* I received this as a free ebook from Netgalley*

This was absolutely beautiful! The writing style is much more poetic than what I normally prefer to read but I really enjoyed it. The role of cuentista reminded me so much of the concept of sin eaters but a very cool scifi/dystopian twist. My only issue was that the initial plot line with Julio seemed to be overstated in how important he would be later in the story, but the part at the very end about his sabueso broke my heart! I did cheat a little bit and read Oshiro's commentary on the allegory of his story but I'm glad I did, it really too the meaning of all this to another level.

I LOVED THIS BOOK. Everyone should read it. The characters, the narration, the plot, the world building. It’s an exquisite read. I definitely recommend this book!

This book is so incredibly beautiful. It has poetic prose that is unapologetically bilingual. It has fascinating world building. It has complicated characters. I love this book so much! This is a great book about dealing with the world's expectations of you and finding yourself.

TW: Descriptions of graphic violence, injury, death, and decomposition; descriptions of throwing up; allusions to animal deaths; instances of emotional abuse and domestic abuse.
EACH OF US A DESERT is about Xochital, a 16 year old cuentista, or storyteller, but in her world, she doesn’t tell stories, she takes stories from the people in her village who need relief, and then she returns them to Solis, the god of this world. When her perception of her world is turned upside down, she realizes she must travel outside of her small village with an unlikely companion to get her answers.
Would it really be one of my fantasy book reviews if I didn’t gush about the world building? No, so here I go again. I really enjoyed learning about this world that is mostly desert and living in constant fear of the sun, Solis, who punished humanity before. It was great to learn about the world through Xo’s eyes, someone who had never left her village and had only heard stories about what was beyond her village.
A major part of the worldbuilding was Solis, the sun and essentially this world’s god who punished humanity long ago for mistreating the Earth. This book explores how Solis is viewed on Xochital’s journey. I’ve never seen a YA fantasy make religion less than a single, accepted rigid truth, but that’s what this book did.
I feel like the summary makes it seem like the f/f romance is more central to the story than it actually is. There is a f/f romance and the main character is sapphic, but the romance is very much in the backburner. This is very much a coming of age book, as it centers Xo’s journey to discover the truth about herself and her role in life as a cuentista.
The writing was very lyrical in places, especially in the poems. I think this would make an amazing audiobook.
I rated this 3.5 stars. It was good and I really appreciated what it did with the ideas of "truth” and challenging ideas given to you since birth.

Each of Us a Desert is certainly a beautiful book. Oshiro's prose borders on poetry and free verse at times, and their language is measured and lyrical throughout. But this also gives moments in the story that should be tense too much distance, as though someone is describing them from far away - an odd feeling and at odds with the fact that the story is told in first person, present tense. Xochitl, our protagonist, is a bit too much of a cypher, partially by design - her role is to take on the stories of others and return them to the earth, cleansing the storyteller - but eventually it becomes hard to pin her down and connect with her. The story is a familiar one, protagonist goes on a journey to discover herself, but the worldbuilding and liberal sprinkling of Hispanic language and folklore make it unique. There's a lot to love about this book, but it doesn't come easy, and the reader needs to be willing to do some work to get it. It's worth it in the end.

This is hands down one of most beautiful books I've read this year. It was thought-provoking, honest, heart-wrenching, and I am so in love with the prose and the writing style of the author. (Also, I'm not gonna lie, I definitely could not hold back the tears anymore as I read the final pages of the book.)

Highly recommended! Full review will be posted soon on my blog!

Each of Us a Desert comes out on September 15th and I need everyone who loves YA fantasy to put this book on their radar because it is SO GOOD.

Each of Us a Desert is the story of Xochitl, la cuentista of Empalme. As la cuentista, it is her duty to bear witness to the stories of the townspeople - like a priest taking confessions - and absorb their pain, grief, and guilt (literally) in order to absolve them of their sins.

Xo isn’t sure if her duty is a gift or a curse, and she dreams of life beyond the confines of her village… so when evil comes to Empalme, Xochitl strikes out on a journey to discover the truth about la cuentistas and her own destiny.

