I’m thankful for the ARC of this book.

It should be noted that this book covers some very heavy themes and I do wish there had been a trigger warning at the beginning of the book. In this day and age, I feel like it’s such a simple thing that can really show the author cares about their readers’ mental health.

That being said, this was a beautifully written book and with all the heaviness too it, there were also some spots of light.

4.5/5 stars

This one will stay with me for awhile. It was a heartbreaking story but also had it's bright moments, especially with the friends and found family that made this story beautiful. I loved the historical references, the Spanish phrases/Salvadoran slang, and the mythical influences. I highly recommend this book for fans of multiculturalism and historical fiction. Proceed with caution because this does discuss heavy topics (ie racism, genocide, violence, SA, kidnapping, grief, suicide, and self harm)

Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and offered voluntarily.

Thank you to Net Galley and Pantheon for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. This is the story of two sister who are living near the volcano (or the wrong side of the tracks) in El Salvador. Graciela and Consuelo are two sisters who come from a community of indigenous women indentured to work on the coffee plantations of the wealthy. At nine years old, Graciela is called to be an oracle for a dictator, El Gran Pendejo, and will help to foresee the future of the country. Consuelo is already at the Capital and she and Graciela have never met as Consuelo was kidnapped from their home before Graciela was born. The economy tanks and a genocide begins, killing most of their community in the process. Both Consuelo and Graciela escape unbeknownst to each other. It become clears to Graciela that she has had a hand in this horrible time. We follow each of the sisters around the world as they try to make their way. This story tells a part of the story of El Salvador through the eyes of two women and the voices of those who were killed which they carry with them through their lives.

This was a powerful tale of sisterhood by both blood and founded family and how it can withstand the test of time, tragedy, and trauma. Spanning about 30 years, the reader is taken on a journey through the early 20th century El Salvador and how its history has forever marked its people. While I did love the history lesson in this Central American country and the mixing of Spanish and English, I do kind of wish there was a glossary of slang words that even my gringa brain with its decaying (Castellano 😅) Spanish couldn’t figure out. But that’s a personal preference over everything else! ❤️

The story is narrated by four ghosts: Lourdes, María, Cora, and Lucía. They are victims of the historical event called La Matanza (the massacre) and how they follow their friends and sisters Graciela and Consuelo as they continue to live their lives abroad. I really loved the way they “told” the story of the girls through the author, Balibrera, as it felt almost like being spoken to via a fourth wall breaking. Lourdes seems to be the main narrator/commentator of the story and I loved her biting humor in what is a rather dark tale. I do wish it was at least explained how the girls/ghosts came to find out events that happened before their time since it kind of feels like they know is from talking to a different ghost. 😢

Graciela and Consuelo were incredibly tragic characters to focus on. I loved how they felt real and that Balibrera didn’t shy away from difficult topics in history that played out in the sisters’ lives. 👯‍♀️

In general, I had a great time reading this though I did find myself wishing there was a smidge more folklore from the area. Big thank you goes out to Pantheon Books and NetGalley for accepting my request to read this in exchange for an honest review, and to the author, Balibrera, for writing a beautiful yet tragic historical tale of sisterhood.

Publication day: August 20, so go out and get it!

Overall: 4.25/5 ⭐️

This was a really hard book for me to follow. I struggled to figure out who was speaking, what year the dialogue was in, and what order events took place.

The premise was so cool. I just wish it was clearer.

Thank you to Netgalley for letting me read this. I found this book a bit slow due to the writing style and I had to look up Spanish words and some cultural references. However, I appreciate the author's storytelling ability. It was also a great opportunity for me to learn about a part of history that I knew nothing about. Overall, I would give it 3 stars.

The Volcano Daughters is a character-driven novel that delves deep into the tumultuous history of El Salvador through the lives of two sisters, Graciela and Consuelo. Set against the backdrop of 1923 El Salvador, Balibrera's narrative begins on a volcano, where young Graciela grows up in a tight-knit community of Indigenous women. Her life takes a dramatic turn when she is summoned to the capital and claimed as an oracle by a rising dictator, known as El Gran Pendejo. It is there that she encounters her long-lost sister, Consuelo, who was stolen from their home before Graciela was born.

