The stories in this collection that were previously published are smart, sophisticated, prosaic, and painful. Truly brilliant pieces. Those that were unpublished prior to this book were less interesting, often meandering or lacking urgency. Overall, a strong collection.

A wonderful collection of short stories. Each story takes place in Colorado and is about different women in difficult situations who reflect on their past to guide them in the present and future. Hispanic and Native culture is woven throughout the stories.

The namesake story, Sabrina and Corina, is about two cousins who were once close but drifted apart as their lives took different paths. One is murdered and one has to come to terms with it.

I was first drawn to the cover — it’s gorgeous! Then to the synopsis. I was really drawn to reading a collection of stories about the lives of women in the Southwest (hi, I’m from New Mexico!)

Each of the stories are beautifully written, Kali’s prose is so lyrical and haunting, some thoughtful, and others laugh out loud funny:

“...There was a mass of a gray clouds. They spread evenly over the land like a patchwork of fog. ‘Look,’ I whispered. ‘even the sky is sad for you.’”

“ One thing Perla was certain of. She was ashamed that even in her old age, she wanted to live more than die.”

“‘Let’s get something straight, Tomás Manuel Morales. One, I was not goth. I just liked purple lip liner. Two, I wasn’t that fat. And three, I wasn’t a cokehead. If I was, I would have been skinny. Everybody knows that.’”

My only qualm was that some of the stories felt unfinished... unless the point was to get glimpses into the stories of these women.

All in all, a gorgeous collection of stories.

3.5+ star.
There is a depth of sadness in these stories, lightened at times by connections with others or by a slight acknowledgement or recognition that maybe there is a way forward. Children, mostly young girls, being left behind by their mothers and sometimes their fathers by death, by being left willfully, or by abandonment even before they have left is a recurring theme in a number of these stories. They all take place in or around Denver, Colorado where Latina women struggle with physical violence, drugs, financial problems, and loss. One of the most affecting stories is “Julian Plaza” where two young girls are dealing with their mother’s illness as she is dying of cancer and the family struggles to care for her. “Tomi” is another that I found especially moving, one with a glimmer of hope where an eight year old boy connects with his ex-con aunt who is trying to find her own way, after his mother leaves. I can’t say I enjoyed all of the stories equally. At the end of a few I was left hanging and didn’t feel there was any closure for the characters, but mainly not for me. However, the majority of the stories are well written, thought provoking and emotionally captivating.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Random House through NetGalley.

Kali Fajardo-Anstine has a stunning talent for character-crafting. Her adoration and respect for her characters and their lives is palpable—this is especially powerful, given the cycles of disrespect we see throughout the collection: gendered violence and gentrification. As with nearly any collection of stories, not every story will land with every reader—a couple felt a bit slow or fell a little flat, while the rest easily held my attention easily. Fajardo-Anstine never fails to use rich, sensory details to make her characters, their homes, and their families alive on the page. I look forward to her next book.

I received an Advanced Review Copy of Sabrina & Corina by Kali Fajadaro-Anstine from the Publisher Random House through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: This is a story collection that follows indigenous Latina women from Colorado, each story is unique.

What I Loved: I loved every single story, the stories are intriguing and pull you in and are perfect short-stories. The author's writing is wonderful and she creates characters that are both realistic and flawed but likeable at the same time. If you are looking for a diverse story collection with perspectives that you likely haven't read before, pick this up. I felt connected to these characters in the stories: there were stories where I cried, laughed, and got angry. This collection is just lovely.

Who Should Read It: People who love short story collections. People who love wonderful writing. People who want diverse books.

General Summary: A wonderfully written short-story collection with diverse characters.

I loved this book, and it's probably at the top of my list for 2019 so far. <i>Sabrina & Corina: Stories</i> is a great debut short story collection by Kali Fajardo-Anstine. Usually in a short story collection there's one or two duds or a work that doesn't fit in with the rest of the stories. However, that's not true for <i>Sabrina & Corina: Stories</i>. It's a very well-rounded, cohesive collection about Indigenous and Latina women around Denver and its outskirts. The stories, particularly the violence against women, are brutal at times, but Fajardo-Anstine treats her characters with dignity. "Tomi", "Sugar Babies" and "Any Further West" are the stand outs in my opinion. If this Fajardo-Anstine's debut collection, I cannot wait to see what she does next.

I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Although the subject matter of "Sabrina & Corina" is often bleak and depressing, this collection of short stories filled my heart with joy. Fajardo-Anstine does an incredible job examining themes of abandonment, addiction, and violence against women, all while conveying the soaring spirits of her female characters. Set around Denver, Colorado, these stories all share commonalities of how we are truly affected by our ancestry (in this case, of indigenous nature), none more than our immediate family. For better or worse, we are direct products of our environments. I was completely taken by Fajardo-Anstine's writing style, and I was saddened each time a story ended - I could have stayed with all of these characters so much longer! I am ecstatic to see what this writer does next - we certainly need her valued perspective of diverse and strong women - and I'll be happily recommending this collection to everyone I know!

