Such a pleasure when a book turns out to deliver so much more than expected. The story of an LA showdown between Florida (Florence) and Dios, who meet as inmates in an Arizona prison, is in fact a meeting between Florida and the Florence side of her. As Florence, a child of privilege, she had always felt the need for speed. Underage, undersupervised, and unlicensed, she would accelerate the highways circling Los Angeles in her classic 1968 XKE, relishing the adrenaline rush when breaking limits, legal and speed. Truth be told, there was always a lot of Florida in Florence. On the side of the law is Lobos, an LA detective who has personal reasons for her methods.

Presented from many points of view, the story unspools like a cautionary fable with enough grit and sauce to keep a reader on edge, with some lovely language descriptions of some pretty horrific scenes. The timing, at the height of the pandemic lockdown, provides an indelible element, and since Ivy Pochoda lives in downtown LA and teaches at Studio 526 Skid Row, she knows whereof she speaks.

"Sing Her Down" by Ivy Pochoda is a beautifully layered novel weaving four distinct voices into a complex narrative. Set during the 2020 pandemic, it follows Florence 'Florida' Baum, a soon-to-be-released inmate who intriguingly plots an escape. The tale is told from varying perspectives, adding depth and managing information flow effectively. The narrative, divided into two parts, paints a stark picture of prison life and a pursuit that Florida endures.

Florida's journey, influenced by her cellmate Dios, navigates the consequences of youthful naivety and actions that tread the line of legality. Dios, an important character with ambiguous motives, exerts a palpable oppressive influence on Florida, lending a tense undertone to their interactions.

Contrasting characters like Kace and Lobos add additional dimensions. The novel shines in gender representation, with females leading the narrative. Pochoda's writing style is an engaging mix of efficiency and poetic flair, and her skillful handling of time and perspective shifts is remarkable.

Particularly striking are the scenes that juxtapose violent actions with physical settings, leading to powerful, aesthetically satisfying contrasts. Despite minor struggles with character motivations, "Sing Her Down" offers a unique literary experience filled with intrigue and emotion.

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

This book is a literary novel about women who don’t usually see time in the protagonist’s spotlight in other works. The character descriptions and nuances to the characters’ humanity were deep and realistic.

My reader wheelhouse tends to lean more toward plot storylines than character development or descriptions through long scenes or monologues. Still, I think this book has characters that might stay with readers for a very long time.

DNF @40%
I think this would have worked better as a short story. The chapters were too long and boring and hard to get through.

I loved this book. It is a tightly wound book that grabs you by the throat and holds you there. From Arizona to California the tale unfolds and will hold you breathless. A story of trauma and the choices we make or don’t make. This is my first book by the author and it won’t be my last. Sing Her Down is a book with thorns grab it and see for yourself. I am writing this after finishing a NetGalley copy.

I am a sucker for almost any book that's described at 'feminist' or being about 'feminist rage', and SING HER DOWN has both. Without giving too much away, SING HER DOWN is an exploration of what women can do -- some good and some violent -- and the people and systems designed or influenced to doubt their "abilities".

Described as a gritty, feminist, Western-style thriller, SING HER DOWN is a book that's bound to make readers think and, maybe, a bit uncomfortable. Set during the pandemic is Arizona and LA, the story revolves primarily around three women: Florida and Dios, both former inmates in an Arizona prison, and Lobos, a detective in Los Angeles.

One of the aspects of this story I appreciated was how much this book made me think and even reflect on my own biases. I struggled the first half of the book because I didn't always understand what was going on. We're thrown into a prison and into the midst of Dios' obsession with showing Florida (and those around her) "who she really is". I found myself wanting to know more about their pasts about how they ended up in prison, not because the character development was lacking but because I wanted to understand what they did, how they got there, etc. It took me too long to realize that it didn't matter. Some women just are the way they are.

This was my first book by Ivy Pochoda and I loved the imagery she created -- describing the sights, sounds and smells of the encampments; the once-bustling and now nearly desolate LA streets at the height of the pandemic; and the brilliant Western-style showdown that is foreshadowed in the first few pages.

The more I sit with this story, the more I like it. I read most of it but also listened to some on audio and the full-cast narration is fantastic! Pochoda is an author I'll definitely read more from in the future.

Thank you to the publishers (MCD) for the arc.

