Thank you to the author Elizabeth Gonzales James, publishers Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of THE BULLET SWALLOWER. All views are mine.

“Let me tell you,” the Idiot concluded, “the Americans want everything in Mexico except the Mexicans.”

Antonio said a silent prayer and begged one more favor: Don’t let me die in Texas. p50

Great characters, great story, engaging style, great ending. I don't say this very often, but this is a perfect book, if you happen to be looking for a historical western. I read this book last year and it just washed over me. At the time, I didn't get along with the challenging style. I'm glad I waited to read it again, because this reading experience was top notch.

Contemporary westerns aren't quite the same as their predecessors, especially in thar they tend to incorporate elements from more popular genres now. THE BULLET SWALLOWER reads like a pure Western, with all the tropes– dazzling descriptions of the sky and setting, witty and dangerous repartee, horses, men with guns, and of course animal cruelty, because the 1800's were hard on every living thing. Reading this book was like watching my first western, when I was a young girl, the magnificence and tangibility of that world draws me right in.

I can't recommend this book enough. When you reach the end, don't skip the Author's Note! In it, Gonzales James writes about her family’s history, how their story and her book correlate, and details from her research. It's very interesting and entertaining info!

I recommend this book to fans of complex characters and morally ambiguous characters, history and historical fiction, memoirs, gunplay, wit, and magical realism.

“The past is not so far away as you might think. Nor the future, for that matter. No man lives free from history[.]” p136

Transcendence wasn't a plot device; it was real. p233

Three (or more) things I loved:

1. I love that Gonzales James uses humor to deal with really heavy subjects, like racism: Antonio was wanted for cattle and horse theft, smuggling, fence cutting, murder, and a dozen other charges culled from the wanted posters of other bandidos and pinned to him under the legal statute of “they all look alike.” p22 The humor makes these salient points more accessible for readers.

2. He was bitter about not having stolen more, but he enjoyed the chase, the escape. Life without these little frictions was too gray. p44 I think I understand this man, even relate to him, even though we are so different and I also find him inaccessible. It's good character work, to write someone so complex!

3. One of the reasons I adore sibling stories is that there is so much organic tension between siblings, like this: [It] still infuriated Antonio that he could neither make his brother tougher nor make the world kinder. p49

4. I love stories that acknowledge the emotional toll of violence: But as he brought his hand down to reveal the gash, which seemed to open wide and slowly swallow the bottom half of his face like a sinkhole, he knew the wound ran far deeper than the path the bullet had traced.

5. Death had been the process of splitting apart, and so life must be the process of being made whole. p204 This concept repeats and the effect is amazing.

6. This story is based on the author's grandfather's story. I love that Gonzales James writes very realistic scenes about the creation and sale of this very story, only as a movie. She's taken this family detail and turned it into brilliant metafiction.

7. I love the development of Remedio's character, he's fascinating. I don't want to say more because I'll spoil this wonderful book for you if I do!

8. I strongly recommend the Author's Note at the end of the text, in which the author writes about her family history and her research. It really accentuates the reading experience!

Three (or less) things I didn't love:

This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.

1. This prose is dense. It's going to be a long read. *edit It was a long read, but fantastic also. Still a challenging book.

2. Not a fan of the dual timelines in this one. The "present" storyline isn't as interesting as the "past" storyline. So far, I can't discern how the two timelines relate. *edit This stylistic choice becomes clear at the book's conclusion.

3. Content warning for animal suffering and cruelty to animals.

Rating: 🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎 /5 horses with hard lives
Recommend? Yes! You need this book!
Finished: Sep 17 '24
Format: Digital arc, Kindle, NetGalley
Read this book if you like:
🏜 The West
🐴 horses
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 family stories, family drama
🌤 redemption stories
🪞 metafiction
🩶 morally complex characters

I really tried with this book. I was actually also sent a physical copy from a book subscription I have but I just could not get into it. The plot was just not for me. I don't think that the story is bad, nor the writing. It's just not every book is for every person.

Thank you to Netgalley, Simon & Schuster, and the author for the ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Magical realism, but a Western? Dual timelines and historical fiction about a time and place new to me? Sign me up! Perfect for fans for Paulette Giles and character-driven stories.

The prose was definitely beautiful, even with as bloody and gory as it was at times.