My favorite part of Each of Us a Desert was the magic - the mythology of Solís and las cuentistas, the magical creatures, and even the desert itself - its all just so fully-realized and elegantly (though sometimes also terrifyingly) crafted!

While this story is set a dystopian-esque fantasy world of Oshiro’s invention, it is not otherworldly. In creating Xo’s world, Oshiro pulls from Mexican geography and culture, and uses Spanish throughout the book, which results in a profoundly atmospheric and immersive reading experience.

As a whole, Oshiro’s writing is incredibly beautiful and the driving force of Each of Us a Desert. I was so captivated by the lyrical nature of their storytelling and the profound emotional depths of this tale - I am truly in awe of Oshiro’s imagination and talent.

Each of Us a Desert is truly one of a kind and I have a feeling that it will be one of my favorite YA books of 2020. I can’t wait to chat about it with everyone when it comes out!

I highly recommend this book to lovers of YA fantasy and LGBTQIA+ and Latinx own voices stories, as well as fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s The Gods of Jade and Shadow and Isabel Ibañez’s Woven in Moonlight.

"Each of us a desert. Weren’t we all? Weren’t we all so vast and solitary inside?"
- Each of Us a Desert by Mark Oshiro
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The beginning of the book was confusing for me, I wasn't sure what was going on and what to watch out for. But soon enough, everything was explained. The story follows Xochitl, who's a cuentista. She has a special ability which allows her to retain people's stories for a brief period to then deliver them to the god Solís. It's a form of confession or bringing solace. It's a privilege to be a cuentista, but also a duty and a very draining process. Soon, Xochitl begins to see it as a curse, as she had no say in whether she wants to do it or not. And all she longs for is a friend. The real adventure starts when she discovers the secret of the man who's been terrorizing the community.
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It's a beautiful book, and at times, very gruesome. The violence depicted in the book weaves seamlessly into the story so that it doesn't stand out. It may be thanks to the language, which is both poetic and accessible. The style of narration is unique in that Xochitl speaks directly to the god Solís.
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The ending was a bit too long for me. It was very introspective, uneventful and comprised too much walking.
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The book also involves a very slow-burn enemies-to-girlfriends romance. Both parties involved are super cute and I'm not entirely sure where the initial animosity came from.
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As a person who doesn't speak Spanish, I was glad that even though it was used a lot across the book, it was always put in context and therefore, easy to understand.
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Yet again, I realize we need more diversity in the way fantasy books are set. It can't all be castles and dragons and muscly manly men.

4.75* This is a book unlike any I've read before. It's also quite difficult to properly describe and review this book. I don't think I have words to do it justice. Mark Oshiro's writing conveys an atmospheric, beautiful, lyrical, magical post-apocalyptic desert world that had been burned by Solis (the sun god) in an event called "La Quema". Xochitl is a 16 year old cuentista of her village., who was given her powers when she was 8 years old. A cuentista is a storyteller, but instead of telling tales, they take people's stories of wrongdoings or sins, to basically absolve them. Xochitl takes the tale into herself, then goes out into the desert, and gives the stories back to the earth to go back to Solis.
Certainly, I did not find this a very easy book to get through. There were times when I felt like I'm also stuck in the desert, with the heat oppressive and heavy. That's definitely a compliment to the author's skill. This is also a book that explores faith and fate. The power of words is shown, as the stories la cuentista take in are alive and can cause pain. There's also the power of the poemas that draws Xochitl. They're spread out in the desert written by an unknown poet. They gave shape and form to what she's feeling and thinking.
Written as a long prayer from Xochitl to the silent Solis, we see the world open up to Xo as she ventures out of her village on a personal quest to escape the bound confines of her role as cuentista. From Xo's small village to a sprawling city to burned-out ruins, where arid deserts and steep mountains cross, this harsh but beautiful world is deftly painted by Oshiro's very talented pen.

**Huge thank you to Tor Teen for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.**

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is not my usual genre, I’m more into romance stories and literary fiction however I wanted to take the opportunity to read something from outside my norm. And I am glad I did!! Thank you for  opening up my mind to something totally different.

