I'm going with 3 stars for this book which hurts me because I really want to love it unconditionally- there's so much more i want to learn about Altagracia and her other lives but I'm left wanting.

Martinez's writing was beautiful but there were times I was a little confused about what was happening, especially with the mix of first and third- person points of view. I assume it was the 'lives that slide in and out of memory, out of time' mentioned in the description but I would've liked for that to be a little clearer so I could still follow along.

Martinez mentions in her afterword that there was an earlier, much longer manuscript and I wonder if it would have answered the questions I have, and those posed in the book description that were left unanswered? I would've liked to have spent more time seeing these other lives and how they impacted the Altagracia we're with.

I did (heart-breakingly) enjoy the reveal around the doppelganger as well as Altagracia's realisation that she's not alone. I felt the last chapter was bittersweet because while it was a great ending and kept to the pace of the rest of the book, I wanted more time with it.

Despite this, I think this is a book I will come back to another time to see how I read it then. The cover is beautiful so it will make a great edition to my bookshelf and being a short story, it will be easy to come back to for a quick read.

NetGalley provided me with a free version of this book for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Querencia Press for access to this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

I fully admit that all I thought about when clicking the request button was how beautiful this cover would be on my virtual bookshelves. As for the story locked inside, I have to admit that it was confusing. Each chapter( and there are 10) seems to present a different storyline
for the titular character Altagarcia Sanchez. Are we seeing snippets of her life? Time travel? Some type of MCU multi-verse? Is Altagarcia suffering from a mental illness?


I wish I could answer these questions for my fellow reviewers. Unfortunately, I am still dazed and confused.






Expected Publication 28/02/25
Goodreads Review 27/01/25
#TheOtherLivesofAltagraciaSanchez #NetGalley.

It took me a bit to get into the style of the writing for The Other Lives of Altagracia Sanchez. But once I got into the story, it began to make sense. I'd be interested in reading more by Martinez. They have a unique, mesmerizing style to the writing. It was as if I were in a black-and-white dream and I needed to see the dream in color. Martinez wrote my dream in color.

#NetGalley #TheOtherLivesofAltagraciaSanchez

I am rounding up.

This is lyrical, but like a song, it is more concerned with rhythm and rhyme than a coherent narrative. Martinez mentioned in the afterword that this is what was left behind from a much longer manuscript. I would love to get my hands on that. Martinez writes beautifully and evocatively, and I hope to read more from her--especially when she is given more room to explore. At its best, it is a surreal amalgam of Sandra Cisneros and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. There is no "at its worst," except in that there are the flashes of story I wanted to read a hundred pages more of; I am left unfulfilled and frustrated, as I feel like I was barely introduced to Altagracia.

This felt like stream of consciousness mixed in with a lucid dream. While labeled fantasy I kept thinking that the main character had an undiagnosed mental disorder. While I did not love this I would recommend to fans of lyrical writing and stories told out of order like the Night Circus

This book was such a treat to be able to read. At under 100 pages on my ereader, I read this in between bigger books as a pallete cleanser and it was wonderful.

I need to purchase this book once it comes out based on the cover alone, but there is so much culture in this one book, I need it on my shelf forever. I am so happy I found this Sci Fi short story on Net Galley! I received a free copy. This is my opinion I am leaving voluntarily. Thank you Querencia Press for the privilege of letting me read this!