Balibrera's storytelling is rich with lush imagery and vivid detail, bringing to life the sisters' harrowing journey through war, genocide, and exile. The narrative spans decades and continents, from the oppressive regime in El Salvador to the glamorous yet isolating worlds of Hollywood and Paris. Each setting is crafted with precision, capturing the vibrant cultures and the stark contrasts between the sisters’ past and present lives.

What stands out most in The Volcano Daughters is the strength of its characters. Both Graciela and Consuelo are resilient, deeply human protagonists who embody the spirit of survival and adaptation in the face of unimaginable loss and displacement. Their connection to their heritage and the traditions of their community remains a central theme, providing them with a sense of identity and belonging even as they are forced far from home.

Balibrera has masterfully woven a narrative that is both deeply personal and broadly historical, blending fiction with the stark realities of political oppression and cultural displacement. The novel is endlessly surprising and bursting with life, offering a fresh perspective on the history and mythology of El Salvador.

This novel is not just a tale of survival but a testament to the power of memory and the enduring strength of cultural identity. Fans of historical fiction and stories that celebrate resilience in the face of adversity will find The Volcano Daughters to be a compelling and unforgettable read.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Phenomenal debut! The pacing of this book as well as the incredible prose, entirely captivating! I simply could not put this book down until I finished reading it. I thoroughly enjoyed the perspective of the writing and the balance between being written in Spanish and English! I cannot say enough about this book!

I received this as an e arc, all opinions are my own, thank you NetGalley

I'll say this, I had an issue with this book and it was the pacing and maybe the continuous violence. Like it was interesting and I thought it was a good story but it was so long.

I got an e-arc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Gina María Balibrera’s debut novel, “The Volcano Daughters,” is an epic fairy tale grounded in El Salvador’s troubled history. The central characters were raised in the humble Pueblo of Izalco on the side of a volcano where their great grandmothers grew xiquilite, the plant from which indigo is processed, and, later, coffee beans. The girls were educated by nuns who cared for them while their mothers worked. They did not know their fathers and their mothers did not speak of them. “We were of our mothers.”

But, there were men, and Consuelo’s father, German, abducts Consuelo and spirits her away to the capital to be raised by his barren wife, Perlita, as their daughter. German later returns, and impregnates Socorrito again, who bears a second daughter, Graciela. In 1923, the cunning Perlita tricks Socorrito into traveling to the capital with Graciela after German’s death intending to use her late husband’s daughters to her advantage. Neither girl, who meet for the first time, would return with Socorrito. Nine year old Graciela would be taking over her late father’s position at the palace as the advisor or oracle to the General because the General believed that Graciela had inherited her father’s “sacred mind.”

The General, contemptuously dubbed El Gran Pendejo (based on the Salvadoran president Maximiliano Hernández Martínez), is a spiritualist obsessed with the mystical powers of color (white being the “color of heaven”). El Gran Pendejo, like the ascendant Hitler, seeks to “cleanse” the country and civilize the darker Indigenous population. By the end of his purge, 30,000 Indigenous people will be massacred, including four lifelong friends of our heroines, Lourdes, Maria, Cora and Lucia. These four serve as a Greek chorus who “are dead but we sing, we cackle, we lose our s**t, we tell you exactly what we think. . . .”

Consuelo and Graciela miraculously survive the massacre, and both, assuming that the other had perished, flee El Salvador and sail to distant shores. Consuelo travels to San Francisco and, later, Paris, where she fulfills her ambitions as a painter, and Graciela goes to Los Angeles where she pursues a career in acting. The sisters come together and break apart over the years, but they are consistently haunted by the ghosts of their friends who are not done telling their stories.

Balibrera has crafted an utterly original tale that incorporates elements of historical fiction, alternative history, and magical realism. The novel is rich in detail and description, and the characters, of which there are many, are each multi-faceted and imaginative. Balibrera’s writing is so confident and assured, that it is hard to believe that this is a debut novel. She’s one to watch.