This is not a bad book, and I wanted so badly to love it, but I just don't. The writing style feels very blunt, and though I'm ashamed to admit it I really struggled with how much Spanish was integrated into the text - when I've seen this done before, context always made the meaning clear, but Each of Us a Desert left me stranded. And though I really liked the main character, I didn't understand what she was doing or why, and I actively disliked almost all the secondary characters.

It's not a bad book. I can see that. I and Desert just didn't get along.

Each of Us a Desert is a story about sacrifice, responsibility, and stories themselves. Xochital is a cuentista, responsible for hearing people's stories and confessions and giving them back to Solis. Each of Us a Desert explores questions of our responsibility to our community as well as the confines of our own destiny. It's a story told not only in stories, but the confessions of characters and asking us if their confessions purge themselves of guilt? If their performances of regret or the act of speaking their stories into existence change their behaviors and future.

Throughout Each of Us a Desert it feels like Xochital is speaking directly to us, not only because she's speaking to Solis, but also because of the way the stories she hears are passed onto her. Each of Us a Desert is intensely character driven, even though there is plenty of action, because it's focused on Xochital's quest to figure out her responsibility to her community and to Solis. Is she in charge of her own destiny? In the book, she figures out the truth behind not only the stories she takes on from others, but also the stories about her own powers.

Not only is queerness normalized in the world, but the main character is also queer (and there's a sapphic relationship)! Each of Us a Desert is thought provoking, while delivering a story of discovery. It examines the ideas of religion, truth, and sacrifice. The writing style is stunning as Oshiro leads us through deserts, up mountains, and into the depths of the earth. Asking us if we are just all solitary deserts spread out among miles. It's also a book that emphasizes the importance of stories being told, our responsibility as a community to never forget, and the burden of carrying these weights alone. The stories that change us. Without which we become someone who doesn't understand the weight of regret.

Written as a single poem uttered by the storyteller Xochital, Each of Us a Desert by Mark Oshiro was a book I wanted to take my time with. Xochital is the storyteller for her village. She takes the confessions of her neighbors and returns them to Solis and forgets them. It is a life, though not one that she chose for herself. She found poems in the desert, and these poems keep her going. Then she takes a story that changes the way she sees everything—her village and other villagers. Xo begins a journey to have someone take her power away so she will no longer have to accept stories. Along the way, she is joined by Emilia, the daughter of the town’s horrible mayor.
There isn’t much I don’t love about this book. The setting is breathtaking, the writing poetic. With the exception of Julio, characters were well-developed. My favorite aspect of the story was the Spanish words and phrases used throughout. I was glad I read it digitally because it made it easy to look up words I didn’t know.
Thank you to Tor Teens and NetGalley for the digital ARC.

Each of Us a Desert is Oshiro’s second book, set to be published September 15. The cover drew me in and the summary intrigued me. I got a chance to read it early thanks to Netgalley!

Xochitl is a lonely, troubled character. For a good portion of the book, she feels alone, understood only by a mysterious poet. Her love interest, Emilia, is similarly alone, though she comes across more icy at first. This story is about stories and what weight they can carry. For half of her life, Xochitl has been taking on the stories of others, burdening herself with their weight.

In this journey, Xochitl goes to seek the truth: about storytellers like herself, about Solís, their god, about this world. This story is about stories and what weight they can carry. For half of her life, Xochitl has been taking on the stories of others, burdening herself with their weight. This book was a wonderful slowburn, as we learn more about the world along with Xochitl, we experience guilt, betrayal, and love through her eyes. The romance was also a beautiful slowburn, one that progressed slowly and naturally.

Oshiro’s writing style is lyrical, their prose lush. I was instantly hooked when I read the first few pages. I needed to inhale this book and sing its praises. Xochitl was deeply relatable and a captivating character. I wanted to cheer her on the whole way. Now, more than ever, is a lonely time of my life. The magic of stories was caught within these pages and has comforted me greatly.

I consumed this book as if it were part of a fever dream, or a landscape seen only through a heat haze. It took me two days.