The prologue tells about a mural in LA with 2 women in it that people say is alive and it moves.
The author took us to a women's prison in AZ to begin the story. She introduces the main characters - "Dios" Sandoval who is obsessed with Florence "Florida" Baum, a wealthy woman from LA who was caught up in a terrible situation, and imprisoned, and Kace who hears voices of dead people guiding her thoughts.
The first part of the story described the conditions of the prison and the daily indignities that the women suffered. There was jealousy (bed position, backgrounds, etc) that defined the women and their time there.
The women each had their dreams for after release. Dios just wanted Florida to admit that she is just as angry and violent as she (Dios) is. Florida just wants to get to her home, get into her jaguar, and drive into the sunset.
Kace just wants to change cells.
Both Dios and Florida get early release due to COVID overcrowding, and are put up in motels in Chandler, AZ where they are confined to their rooms (the state is still responsible for them). They have weekly phone checks with their Parole Officers, otherwise, must stay in their rooms. After 2 days, meal delivery is stopped (unexplained) and Florida leaves her room to buy food at a convenient store. A bus containing migrants stops there and she has someone buy her a ticket to LA so she can pick up her car and get back to the motel. Dios gets wind of this and gets on the bus too. On the way, they kill a prison guard and a third character is introduced - Lobos a LAPD cop with a history of domestic abuse whose partner claims that she's a cop out of vengeance not responsibility.
The themes running through this book was female rage and the systemic victimization of females,
I did not find the story believable as the women made their way through downtown LA (basically a compound for the undomiciled-homeless) to the mansion where Florida's mother lived. I thought the story was too abstract with too much violence.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher and the opinions expressed are my own.

In this novel, author Ivy Pochoda explores violence in women, and through the lives and actions of her characters, speculates about what made them vicious. Is violence an innate characteristic? Or does it stem from poverty, harassment, molestation, injustice, brutality, and the like.

Warning: There's graphic violence in the novel, which might be disturbing to sensitive readers

*****

The story opens in a women's prison in Arizona, where Florence Baum (Florida), Diana Diosmary Sandoval (Dios), and Kace are housed in the same cell block. Florida is incarcerated for felony accessory to murder; she drove the getaway car from a fire that left two victims burning in the desert. Dios was convicted of aggravated assault; she defended herself against an attacker and broke his eye socket with her cell phone. And Kace killed a woman named Marta, who Kace suspected was going with her man.

Florida and Dios are central to the story, and Kace - an apparent schizophrenic that hears voices in her head - functions something like a Greek Chorus, commenting on the unfolding drama.

Florida, who grew up in a wealthy upper class family in Los Angeles, rails about being incarcerated. She says this is not her place, she can't breathe, can't feel, can't sense properly, isn't like the other inmates, etc. Dios, on the other hand, who's learned something about Florida's past, adamantly disagrees. Dios knows that Florida smuggled diamonds into Europe, secured bad loans for grifters, and was more than an 'accessory after the fact' in the desert murders.

For her part, Dios grew up poor in Queens, New York, where she and her friends stole from bodegas and the Rite Aid. However, Dios' innate smarts earned her a scholarship to a fancy New England college, where she was an outlier among the rich kids. Later, when Dios returned to her old Queens neighborhood, she didn't fit in there either. Dios' old homies acted like her 'rich New England stink' made them gag.

One evening Dios happened across a young tipsy girl in the park and 'something knocked loose inside her.' Dios battered the girl's face, kicked her in the ribs, and stomped on her skull. After this, Dios became increasingly vicious, with the justification that "once the violence cracks open inside you, you become YOU and there's no turning back.'

Dios thinks Florida is inherently violent just like Dios herself. Moreover, Dios believes Florida's 'poor innocent me' diatribe is just an act, perhaps a subconscious one. Thus Dios is determined to bring out the devil in Florida.

Because of the Covid pandemic the prison has to release some inmates, and Florida and Dios are sprung with conditions. They must quarantine themselves in an Arizona motel for two weeks, then move into a state-run group home.....and they have to stay in touch with a parole officer.

Florida wants to return to Los Angeles to retrieve her beloved Jaguar, which she started driving as an underage teen. To Florida, the car means freedom, and blissfully cruising California highways. Florida does not have permission to leave Arizona, but unanticipated events result in Florida illicitly boarding a bus for California.

Shortly afterwards, to Florida's dismay, Dios boards the same bus. Dios means to goad her former prison-mate until Florida reveals her true murderous self. This becomes a sort of cat and mouse game, with Florida trying to get away and Dios sticking to her like a stinging nettle.

