This book was not my cup of tea, but I can see the appeal for other people. The writing was superb, but fell a little flat for me at times.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Receiving an advanced copy was a delightful surprise. I believe both existing fans and newcomers will find it equally enjoyable.

In this modern day western tale, Antonio Sonoro and Jaime Sonoro, 2 generations of the same family, grapple with inner demons, real-life demons (The Texas Rangers!), and love for their family. Antonio is a bad boy who doesn't do much good but as a reader I still had so much empathy & sympathy for him. The many lives he leaves in his wake weave the story of the love he has for his family. The relationships he makes throughout his journey are full of hope, friendship and bravery. The plot is unique and not one I typically read but I can see why this will be a highly acclaimed 2024 book. I love how Gonzalez James weaves the rich Texas landscape and the history of the area into the tale! It had me googling tales of Espantosa Lake late into the night. Pick this one up for a story of family, bravery and a good bit of western adventure!

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book. I enjoyed so much the combination of elements here! Magical realism wove throughout the narrative that also had a twinge of western themes and a rugged story about survival. Very compelling read with characters I cared about deeply.

From its opening lines, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘚𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 sets itself apart as a bold and unique blend of magical realism, family legacy, revenge and redemption – all packaged in an exciting turn-of-the-century western epic across Mexico and Texas. You’ll be reminded of Macondo and Don Quixote as you follow the stories of the Sonoro family through generations – but Gonzalez’s distinct integration of the legacy of colonialism in the Americas adds a layer of depth that you don’t often see in many adventure stories. While fun and exciting throughout, it does lag a bit in execution. However, the western element worked very well for me; considering I'm not normally into that genre, I think it exemplifies the author's skill in putting together a compelling story and creating characters you want to root for.

This book was really interesting because it kept going back and forth in time and to a different Generations of the family. I like how the author tied together. This book beginning with the past to the future. And how she interpreted the book into this book. Based on the family's history. In 1895 Anton ECS ONO. N I was a farmer in d o n a d o mexico. He had a brother named H u g e who was a book person who really did not know what to do with his life. The family had money in the old days but it seemed to dry up. Antonio's wife was very unhappy because he would go out and not come back. He heard about this train bringing gold to houston. So he decided to robert with this brother. Things got very complicated and the rangers call it up with them after they stole and burn part of the train. So they were chased through this whole place and bad things happened to his brother. Antonio survived because of this lady who was an Used herbs and stuff to bring him back to life. Then it went to the present time to a man named j. A. M. E!S o n oand. This was interesting because he started to read this book. And his grandfather told him not to read it. Explain the history of this family. And it was very murderous and types of crimes that are committed. Then it went back to eighteen ninety five again and how he was chased through the Parts of texa The story became l Like a fable from the past. He leaves this lady's house and he starts as journey to revenge these Texas. Men who killed his brother. He meets this english man named peter who is like his side kick and he went everywhere with him. 11 Mexican turned against their own people. And he worked with the Texas rangers and he was also chasing him as well. Then it went back to the present time because this man appeared because one of his kids got hurt. This man was a very famous singer and actor. But he recognized this person as a shadow. And he got very nervous and he asked me to leave the house. Because things started to go really wrong when he showed up. It's a very interesting book because everything is tied together. And you'll find out what really happened with this family in this book It's a very interesting book because everything is tied together. And you'll find out what really happened with this family in this book.

Wow, thank you to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for the e-ARC of this unique and enthralling read in exchange for my honest review!

While I'm not ordinarily drawn to Westerns, I am a fan of magical realism, so when I saw descriptions of this book invoking Gabriel García Márquez, I was intrigued. This family saga is different and did not disappoint - it rather surprised me.