The world building is a work of art. It is set in a desert landscape where people worship the sun, Solis, as a god. Each small village, scattered throughout the landscape, is struggling to survive years after horrible fires ripped through the land. Those fires were seen as the wrath of Solis, and to appease the sun god, the people of each village would tell the truth of their guilt to la cuentista, the storyteller who would hear the story and then give it back to the desert and Solis. Guilt that is not expunged in this way festers and causes phantasmic nightmares to come to life to terrorize the people. Xochital, our protagonist, is one of those cuentistas, and the weight of her conflicting responsibilities to her home, her people, her family, and herself weigh heavily upon her.

This book features some truly delightful and poetic prose, though it did inspire me to download a Spanish-English dictionary on my phone (Apparently, languages you never use are easily forgotten. I feel guilty. I should speak to my grandma more. I’m losing a heritage I should cling to.)

On a very tangentially related note, I strongly suspect that people who enjoy this book would also enjoy the Rusty Quill podcast, The Magnus Archives. On the surface it may seem strange to recommend a horror anthology when this book is more of a magical realism/cultural coming of age story, but anyone who is familiar with both may see where I am coming from. The cuentistas ability to take and consume stories feels akin to the archivist’s collection of statement in the Magnus Archives. Both feature vividly imagined and well-crafted worlds.

I am extremely grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a review copy of this book.

3 stars

I was thrilled to receive this ARC because I really enjoyed Oshiro's previous book, and this cover and description looked and sounded ideal for my regular reading tastes. As a person who both teaches mythology and children's literature at the college level and LOVES to read all varieties of each for fun, I couldn't wait. But then it took me multiple attempts to get beyond the first 2%.

Despite the slow start, I did find that the narrative picked up a bit and that I was able to finish the book. I have never wanted to like a book so much, but I just never really got fully invested.

The overarching concept is so cool, though I will admit it felt a bit tangential to _The Giver_ for me at times. While the characters are on a journey in a literal and figurative desert, I didn't want to so acutely feel the length and pain of that quest. Often, I hoped for the events to speed up, the repetition to slow down, and descriptions of physical discomfort to mean more than their surface level connections suggested. It all just felt long. I wanted the kind of story that it seems like so many reviewers got...and that I was expecting.

There's a lot of beauty in the prose, the concept is intriguing, and the representation is noteworthy. I'm glad this work is really resonating with some folks and sad it didn't do more for me.

I made it 65% of the way done, but I could not finish this. I really loved the first 100 pages! It was such an interesting world and I loved the framing narrative of everything told in a prayer to the god of this story. I appreciated the religion the author developed.
After page 100 it fell flat for me. I think the decision to richly establish side characters and then abandon them for far more poorly drawn side characters was strange. It was hard to feel connected to the new side characters as quickly as the story required. I felt the same way about the establishment and very quick removal of one of the major antagonists. It was such a strange choice. The book felt split into two parts in a way that really left it hard to engage with the second half.
The writing of women in this book was fairly uneven. I didn’t love how often the main characters period came up, again it seemed another strange choice.
The main thing was that the plot after about 100 pages in seemed to meander in a way that didn’t make sense. A lot of the moments that should be tense felt lacking in tensions.
Honestly, there was a lot of really good and interesting ideas, but some plotting choices and pacing issues that detracted too much for it to work for me.

ARC was provided by NetGalley and Tor Teen in exchanged for an honest review.

This review is being published before the release date (September 15th, 2020)

Content/Trigger Warnings: Depictions of graphic violence, graphic injuries, death, allusions to an animal death, emotional and mental abuse, domestic abuse, grief, alcoholism, child abuse, trauma

Friends, I have to admit something… I have never read a book by Mark Oshiro until now. Okay, I said it! However, this book was so good though and now I have a mighty need to pick up anything by Mark Oshiro. There’s something about fantasy books that combine survival, deserts, and semi-apocalyptic elements that lures me in. Or perhaps it was the synopsis about a main character who deserves happiness. Either, I was blown away by this book!

