Piñata by Leopoldo Gout

 GREETINGS STACK WORMS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Piñata by Leopoldo Gout took me about 3 days to read. I want to thank NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the eARC I received for an honest review. 

Let's be honest here, I don't know how to begin this review. Not because it's bad. No. Hells no. It's a fucking great book! But because I found this book intimidating. It's not a thick book by any means, don't let page count worry you. No, it was because I know absolutely fucking nothing about Nahua culture. And I'd say I still don't know at least 94% of it. Shit, I didn't even try to sound out some of the words in the book, that is what an uncultured fuck I am. 😓😓

If that's so why was I interested in the story? You might be asking yourself and honestly, it's because two words stuck out to me PINATA and HORROR. And my b-horror-loving ass was like "Oh, hells yes, let's go!". Also, did you look at the amazing cover? As someone that read the book, let me tell you, it's well thought out. 

Yes, I'm stalling a bit. As I said I don't know how to start this review. I want to be respectful. I really do. I'm just not sure how to represent the rich culture within the story. 

I'll mainly stick to the plot beats and do my best not to fuck it up. I probably won't make comments about the culture or mythology within the book because I don't really know it. Please, be gentle with my uncultured ass? I'm sorry x4 in advance.

And as always I give a spoiler review. The book comes out on March 14th do with that as you will. I say go Preorder it now if you haven't already. Okay, enough stalling let's get this over with. 

SPOILERS!!!! Duh... 

TRIGGER WARNINGS!!!!!!!

- Death

- Colonization 

- Blood 

- Viscera 

- Possession 

- Catholicism 

- Oppression of the Nahua people 

- Profanity (just a tad) 

- Grandmother almost dying (yes, this is my trigger) 

We are introduced to the Sanches family; Carmen, Izel, and Luna on their trip to Mexico. See Carmen is an architect and was given the job to oversee a renovation of an old abbey. For some reason, it's being turned into a hotel? I don't understand that decision myself but okay. Moving along. Well on this trip little Luna (she's 11 but felt about 7) is targeted by sky goddesses to help end the world. How? Yoltzi (a local Nahua woman) says it's due to her open mind and spirit. Though when trying to warn Carmen of the threats to Luna Carmen is understandably not believing a damn word of it. However, Yoltzi is right. Before Carmen and the girls are forced to leave early Luna is possessed by an old woman's spirit. Ketzali. A spirit that wants revenge for the colonization of her people. Which is also understandable. 

Once they are back in America Luna starts acting out. Carmen thinks it's because Luna really wanted to stay in Mexico but unfortunately, they find out it's something much more malevolent than an 11-year-old hitting puberty. Bright little Luna becomes spiteful and distant as the voices in her head become louder. At school, Luna is bullied and she winds up attacking the boys. That same night all three are dead or missing (though we know he's really dead). This gets Carmen and Izel thinking that Luna might have something to do with it, but they aren't sure how she would have done it. Unless there are supernatural forces at play. 

Back in Mexico Yoltzi knows what she has to do she must illegally cross the border to save not only Luna but also the living world. Otherwise, the dead will take it. Her travels are dangerous and harrowing on her body, yet she treks on. She must since she's the only one that can help. But what can she do with one weapon in her arsenal? She sings and chants a song/prayer to keep the family safe. 

Together Carmen, Izel, and Yoltzi battle it out with Luna/Ketzali. This is where the pinata really comes into play. At the beginning of the book, we know that Ketzali hides the pinata inside the abbey that Carmen is fixing up in Mexico and Luna found it and took it with her to America where it continued to latch itself to Luna. Later in the book, we find that Ketzali cursed the colonizers when they murdered her attaching her soul to the pinata (I'm sort of reading into it here since it's not stated but souls do become attached to things so it makes sense). 

So, to win the battle Izel has to burn the pinata. But burning it doesn't work all the way, Izel grabs a shovel and breaks the pinata open, as one should. Setting the heart within aflame. This sends Ketzali back to Mictlan. Hopefully, this time her soul will find peace. 

Even if Ketzali finds peace there are still other souls craving revenge. 

LIKES: 

- Who knew butterflies could be so scary? 

- Interesting how black butterflies span multiple cultures 

- The Nahuatl lore and culture. I enjoy learning about other cultures. I hate my own though. 

- The descriptions were both beautiful and terrifying 

- Love Luna's arc 

- When there was death it got pretty gorey (the author literally killed 3 teenagers brutally) 

- The writing is superb (despite the few grammatical errors I found but this is an uncorrected eARC I won't judge the book on the grammar) 

- Also, did I see possession as a metaphor for puberty? Somebody's been watching Ginger Snaps I see. 

- Colonization! Is! Bad! 

DISLIKES: 

- I was hoping for a few more creative deaths than what we got 

- It could have been a tad bit shorter (yes I know I just asked for more deaths but then asked for it to be shorter. Sue me) 

I know bad summary. Per usual. Overall thoughts? Loved the book. Go preorder it. Give the author some love. Glad it set itself apart from Pinata: Survival Island (a.k.a. Demon Island...now on Tubi watch it for free) the horror movie from 2002 (I rewatched it just to compare it and it can't be). I really enjoyed learning while reading and I now have a lot of research to look forward to. Which makes me excited. I love researching different mythologies. Yes, I'm using this as an excuse to buy more books. Fight me. More books mean more reviews and y'all want that don't ya? You do...right? 

Now, for the song this time. I know it's not Nahuatl but these are supposed to be songs I know and I think this one fits the feeling of the book. I hope you enjoy it anyway. The song is I Can't Remember My Name by Snotty Nose Rez Kids.

That's it for now luvs. I hope you all pick up the book in March and enjoy! 

Toodles! 

- Bug