What I loved:

🏜 The dual timelines between different generations of the same family. This structure worked to explore themes of colonization, what is owed to make amends for ancestors' atrocities and harms, the struggle to make sense of our personal family histories, and whether redemption is achievable, and if so, what it looks like.
🏜 The magical/spiritual aspect of the character Remedio, a sort of supernatural debt-collector who follows the Sonoro family through generations. A clever device to take us between generations of this specific family, but through a wider, cosmic lens.
🏜 The ending. No spoilers, just saying that last chapter was absolutely beautiful.
🏜 The writing style. Gritty yet gorgeous. Vivid setting that seemed alive and ever-changing to underscore the themes of the characters' journeys. Character descriptions that really brought them to life.
🏜 The Author's Note at the end, explaining how the main characters in the book were directly inspired by her own ancestors, in particular, her great-grandfather who was a bandido in the late 1800s. She begins, "Everything in this book is true except for the stuff I made up." The Author's Note really crystallized what a remarkable feat this book was, for Ms. Gonzalez James to study her family history and then imagine what the actual, real experience might have been, using her imagination to fill in the gaps. Very cool.

🏞 Be warned: There is lots of graphic violence, injury, and death. Consider checking content warnings.

All told, some genre-defying storytelling that takes you on a journey through time and place and makes you reflect. I recommend for readers looking for something different.

I was so pleasantly surprised by this book! The magical realism was beautifully done and immersive, and the story was emotional and engaging. The writing is atmospheric and the characters were compelling and interesting because of their flaws. The different timelines were well organized and I was not often confused.

The historical element of The Bullet Swallower is my favorite part of this book. I loved Antonio and all the characters that are interwoven throughout his story. Antonio’s character is complex and it was an incredible journey to see how his character evolved. I liked that Antonio was not a very good person (with an abundance of flaws) but you still end up rooting for him in the end. I enjoyed the exploration of morals, actions, and repentance in this story.

The author did a great job describing the landscape and culture of the area and time period. Being a Texan, I always get excited to read historical novels set in my state. It was interesting to see all the different ways that politics affected the way of life. Life in Mexico and Texas was complicated during the that time period. There was the Texas independence from Mexico in 1836, Texas became a state in 1845, and then there were alot of things building up to the Mexican Revolution beginning in 1910.

The author’s note was another part that stood out to me. The main character Antonio was based off the author’s great-grandfather (which is super cool!) and other influences from history. I appreciated the list of books and resources that the author used to do her research.

The elements that I would completely do away with is the characters and POVs of Jaime and Remedio. Having those character POVs slowed down the overall story and made the book longer than it needed to be. I couldn’t connect to those characters and they never felt fully developed. However, The Bullet Swallower is still a unique book that I think would appeal to many readers looking for a Western story told from an uncommon perspective.

My thanks to Simon and Schuster for the ARC. This was an intriguing book that starts with the family’s inhumane treatment that fed its greed. It follows a bandit who manages to survive in his quest to kill the man who killed his brother. It works back and forth between him and his descendants with what seems to be the grim reaper following along. It was a great read and I can see where fans of westerns would definitely enjoy it. A good read.

I love Magical Realism and was super excited to receive this book from Simon & Schuster for review! As a big fan of stories that capture the landscape, culture, and language of Texas and Mexico, this book was right up my alley!

The Sonoro legacy of violence has generations paying the price for their crimes, but how do you break the cycle? How many good things are needed to outweigh the bad? And can anyone really change their true nature? Those are the questions at the heart of this novel as Antonio Sonoro, El Tragabales himself, keeps Remedio the soul collector in a state of uncertainty with his very human mix of good and bad qualities.

It's refeshing to find acknowledgement of all the crimes committed against the Mexican people and indigenous groups in Texas and Mexico in the name of law and order (a sad legacy that endures today). I loved accompanying Antonio on his adventures. And, more than anything, I loved the transformations and character growth. I enjoyed every bit of it!

Thank you to Simon and Schuster, NetGalley, and Elizabeth Gonzalez James for an advance reader copy. Opinions are my own.