Some of my favorite lines:
You all’ve shit on the wrong porch.
Men were most inventive when they were devising ways to be wicked.
‘Rinche, pinche, cara de chinche,’
Cuando vino el alambre, vino el hambre— when the wire came, so did the hunger.

From the Author's Note:
Everything in this book is true except for the stuff I made up.

The Bullet Swallower is part magical realism western, part family saga that examines if we are responsible for the sins of our ancestors. This immersive story follows two Mexican men through the generations; in the 1800s we ride along with Antonio on an epic quest for revenge amidst the brutality of the Mexico-Texas border and in the 1960s we witness Antonio’s grandson Jaime grapple with his family’s malevolent history. To make matters more interesting, a mysterious “shadow” figure follows them to collect their family’s cosmic debt. Despite their flaws, I was so invested in these characters and was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would become of them. The dual timelines brought everything together seamlessly. This sweeping tale is incredibly well-written, engaging, and I really enjoyed the historical details. Highly recommend!

“The past is not so far away as you might think. Nor the future, for that matter. No man lives free from history.”

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! Elizabeth Gonzalez James writes a story that is full of both mysticism and realism! And it is wonderful! The Bullet Swallower is based on stories about her great grandfather, Antonio Gonzalez. In the book he is Antonio Sonoro., also known as El Tragabalas. Antonio is the worst kind of bandido! He steals, he kills and he runs! Along the way he befriends an Englishman, and they continue to run, to kill and even visit a bordello.
Ms. James descriptive prose made me feel as if I was the one who was hungry and thirsty, traveling through miles of desert, followed by the Texas rangers in hot pursuit of both Antonio and the Englishman.
This is an incredible story, and I love what Ms. James says in her Author's Note...."Everything in this book is true except for the stuff I made up".
READ THIS BOOK! It is one of my TOP TEN of the year!!!

Review copy (eARC) provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review (apologies for being late).

I requested this book because I have heard great things about the authors to which this author was compared, and wanted to try reading something different. I found the book enjoyable just not the ideal fit for me.

3/5 stars.

I wasnt able to review The Bullet Swallower by the publish date but now that I have read it I gave it 3 stars

Cinematic, sweeping, gritty, and enchanting. I love that the author's own family history is woven into this story, which only adds to the rich quality of interwoven myth and history.

I was excited about the premise when I first heard about this book, and I love a good western! This book was well written, and engaging, but I personally struggle with dual timelines and had a hard time with that as the story progressed. I did love the magical realism elements, and felt attached to many of the characters. I recommend this to anyone who is looking for something unique, engaging, and a little magical.

I really wanted to love this western meets family lore dual saga of a man seeking prosperity and redemption (albeit illegally) at whatever costs and his eventual ancestors coming to grips with the bloodshed and legacy of their family history. However, this is one I was just ready to finish. Beautifully written, yes, but overall the plot and the delivery just fell short for me. I did appreciate some of the historical aspects, but this one just was not a win for me. For a #novel with a western feel and no shortage of last minute escapes, crime, and bullets, I felt mostly bored with this one.

•

1895: In a village bordering the Rio Grande - a no man’s land that is neither America nor Mexico - Antonio Sonoro is a disappointment to his wife and has made absolutely nothing of his birthright. With an notorious reputation and little fear, Sonoro decides to set out a dangerous journey to rob a train in Houston. In the end, his disastrous attempt to rob the train ends up in tragedy after tragedy after tragedy, as he finds himself in a semi-war with the Texas Rangers dead bent on finding and eradicating him.

•

Generations later, a famous movie star comes into contact with a sinister #book detailing the dark and evil history of the Sonoro family - his own heritage and ancestors, and is forced to grapple with the truth and darkness of his own blood and lineage.

I absolutely enjoyed reading The Bullet Swallower from start to finish! The story of the Sonoro family is told from two different generations- 1895 and 1964. The original Sonoro ancestor was a horrible person who spent his years stealing and killing others. When someone murders his brother, he spends the remainder of his life seeking revenge.
In 1964, the main character is the descendant of this man, and when he learns of his grandfather's story, he realizes he must make amends for the crimes that were committed by his ancestor.
I loved both stories and the magical aspects that were interweaved throughout.
I would definitely recommend this book to my colleagues and peers.
A huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book!

This was a great book! I very much enjoyed it and I look forward to reading the author’s next work! Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.

