo Padilla, age 33, lives with his mother, in a small New Mexico town. His pregnant 16-year-old-daughter moves in with them. Amadeo drinks and has lost his driver’s license again because of a DUI. He is unemployed and has no ambition. His mother is the breadwinner, working for the legislature in Santa Fe, but her problems are even worse. She has brain cancer and refuses to tell her family. This excellent character-driven book portrays the challenges many blue-collar workers in an area filled with poverty face. Its family that keeps them together and family that provides the motivation to move forward.

When Tio Tive chooses his 33 year old unemployed alcoholic nephew Amadeo to play Jesus in the Good Friday procession he sets off a series of events and revelations about this small family in Las Penas, New Mexico. Amadeo has been coddled by his mother Yolanda but now he's got to step up for his daughter Angel, a pregnant 16 year old who has fled to his home from her mother Marissa. It's Angel who introduces Amadeo to Briana, her teacher at a school for pregnant girls. Yolanda, who has been holding so much together, must deal with a secret and devastating problem. This family winds in and out of each other. It's tempting to look for parallels in this one which is set (and published) during Holy Week; those more well versed might find more than I did. However, read this as a novel about a family coping with immense stress, addiction, poverty, and marginalization. Don't think it's all dark- there's humor and hope, especially with the birth of Angel's son. It's beautifully written, so much so that you will feel for these people in ways I didn't quite expect. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Terrific read.

What can happen in one family's life in the span of a year? It turns out, a lot. The Five Wounds captures both the mundane, the elevated, and the heartbreaking points in a family life in the span of a year, from one Easter season to the next. There's a lot to be said about the symbolism of it being set around Easter, but much of it is focused on the idea of sacrifice, and how willing we are to sacrifice for our loved ones, for our family.

Through alternating points of view, I found myself both frustrated and in love with the characters of The Five Wounds and how real they were. There was no perfection here. There was generations of teenage pregnancies, drug and alcohol abuse, overdoses, and characters simply struggling to find their way, their direction in the world. I found myself sad but hopeful by the end of it, and profoundly moved by the sheer resiliency of the human spirit and the capacity to keep going, to keep moving forward despite great adversity.

A poignant account of a family in New Mexico who live day-to-day, struggling to have a better life. A story of a Latino family that despite their many individual hardships, comes together in support and love. Well-written and enjoyable.

Finding your way in life and raising a baby are two of the most difficult tasks in life, especially if you are only 15 years old. This novel is filled with hope and anger and joy and sadness and especially love. The characters feel just as real as the New Mexican locale they live in.

Thanks to NetGalley and W.W. Norton Company for the ARC to read and review.

A pregnant teen, her unemployed alcoholic father, and his terminally ill mother struggle to get along with and win over each other while constantly getting on each nerves and keeping secrets.