I was really excited about the premise of this book but after reading about a third of it, I just couldn’t get into the story. I really don’t like reading books where the villains are the main characters and their POVs are given extensive page-time and by the time we finally meet the actual hero character he just felt like more of the same and also just kind of dull. It was just such a slog to read so much from their POV that I just kind of hit my limit by page 100. The writing, atmosphere, storyline, & all of the things billed in the summary (i.e. “magical realism western”, “mysterious figure”, “cosmic debt”, “a book that purports to tell the entire history of his family beginning with Cain and Abel”, “family saga”, “lush setting”, “stunning prose”) fell really flat for me.

Imagine a novel that combines the gritty western of Cormac McCarthy, the poetic magical realism of Gabriel García Márquez, and the breezy no-nonsense length of that Great American Novel, Gatsby. And for good measure? Throw in a heaping dose of family lore.

The Bullet Swallower has already received some serious buzz and it’s barely two weeks old! Elizabeth Gonzalez James took her family history — a great-grandfather-turned-mythical figure, a cousin who was one of Mexico’s most famous actors — and built upon it, reshaping her family story into a tale that held me captive from page one.

Bouncing between 1895 and 1964, this novel follows Antonio Sonoro, a Mexican bandido and soon-to-be legendary folklore figure; and his grandson Jaime, a famous movie-star. The Sonoros made and lost fortunes several times throughout the centuries and the grand house Antonio grew up in is a far cry from the shack his wife and two children call home. Looking for a big payday, Antonio and his brother can’t resist the siren song of an incoming train rumored to be transporting gold. But when their luck turns, Antonio is left broken — mentally and physically.

Jaime’s comfortable life is turned upside-down by the arrival of an old book from the 1700s that details his family history. Each crime was worse than the last, each body count higher than the one that came before. And woven through the chapters is the constant presence of a shadow, a promise to collect on the family debt.

There’s so much more I want to say, but so much I don’t want to give away! This was truly a spectacular novel, especially for 250 pages!! I cried, I highlighted so many beautiful sentences. Calling it now, The Bullet Swallower will be one of my top reads of 2024. What an absolute gift this was to read!

This book received wonderful reviews. For some reason, I just could not get into it, though I really tried. I'm sure it's me, not the book. The writing was beautiful and Antonio, the character from the nineteenth century, was such a hapless ne'er-do-well, I cheered him on despite his deeply flawed character. You should give it a shot (it's not you, it's me). #TheBulletSwallower #NetGalley

I really wanted this to be my book. A magical realism novel western? Sign me up. However, the writing style is very dry and not terribly engaging. I had a hard time wanting to keep picking it up. The story of a multi generation moves kind of stodgy with the style. I wanted to like it.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this novel! It's out now!

<i>The Bullet Swallower</i> follows two timelines. The first is Antonio Sonoro, a bandido in 1895 on a quest for revenge, embroiled in a curse that has followed his family for generations. The second is Jaime Sonoro, a renowned actor and singer living in Mexico City who happens across a book detailing his family's history and the Sonoro curse.

This is such a fun novel! I really loved following Antonio; he's such a complicated individual who makes some rough decisions, but by the end of the novel, I was really rooting for him. There's a section the middle where he pseudo teams up with an Englishman and their banter was so well done and hilarious.

I thought Jaime's storyline was a little underdeveloped; his chapters were quite short so you don't really get a sense of who he is as a person and his motivations.

I am always on the lookout for a good Western novel, and this was such a great Western to pick up. It doesn't hold back on the violence of the times, but it's full of heart and love and questions about generational responsibility. Plus, it's just a great revenge story with a little dash of magical realism thrown in to make it interesting. The writing is also superb, especially when it came to describing the landscape and environment.

If you like Westerns, I would highly recommend. I think you'll have a good time with this. I'm excited to check out more by Elizabeth Gonzalez James!