When a crime occurs on the bus carrying Florida and Dios to California, Los Angeles Police Detective Lobos gets the case. Lobos quickly zeroes in on Florida and Dios as the suspects, and she means to track them down.

Flashbacks to the past help round out the characters. We learn that Florida grew up in a classy house with a pool and six-car-garage. But Florida's mother was indifferent and neglectful, and a certain older man couldn't keep his hands off young Florida. Besides that Florida and her best friend Ronna were wild teens who got involved with the wrong people, drank, used drugs, smoked, and so on.

Detective Lobos also has a secret history. For reasons she herself can't understand, Lobos stayed with an abusive husband, and only managed to leave after he tried to strangle her. This shames Lobos, and she sometimes gets the urge to beat up or kill wandering homeless men.

The climax of the story occurs in Los Angeles, which is a character in and of itself. The Covid pandemic has ravaged the city, where most stores are boarded up, trash blows through the streets, and homeless encampments occupy almost every nook and cranny (outside the ritzy areas).

Pochoda doesn't resolve the issue of why women become violent, leaving it to the readers to form their own opinions.

In my view, violent behavior is probably due to a confluence of circumstances - perhaps resulting from an inborn tendency exacerbated by a troubled life. (But I'm a scientist, not a psychologist or criminologist.)

In any case this novel is a compelling page turner. Highly recommended.

I had access to both digital and audio versions of the novel, which enhanced my reading experience. Thanks to Netgalley, Ivy Pochoda, and Macmillan Audio and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for copies of the book.

Oh, what highs! But then, oh, what lows.

This book has a split personality. The first half is full of splendid storytelling told either from the POV of a woman named Kace or in first-person prescient (which is a little-used narrative POV but one of my favorites). This first half, which takes place in the present day but reads like it takes place in the Old West, starts inside a women’s prison in Arizona with the stories of Florida and Dios, two of the prison’s inmates. It’s the time of COVID, and as much as no one likes the idea of being locked up, being locked up during a pandemic is putting them all even more on edge than usual. The prose is spellbinding, the plot relevant, and the social commentary compelling. I found myself sinking into the book, caught up in this cat and mouse game Dios is playing with Florida, trying to get Florida to admit she’s just the same as Dios and just as angry and violent as her, too. Dios wants to bring Florida down to her level, and she’s not beyond breaking a whole lot of laws in the process. Dios has an obsession, and Florida is it. Florida has an obsession too: getting to Los Angeles and back to her mother’s home to pick up her car and personal belongings before then driving back to Arizona before her first check-in with her parole officer.

I could’ve read that book–this book–just the way it is for the entire novel. Just Dios and Florida playing cat and mouse, catch and release, all over hill and dale as Florida tries to get to her car and Dios keeps dragging her down, down, down and then see how it ends.

But then there had to be part two. And that’s where this book lost me completely.

Up until this point there had been three POV’s: Florida, Kace, and Dios. In part two, all of a sudden, Dios’ POV disappears almost entirely and in its place is the POV of Lobos, a female cop that’s been assigned the case of Florida and Dios since they violated parole and a violent crime was committed during the act. But who committed the act? Was it both of them? One of them? Why was this guy killed anyway?

Like Florida, Dios, and Kace, Lobos has her own damage. Lobos even has a sexist partner that made me grind my teeth. It was established from the beginning that this book was largely about how the system victimizes females no matter their age, race, mental health, socioeconomic background, or line of work and then doesn’t think we have either the right or ability to get angry or violent and to do something about it. Taking it even further, if we dare try and do something about it, we’re somehow less than human to society. Bringing a cop who has a lot of her own issues surrounding anger towards men due to being abused by her husband into the story halfway through and practically letting her take over half of the narrative was not only jarring for the whole plot, but it was upsetting in general because we lost the strong narrative voice of Dios so this cop could amble around Los Angeles investigating the duo and jumping at shadows thinking her husband is around every corner.

Had Pochoda chosen to keep the story contained to Florida, Dios, and Kace, I believe this would’ve been a truly great novel. Her choice to split it down the middle like she did made it mediocre.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Owing to personal policy, all reviews rated three stars or under are not posted to social media or bookseller websites. Thank you.

Ivy pochoda is an interesting voice in the literary thriller (not sure if her novels would constitute a thriller, but they do center around violence..) her prose is eerie-simple yet complex and unique. This is an intense tale about the relationship between women, the prison system, violence, redemption. Told through a kaleidoscope of perspectives, but mainly centering on the story’s of cellmates, Florida and dios, as they gain freedom and peruse one another after being released in an effort to find out why Florida committed the crimes of which she was accused. Like these women, this story will haunt the reader and display more depth than one reading will initially realize.