This book is unmistakably for women, and I don't mean this in a 'men can't read it' kind of way, just that it seems to speak in the ancient language of women, of things that are inherent and experienced and passed along, but at the same time unique. The themes reminded me a lot of Toni Morrison, not so much in style, but in substance-- the weight of ghosts, the chorus of just beyond the veil, the twisting of history by unjust hands, the mangling of bodies and womanhood, the burden of existing, the ache of loss and grief.

I really really enjoyed the style and writing, if not a little heavy handed at times. I think it's a beautiful debut and also an astounding historical narrative told with this mystical realism slant that makes it somewhat more bearable to witness atrocities and loss.

Top read of 2024 for me so far.

𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘨𝘰. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴.

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𝘞𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵. 𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴.

𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬:
Two Salvadoran sisters, separated in childhood, reunite under a dictator's brutal regime. They escape genocide, traveling the world separately. Their story, intertwined with ghostly voices of murdered friends, reimagines El Salvador's history and mythology.
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Wow, Gina. María. Balibrera. What a debut! The Volcano Daughters is a mesmerizing journey that captivated me from the start. There's something so unique and enthralling about the way Gina writes. Her lyrical prose weaves a heartrending tale of sisterhood, survival, and the echoes of forgotten souls.

The story of Graciela and Consuelo is both devastating and enchanting, exploring themes of identity, family, and resilience with poetic intensity.

I absolutely loved that we are told their story through the ghosts of their friends that have passed during La Matanza. Their chorus was both comical and filled with chisme yet at the same time it was hauntingly beautiful in a way I've never encountered in another story before.

The story itself is filled with so many heartwrenching and emotional moments. It explores a cruel man's rise to power, the tragic and traumatic aftermath of his political machinations, new beginnings, and the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood.

Gina's passionate and evocative writing style brings El Salvador's history to vivid life in this debut. I know the carcajadas of these characters and their fantasmas will echo in my mind for a long time to come.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pantheon for gifting me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

What to expect:
- Salvadoran history
- magical realism
- historical fiction
- sisterhood

Title: The Volcano Daughters
Author: Gina Maria Balibrera
Publisher: Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor | Pantheon
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Four
Review:
"The Volcano Daughters" by Gina Maria Balibrera

My Perception:

'The Volcano Daughter' was a fascinating historical and magical realism fiction about two El Salvador sisters [Consuelo & Graciela]. This heartbreaking story has a little bit of everything: revolution, corruption, dictatorship, terror, genocide, violence, grief, trauma, rawness, challenging reading, and then some joy and hope. I enjoyed seeing how the author delivered the different forms of history the vivid characters encountered, making the story compelling and exciting. The story was a little slow at times, but it made up its time by the time it finally was completed, explaining it all about the two sisters in the end.
Ultimately, one will get one unique story when it's all said and done.


Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

It took me a long while to finally get into this story but once I did, I truly loved it. As a mood reader and someone who reads incredibly fast, I knew this would be a book that I needed to slow down and consume at a much slower rate than I typically do and once I set that time aside I really fell into to story and gave it the attention it deserves.

This was a poetic masterpiece. The way the story of Consuelo and Graciela is told without a traditionally structured timeline is not only a bold choice but it also works in a way to have you feel every emotion. You laugh along with them, cry with them, and ultimately live their story alongside them.

This a book that will make you slump into your chair and hold it tight to your heart. Highly recommend for fans of magical realism and love to read about strong familial bonds, survival, community, love, and loss.

Thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for my early copy of this phenomenal story.

The Volcano Daughters by Gina María Balibrera is an engrossing debut about two sisters and their flight from genocide—which takes them from Hollywood to Paris to San Francisco’s Cannery Row—each haunted along the way by the ghosts of their murdered friends, who are not yet done telling their stories.
A wonderfully written history and mythology of El Salvador.
This is truly an incredible and amazing story that had me hooked immediately.

Thank You NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

This book was heartbreaking from the start, but I was super invested in the sisters and their stories! I love books about women surviving what is thrown their way. This is a super unique read and I enjoyed learning about parts of history I didn’t know about before!