I finished this book and was ready to start it all over again to discover what I had missed. Elizabeth Gonzalez James has written a book of magical history. Set on the border between Texas and Mexico in 1964 and in 1895, the book embraces border politics, racism and the power of generational family history. It was terrific to start off the year with this excellent 5* read!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

An epic family saga that is a Western filled with elements of magical realism, The Bullet Swallower is a great example of an upcoming read that combines multiple genres. Loosely based on the author’s own great-grandfather, this story stars the Sonoro family and begins with Antonio who becomes famously known as The Bullet Swallower for his adventures and crimes. This dual timeline story also looks at the life of Antonio's grandson Jaime, who in 1964 is one of Mexico’s most renowned actors and singers. Yet Jaime discovers a book claiming to tell the story of his family in all its sordid details. Then a mysterious figure, who also appeared to Antonio, appears to Jaime, Jaime finds he must uncover the truth of his family to pay for the past. This book discusses intergenerational trauma, border politics, and confronting the awful legacies of the past in this magical and timely spin on a Western. I recommend as a great genre-bending read!

Full of magical realism, multi-generational Mexican family politics, and tales of vaqueros and bandits along the turn of the century Mexico / Texas border, Elizabeth Gonzales James's new novel "The Bullet Swallower" delivers on all fronts. The author deftly weaves together multiple timelines and generations of the Sonoro family, weaving together a tale centered on a mysterious presence that visits itself upon the most recent generation of the Sonoro family looking to settle a long term karmic accounting. Based loosely on her own grandfather, Gonzales' "Bullet Swallower" grips the reader from the first chapter and lures the reader into chapter after chapter of gorgeous prose in search of the next development in the story.

Personally, I was excited to jump into this novel based on the gorgeous cover art and intriguing back cover summary, but almost instantly fell in love with Gonzales' talent and voice as a writer . . mixing Cormac McCarthy-esque descriptions of western landscapes and action with Silvia Moreno-Garcia tinged passages centered on magical realism, folk lore and myth. I found myself anxious to get to each successive chapter, diving deeper into both timelines and worlds, and Gonzales's unique ability to bring both to vivid life.

Overall, I would enthusiastically recommend this novel to everyone, but especially to fans of either McCarthy or Moreno-Garcia, and to fans of magical stories of the old west, Mexican history, and top notch story telling. I can't wait to see what Gonzales writes next, will search it out immediately.

The Bullet Swallower
By Elizabeth Gonzalez James

It's very hard to categorize this book: it is part mystical, part western; it is about the nature of time; it is about the choices we make to do good or evil; it is about paying a price; it is about redemption.

The prologue begins in the early 1800s. The Sonoro family - wealthy mine owners in Dorado, Mexico – have a history of inflicting evil on the Carrizo workers in the mines. Many of the Carrizos have sickened and died because of conditions in the mine. But the Sonoro patriarch is greedy and will not listen to his workers. Instead he has them all herded into mine and blows up the entrance sealing them in. The explosion spells the end of Dorado as part of the land and turns it into an island in the river. With the mine gone, the Sonoro fortunes take a downturn.

Some years later a daughter of the family bears a son, Antonio. As she holds him in her arms, a man named Remedio appears by her bedside to collect the soul of her son, who is damned by the sins of his ancesters. Remedio, it seems, is the angel of death who appears to collect your soul and your debt when it is your time to die. But he rebels at that idea of taking this innocent child. For the first time, he refuses his task, and decides to follow Antonio's life to see how it turns out.

From there, the story of Antonio's life unfolds. He is a subsistence farmer with a wife and family he loves, but he decides to leave them and head north into Texas to better his lot. Instead, his life becomes a series of disasters. All those he loves are stripped from him along the way. When he finally meets up with Remedio and learns that he must live for many years, he also learns that he will have to make a difficult decision at the end, a decision that the will affect himself or alternatively, his descendants.

The book has another story line about Jaime Sonoro, a Mexican movie actor who lives with his wife, his children and his father, Juan Antonio. This part of the saga takes place in the 1960s. Jaime is visited by an old bookstore owner who gives him a book about the history of his family. Jaime also meets Remedio. But as he reads through the book and realizes what Remedio represents, Jaime becomes obsessed with trying to understand his ancestor, Antonio, and redeem his family.

This story, according to the author, has some basis in the reality of her own family, but much is "stuff I made up". She obviously put a great deal of time and effort into the research needed to write this tale – and she has created a wonderful book!