Thanks to the publisher for providing the arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was not the book I was promised, it was fine but disappointed it was not in a Western setting or have Killing Eve vibes, it just wasn't for me. Bummed but might try it on audio now that I know what it actually is.

From the audio review:

I received a free audio ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

The narration was brilliant. The story, well this is different. I enjoyed the atmosphere and the mysterious quality of it. The southwest American setting added to the ambience of it. The characters, flawed but interesting.

The story overall, I don't know. I'm not sure I get it. Still, not a bad listening experience...

Sing Her Down, by Ivy Pochoda, was NOT an easy book to read, but it's worth sitting with it and digesting it. I've enjoyed Pochoda's work previously and this one did not disappoint.

The story is told from the varying perspectives of four major characters. This can be a bit dizzying at first since you are 'dumped' into someone's brain, basically, but I quickly got used to this form of narrative.

These four characters (and some other, less major personages) are all navigating the world of early COVID lockdown, which provides a stark setting of desolation (both emotional and external). The story takes place in Arizona (in a women's penitentiary) and Los Angeles, California. Pochoda's descriptions of scenery and surroundings is very visual and vivid. I could almost see the 'film' of the story in my head as I was reading.

I'm not sure how to really explain the plot without spoiling it, but it involves crime and violence, self-actualization, some redemption. I would add a big Content Warning for violence (some of it graphic). While it's not egregious it is still very much part of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher - Farrar, Strous and Giroux - for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. I've already recommended it to my various book groups, and look forward to what Ivy Pochoda writes next!

What a dark read. This book is very dark and violent but I still couldn’t stop reading. This book makes you see that there are those out there with a dark soul.

This book took place in a women’s prison. Three main characters are Kace, Dios, and Florida. Pandemic hit and the prison released a few inmates, Florida wants to get out go back to LA and get her car. Dios wants Floria to her herself by bringing out her dark side, because that’s who she is to Dios. Kace talks to the dead so she knows the secret Florida wants no one to know.

This was a very well written book I enjoyed very much.

I would recommend this book for those that like a dark read.

Thank you NetGalley for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was a really interesting book for like how everything was tied together. This woman called florida her real name was florence was a bad Girl from wealthy part Los angeles. You find out why her clients were and how she was just left to do what she wanted to do because her mother was not very caring for her.. She ran with really bad people and one of these men actually killed somebody but she got off apparently but she was sent to prison anywhere.. In prison she met a girl named D I r a.. It was a product of new york of the projects who were cen to a very good school with scholarships for she was very angry about things. It was really interesting how everybody played this part in the prison. You'll find out what really happened 21personintheprison. They both got out of prison at the same time but florida really wanted to go to california to get her car and she was stuck in chandler arizona. They made up on the bus going to l a and strange things happen on this bus. The detective who was chasing them had passed with domestic violence against her husband and so she had a lot of issues as well. It was an interesting book because they tied different things together and you can see how people can change or not change. Florida went back to her original home and trying to get a car but that didn't work. Things went really sour when dora showed up and then you realized how crazy the situation got. It also dealt with a lot of issues about sexual and violence in the book. But they made it really interesting. I can see how people can get caught up on the wrong side when there's no discipline for anybody to help them.

Let Me Tell You A Story……

Ivy Pochoda’s new thriller is unusual and focuses on women, women who commit violence. At times, this novel was difficult to read. The author did not refrain from writing about violence in ghastly scenes.

There are three main characters: Florence “Florida” Baum, Diana Disomary “Dios” Sandoval and Detective Lobos. The novel starts out in a women’s prison in Arizona. Pochoda provides a sort of narrator, Kace, who hears voices and interjects her suppositions. The timeframe is during the pandemic and the Arizona Department of Corrections needs to reduce prison populations. Florida is convicted as an accomplice to a murder by driving a getaway car. Dios was convicted for aggravated assault. They both are smart, Florida grew up rich, house with a six car garage in a Los Angeles mansion; Dios was the recipient of a scholarship and she is from Queens. Because of the pandemic, they are initially quarantined for two weeks in a motel. However, they are not brought meals and when Florida leaves to buy food, she keeps going, not returning to the motel. Dios does the same.

They take a bus to Los Angeles; Dios wants Florida to commit violent acts. Downtown Los Angeles is a novel of its own. It is a mixture of rich and poor, multiple languages, violence, and mostly chaos.