This book is an emotional journey that will leave you fully satisfied. It tells the story of two sisters from Izalco, El Salvador, whose lives resonate with those of many Latin American women. Though it’s fiction, it feels deeply real.

The story unfolds in a unique way: the ghosts of their chosen sisters, who died in a tragic event, serve as the narrators (more or less). It’s a blend of laughter, tears, and everything in between.

Although the pace is slow, every page is worth savoring. I recommend taking the time to read it carefully to connect deeply with the characters and their stories. A book that truly leaves a mark!

A huge thanks to NetGalley for providing an electronic copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Plot: ⭐⭐⭐ 3
Characters: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4
Relationships: ⭐⭐⭐3
World-building: ⭐⭐⭐⭐4
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 3.5

Este libro es un viaje emocional que no te dejará buscando más. Narra la vida de dos hermanas de Izalco, El Salvador, cuyas historias resuenan con las de muchas mujeres latinoamericanas. Aunque es ficción, se siente profundamente real.

La historia se despliega de una manera única: los fantasmas de sus hermanas elegidas, quienes murieron en un trágico evento, son las narradoras (más o menos). Es una mezcla de risas, lágrimas y todo lo que hay en medio.

Aunque el ritmo es pausado, cada página merece ser saboreada. Te recomiendo leerlo con tiempo y atención para conectar profundamente con los personajes y sus historias. ¡Un libro que realmente deja huella!

Un enorme agradecimiento a NetGalley por una copia electrónica de este libro a cambio de mi honesta reseña.

Trama: ⭐⭐⭐ 3
Personajes: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4
Relaciones: ⭐⭐⭐ 3
Construcción del mundo: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4
En general: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 3.5

This was a unique work of historical fiction centered on two sisters, Consuelo and Graciela, who hail from a small community on a Volcano in El Salvador but are torn apart by a cruel dictator and his whims. From covering the real life event of The Massacre to the Vichy regime and Nazi control of France during WWII, Gina Maria Balibrera crafts a sweeping tale of indigenous history, loss, sisterhood, and survivorship.

I found Part One of the book highly informative as it focused on a tragic portion of El Salvadoran history and political climate with which I was unfamiliar. I thought the author weaved Consuela's and Graciela’s storylines in an interesting and engaging way here as well. As the book progressed, I appreciated witnessing the growth Graciela undergoes as her brilliance, financial savviness, and resourcefulness shine through amidst all the hardships she faces once she flees her home country. On the contrary, Consuelo’s arc felt a bit underdeveloped and I would have liked to see greater depth in her character. This became even more evident with the ending, which I thought was rushed and detracted the focus from the sisters. Lastly, I found the narrative interjections somewhat disruptive to the flow of the story, although I acknowledge that they offered comedic relief in juxtaposition to the devastating circumstances surrounding the two women and their loved ones. I believe the story would have been just as, if not more, compelling for me without that particular narrative choice.

With all that being said, this was still an interesting novel that I recommend to readers who enjoy learning about a forgotten period in history, marginalized communities, language, and culture with elements of magical realism.

3.5 stars!

Thank you @netgalley and Knopf, Pantheon, and Vintage catalog for an e-ARC of The Volcano Daughters in exchange for my honest review.
#TheVolcanoDaughters #NetGalley

The lives of two sisters’ survival told before and after ‘La Matanza’, the genocidal massacre in El Salvador in 1932, through the ghosts of their deceased friends and sisters of heart who were massacred in the genocide. Mythology is woven throughout their stories and the ghost narrators leave their opinions as well. Creatively written, evoking emotions across the spectrum, The Volcano Daughters gives voice to those who can no longer tell their history and truth.

Set in El Salvador starting in the 1800's, the writing in the book was beautiful. The book spans the lives of two indigenous sisters who unwillingly work for the dictator. Once they are able to flee, their lives take separate paths. This wasn't the right book for me, perhaps because of the magical realism, but I'm sure many readers will really appreciate it.