Sabrina & Corina is a beautifully written short story collection about young Latina women of indigenous descent living in Denver. The stories are about families -- the ways they can hurt you, how they can protect you, and how your parents often aren't who you want or need them to be. Many of them are also about the violence visited upon women by men. All of the stories were wonderful, but I think my favorites were Sugar Babies (a girl grapples with her absent mom returning home), Sabrina & Corina (a woman deals with her cousin's murder), Tomi (a woman, newly released from prison, bonds with her nephew), and Ghost Sickness (a young woman tries to pass her Western History class). Honestly, though, they were all so good and my synopses don't do them justice. Highly recommended.

Breathtakingly beautiful and heartbreaking stories about some of the hardships Latina and Indigenous women go through in life that will bring tears to your eyes. I felt each story. I don’t normally read short stories but this one I highly recommend. I could easily see all of these stories turned into full novels I would love to own. My favorites in the collections were:

•Sabrina & Corina: The books namesake about two cousins and the different paths they take.

•Remedies: The consequences of trying to do the right thing or to make up for someone else’s bad decisions. Made me smile.

•Ghost Sickness: Bittersweet ending to a great collection.

{eARC provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review}

Savored this brilliant book of short essays. The characters are unlike anything I have ever read before. They will stay with me for a very, very long time. This collection with change the Latinx canon just like Sandra Cisneros did with House of Mango street. Highly recommended and well-deserving all the attention it is receiving. Did you see the blurbs alone? Loved it! Long live Sabrina and Corina! Thank you from the bottom of this Latinx heart for sending me this galley.

Sabrina and Corina is a collection of short stories about different Latina women living in the western United States. Most of the stories are bleak, featuring female characters who are poor, beaten down, and broken. Many of the women feel pushed to be in relationships with men for financial support, but these relationships aren’t healthy and end up hurting the women even more. Those who try to survive on their own don’t fare much better.

Here are brief summaries of some of the stories:

*** A girl’s junkie mother only returns to the house every once in a while, stays a few weeks, then disappears again for months.
*** A woman has to apply funeral makeup on her dead best friend from childhood.
*** A little girl gets lice every time she’s forced to visit with her poor half-brother. (Even though I was meh about the ending on this one, it was one of my favorite stories.)
*** Two sisters have to come to terms with their mother’s terminal breast cancer diagnosis, while their father struggles to pay for her medical care.

And the sadness goes on. And on…

Honestly, I wouldn’t normally finish a book like this. It’s just too damn depressing. But the one saving grace is that at least some of the women are strong survivors. And it helps, too, that there are repeated themes of family loyalty, community, perseverance, and deep respect for grandparents and tradition.

The stories are beautifully told, but every single one is hopelessly tragic. Even when people rally and come together, it’s always clear that they have no chance at a good life. So my advice is to read Sabrina and Corina with caution. Maybe only take on a couple stories at a time and then supplement with some good self-care. Trust me, you’re going to need a lot of hugs after this one.

A terrific collection of short stories! This slim volume explores the issues facing Latina women in Colorado- and so much more. Fajardo-Anstine writes beautifully and her language packs a real punch. Short story readers know that they are often perfect bed time reading- something to pick up from the nightstand. These stories and women might keep you awake, because of their circumstances and also because you'll want more. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s magnetic story collection breathes life into her Latina characters of indigenous ancestry and the land they inhabit. Set against the remarkable backdrop of Denver, Colorado–a place that is as fierce as it is exquisite–these women navigate the land the way they navigate their lives: with caution, grace, and quiet force. In “Sugar Babies,” ancestry and heritage are hidden inside the earth but tend to rise during land disputes. “Any Further West” follows a sex worker and her daughter as they leave their ancestral home in southern Colorado only to find a foreign and hostile land in California. In “Tomi,” a woman leaves prison and finds herself in a gentrified city that is a shadow of the one she remembers from her childhood.And in the title story, “Sabrina & Corina,” a Denver family falls into a cycle of violence against women, coming together only through ritual.- GoodreadsThis is what short stores should aspire to be. From the moment you begin reading to the moment you are done, you feel a range of emotions.Firstly, you have a sense of satisfaction because the ending of each story doesn't leaves you on a cliff wanting more but leaves you with a sense of understanding and purpose and most importantly a connection with characters.It is very clear that Fajardo-Anstine choose her strongest stories to be in the beginning. This is not to say that as you get closer to the ending you begin to lose interest because this is not the case at all. But when you read Sabrina and Corina, which is the second story, you know she did not come to play.Each of these women, these girls have a powerful emotion that they are either discovering within the story or discovering how to deal with it. How Fajardo-Anstine builds the setting in such a short amount of time is amazing. But the story that blew me away was Remedies.Remedies reminded me of my family and specifically passing down not just memories but skills; things that would get lost if they were never taught. It is powerful because these skills connect us with our elders, with our ancestors and it reminds us that they can never be forgotten if we use and teach what they have took the time to teach us.Although there is a bigger theme in Remedies this was the first thing that stuck out to me because Fajardo-Anstine brings it full circle to not let us (the readers) forget about it.Every story was connected in some form of way and I didn't realize that until mid book. I thought that was a fantastic touch the Fajardo-Anstine did and I know that I keep saying this but that connected me to every person in the story. I felt this book and will now use this as what all short stories, be it young adult, adult fiction or non-fiction should strive for. 4 Pickles