The reader is captured in Florida’s mind to relive her troubled past. Dios is tough and shows no mercy. Detective Lobos, Florida and Dios are complex. The novel reaches an interesting crescendo in this “pandemic” novel.

My gratitude to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus & Giroux for this pre-published book. All opinions expressed are my own.

I featured this title on my Booktube channel. The video can be accessed here: https://youtu.be/oWORAm6N34U

Two women, Dios and Florida, were granted early release from an Arizona prison due to the pandemic with strict quarantine / parole guidelines they are to follow. Will they stick to them or will they risk it to get away? Florida wants to go back to the west coast but Dios keeps her close as she knows what Florida has done.

I like this story because not many books follow the dark side of female characters like Ivy captured !

Thank you netgalley, the author and publisher for my ARC.

Sing Her Down by Ivy Pochoda is a story about several women with different roles and mindsets revolving around crime and release from prison during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Florence "Florida" Baum is seemlingly an innocent bystander to a crime that landed her in prios. Diosmary "Dios" Sandoval, a fellow inmate, knows differently. Both are released early due to the pandemic and sent to a hotel where they are to stay quaranteed for two weeks. Food is supposed to be delivered daily, but when it goes for much longer, Florida is forced to find alternative solutions, which ulimately leads her to a bus out of town in direct violation of her release. Dios follows her in true stalker fashion and crimes are committed.

Kace is also a fellow inmate but is not released. She is the teller of the story in many of the chapters and is the voice of the dead.

Lobos is a female detective that is chasing Florida and Dios. Ultimately, this is a showdown between Florida and Dios, captured in a mural.

Overall, I enjoyed both the premise and the book. It had an interesting take on the pandemic, which made me think about some of the real-life things we had to endure as a society, and how it must have been for the prison population. I wanted to like the characters, but I wasn't able to connect, which is the main reason I landed on three stars. There were some points in the story that I got confused, and not sure I really felt the ending, but the story line was interesting and different from my usual reads.

Thank you to NetGalley, MCD, and Ivy Pochoda for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Much thanks to NetGalley and Fararr, Straus, Giroux for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book gripped and haunted me from beginning to end.
And I think it's doing it a disservice to conveniently categorize it as some kind of thriller, crime story or even, in a real stretch, a "western".
"Sing Her Down" is most assuredly literary fiction, but written in the immediate, propulsive prose you'd expect in such an action-packed, violent story.......told with brilliant, incisive writing and imaginative, unforgettable imagery.
Yes, in way, it resembles and duplicates the epic, larger-than-life mythic-figure showdowns of Sergio Leone's Italian westerns like "The Good, The Bad And The Ugly" and "Once Upon A Time In The West".
The book forces a monumental life evaluation on its three main characters, two women convicts who've violated their parole and the policewoman hunting them - do their darkest impulses come from some pivotal moment in their lives or was the darkness deep within them ingrained, always inside them from birth?
At the height of the 2020 Covid pandemic, Arizona prison cellmates 'Florida' Baum and 'Dios' Sandoval enjoy an early parole, due to the prison's overcrowding. Florida, daughter of a wealthy L.A. family, accumulated a criminal record as a somehow peripheral figure in the crimes she fell into. So Florida's come to think she can find some light at the end of the tunnel, a path to redemption.
But Dios, a hardcore, murderous, unredeemable sociopath, views Florida as a kindred spirit, a sister in darkness who's yet to recognize and embrace the truth of herself. When Florida, hoping to establish a sense of normality, breaks parole and hops a bus back home to L.A., the obsessed, lethal Dios follows her every step of the way. An ultimate showdown between these women becomes inevitable.
And what a perfectly surreal, dystopian backdrop author Ivy Pochada imagines for these women and their final encounter......a mostly abandoned, Pandemic-ridden city whose populace remains fearfully self-quarantined in their homes and whose streets now belong almost exclusively to the homeless.
With murder victims left in their wake, Florida and Dios are being tracked down by Detective Lobos, while she herself must deal with the stalking of her abusive ex-husband. When the paths of these three women finally intersect, it's a climactic confrontation worthy of an Ennio Morricone " Western showdown" symphony.....a hellish dreamscape committed to a wall mural that seems to come alive if given a sideways glance.
"Sing Her Down" struck me as the kind of darkly dreamt book to fully surrender yourself to and lose yourself in........ and even if we're not quite at halfway through 2023, I'd already rate this as one of the best 5 star books I've come across of this year....a TBR list must.