I just adored this book. While it has all the expected architecture of a western – the outlaw and the at-first-detested sidekick, a run from the law, shoot’ em ups, and debauchery – it also has wonderful magical realism woven throughout.

What I loved most about this novel is that it is a dual-period story, but one that truly is woven into a single narrative. The common threads (and this is no spoiler) are the discovery of a book in the present that ‘tells all’ about the Sonoro family’s history – dating back to Cain and Abel - and a character from time immemorial who shows up in both narratives. Wicked brilliant!

So while my description of the book screams “commercial,” the novel is also quite literary. The sentences and writing drip with creativity, and the book poses many thematic questions about history, specifically blood memory…

Can you outrun family history or is it a part of who you are - in this case, not intergenerational trauma, but (view spoiler)

I found it thought-provoking and entertaining and I flew right through it. Historical fiction + magical realism/fantasy + literary? I'm in!

To sum up this book, with its themes about good and evil, family, memory, and love, one of the characters says it best: “It’s about vengeance and justice and history, well, all of it.”

Note: I don’t consider myself a ‘western’ kind of gal, but there have been a couple Texas stories that have landed upon my favorites shelf: this one, The Son by Philipp Meyer, and pretty much any Paulette Giles book. So, OK, maybe I have developed a soft spot for westerns. This one sits proudly among them.

4.5 out of 5 rounded up

The Bullet Swallower is far from your typical western as it embraces various points of magical realism. This combination is mostly successful. The author did a good job conveying multiple hard topics such as politics, racism, the United States-Mexico border, ancestral sin, and heritage. The characters and overall story were compelling. However, the mashup of genres really didn't work for me. It felt like the book was trying to be two separate things instead of one cohesive unit. However, ultimately it was still enjoyable and left me with food for thought.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily and all views expressed are my own.

WOW what a fun ride! This book is one of my favorites of the year so far! I highly recommend this book for anyone who likes adventure, history, and Western vibes.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and hope to receive more books from this author! Thank you so much Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the ARC.

I have mixed feelings. I think it's solid writing that needed a little more developmental editing. It was also a bit more violent than I had expected, which really threw me off.

There is something very Steinbeckian about this story. It is really a western, with stabbings and gunfights, horses and gore. But from the spooky, foreboding beginning to the end, it takes on other genres too. It's a family saga, magical realism, literary fiction, and more.

There were more fight scenes than strictly necessary, but I enjoyed this a lot.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. I purchased a copy for my library.

I DNFed this at about 20% through because I could not connect to the characters at all and the story was so slow moving and character-focused that there was nothing motivating me to keep reading. I don't know if it was that there were a lot of characters introduced at once or the switch of timelines, but I just felt so separated from the story.

A solid debut for sure. A magical realism Western that was slow to build at times, but overall an enjoyable read. The action scenes were well done and there were a few moments that made me laugh out loud. I appreciated some of the bigger social concepts that were touched on as well; a few of which I haven’t seen in works of fiction yet. Overall, 3.5/5 stars. Will likely pick up Gonzalez James’s next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an eAEC in exchange for an honest review.

Quick and Dirty
-historical literary fiction
-magical realism elements
-intergenerational story
-highly character-driven
-thought provoking

Swipe for the full synopsis!

What Worked
This book was a struggle for me, I won’t lie. I’ll get into what didn’t work below, so for now I’ll share what did work. I enjoyed the way the author approached inter-generational trauma in this novel. She infused concepts about identity and family that I kept me engaged and committed to finishing the book. I needed to know how it all worked out in the end, chiefly because of the relationships between the characters and the tie between generations. I loved the border town drama and the western setting, enjoying every minute of what felt like a Sergio Leone fever dream.

What Didn’t Work
I could not connect with these characters. At all. Not matter how hard I tried. I wanted to love/hate/fear/empathize with them all, but I felt nothing. What does this say about me? I’m still trying to understand that, but for now I think this is a ME problem and not a BOOK problem. I also wanted more magical realism. The author dribbled little tastes of magic throughout the book, but we had to wait until the bitter end to really sink our teeth into a slice a magic. I always struggle with this, probably because magical realism is such a favorite genre/plot device of mine. I always want more or more obvious magic.

Read This If
Anyone who enjoys cerebral storytelling with challenging characters will likely find this book more enjoyable than I did.

Similar Reads
Sign Here