Sabrina and Corina is a collection of short stories mostly planted in a changing Latino community in Denver. Each story is an exploration of a young woman who is trying to understand herself / her world. Decisions are made that may bring respite or increase hardship. But each young woman has hopes for her future and dreams from her past. The stories explore the role of family, who helps you, who you can trust, who saps your energy, who thwarts you, who needs you and what you may owe. Each story delves into some aspect of what it means to be part of a family, a community and a rich cultural heritage. The cover is so beautiful, that alone would make me purchase this book. Enjoyable and recommended.

Set in an area near Denver, Colorado Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s debut short story collection Sabrina & Corina is both beautifully crafted and breath taking. Fajardo-Anstine lets us “co-experience” the life of Indigenous Latina women by centering on one relationship at a time. In each story we view common themes of abandonment, violence and loss that these women endure. Fajardo-Anstine's writing is so descriptive that she can place you inside the stories. I’m not even sure I am explaining this correctly, but Fajardo-Anstine is a phenomenal writer. This is a must read. Thank you NetGalley & Random House (One world Publishing) for the e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't get quite all the way through this book. The stories are well-written, resonant, and educational for a settler reader like myself. I would highly recommend it, but it was too much of a gut punch for where my mental health is right now.

She said people will find the loveliest part of you and try to make it ugly. “And they will do anything,” she always said, “to own that piece of you.”

In this fantastic collection of stories by Kali Fajardo- Anstine about the experiences of Latina women indigenous to the vast land of the American West, characters range in age and life situations. Beauty can’t save any of them from the violence of bad men, nor can it guarantee a better life , “they look at us like we’re nothing.” In Sugar Babies, a restless mother leaves while her daughter cares for her own school ‘baby’. Sabrina & Corina is one of the saddest with a bad ending for a much admired Cordava cousin. The loss finds Corina using her make-up skills to tend to Sabrina’s body as she reminisces of her deep love for “the family beauty”. Too, she shares the distance between them before everything went wrong, before her cousin’s ‘carelessness’ began to disgust her. This family of women have lived with nothing but tragedies, how can anyone hope for a happy fate with so much evidence to the contrary?

In Sisters, Dotty has her sight stolen from her and thinks about a missing girl, about survival and thus begins the story of what happens when women say no and bruise a man’s ego, inciting his rage. This is the sort of story that makes me think of Margaret Atwood’s biting quote, ‘Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.’ What happens to the women in each story can knock the wind out of you, and though fiction, it’s not one bit fantastical and that is frightening.

In Remedies, lice are the monster. I adore characters that understand natural medicine and for some, home remedies was the only cure. Too, a young girl struggles with a half-brother in her life, the father absent for both of them but why should she have to share her own mother? The writing is gorgeous throughout, I kept breaking my heart against each one. Just when I thought it couldn’t get sadder, I was gutted again. ‘Cora and I had been around sick and dying people our entire lives. People, we learned, weren’t permanent and neither were their illnesses.’ Characters are all struggling to keep things together through illnesses, death, grief, and the aftermath of prison. Some deal with their own shameful pasts, others with the inevitable trajectory of what’s to come. The Bob Dylan quote before the stories begin is spot on, these are certainly sad-eyed ladies. Yes, read it!!!

Publication Date: April 2, 2019

Random House

One World

This is my favorite collection in the past year, hands down. I loved each story - so beautifully imagined and written. I will be purchasing a finished copy for sure when it comes out in April for my shelf of favorites. Thank you!

Sabrina & Corina is a really beautifully crafted short story collection about Indigenous Latina women living in and around Denver. Each story had an acute sense of sadness and loss, many of them dealt with violence against women, and abandonment. These are necessarily dark themes, but the heart of most of the stories was warm and deeply human. Mothers, grandmothers and daughters, sisters, cousins, and in my favorite story, Tomi, an aunt and her nephew search for connection to one another despite how awkward that can be, and despite sometimes hurting one another. It has been a long, long time since a book has made me cry, and these are short stories so I didn't even have hundreds of pages to get to know anyone character. Fajardo-Anstine has a gift for crafting characters I was able to connect to and feel deeply about instantly.