Our story follows Xochitl, is the la cuentista of her village, Emppalme, taking the stories of her villagers and returning them to Solis. Until one day, Xochitl decides to keep a story and nothing is ever the same. When Julio, the murderous man who has has conquered their town, unleashes his wrath like never before and Xochitl’s secret has been revealed, she has no other choice, but to leave her village into the unforgiving desert, to find a kindred spirit who will understand her.

“Solo quiero ser vista. I only want to be seen.”


I truly loved the experience and the way Oshiro built the world in this book. You feel the heavy sense of how harsh the environment is and how sacred water truly is. You have areas that have been scorched or turned to ruin. It really adds to the apocalyptic elements of the world. You also get to experience the mythology Oshiro built surrounding cuentistas. As Xochitl is traveling throughout this book, she encounters various people from many different places who have different relations, experiences, and stories of cuentistas. These challenge the beliefs that Xochitl has always been told and we see, despite the differences, how those beliefs can coexist without there being a default “right way”.

I also really loved the relationship between Xochitl and Emilia. Both of these young women are trying to find there place in the world after each of them have experienced so much. Somehow, despite all the pain they’ve experienced, held back from others, they find comfort within the company of one another. Their relationship isn’t the main focus of this novel, but it’s a consistent slow build throughout the whole book. And if you’re fan of slow burn romances, with slight elements of enemies to lovers, then you’re going to love these two. I also want to take how throughout this book, LGBTQ+ relationships were normalized through this book. There’s no pain, no hardships, you just get these glimpses of them being with one another and living in that moment of happiness.

There’s also a huge theme of community and togetherness throughout this book. Whether it’s through the storytelling or when Xochitl and Emilia are traveling through the desert. There’s just a large sense of connection to everyone and everything. It made my heart so warm and causes the reader to pause to cherish the stories that have been passed to them whether through family, friends, or your relationships.

“We’re shaped by the experiences that we live.”


Also, let me say how much I loved the Spanish included throughout this book. I don’t say it enough, but it truly is a breath of fresh air to see an author speak their native language or a language that’s a huge part of them. I think for many readers who aren’t familiar with Spanish, never learned Spanish, it might be hard to understand certain parts throughout the book. However, it truly makes for an exceptional experience and makes this book an even better read.

Overall, I really loved this story and so many elements this book holds. The journey in itself and the many messages this book holds are unforgettable. I have no doubt that this book is going to impact so many readers. I can’t wait to read more from Mark Oshiro and see where they’re next book takes them! I also want to recommend that if you’re reading this review, then please make sure you look up Latinx book reviewers for their thoughts on this book. I’m not Latinx so I can’t comment on the cultural elements laced throughout this book. But if you are Latinx, please let me know so I can link you.

The quotes above were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

If ever there has been a book published in recent years that deserves and can stand the test of time, it is Each of Us a Desert. It compares to me to the likes of Grapes of Wrath or other classic novels taught and tested on in AP Literature. Mark Oshiro has created a novel and a story that is full of such star dust and poignant lines, wrapped in a plot that pulls and drags you in until you're just as much a part of our cuantista's story as the ones she takes. Xochitl is an unreliable narrator, but, as a result, the reader is left pulling out the pieces of her story, one you slowly begin to learn she's giving to Solis. For so long, she's taken others' stories and given them to the earth, in Solis' name. But who exists to take a cuantista's story? The only thing that keeps her going in the draining life of being a cuantista is la poemas she finds, buried in the earth. Each one she finds pulls her to it, calls to her soul until she digs it up and devours the words, embedding them in her head. When Xochitl finds a way to leave her small town, she takes it, regardless of how concerned she is about what will happen to the people she's leaving. The journey she departs on, with the most unlikely of partners, will eat at her and destroy all of that's she known until she's finally given the truth. But is she prepared for what Solis and the rest of the world has been hiding?

I'm truly not kidding when I say this novel could be the next YA classic. Or even just a classic. Oshiro writes so well, so vivid, but also advanced. It's a novel that stands apart from most other YA novels in that the blend of Spanish and English is woven intricately, but never in a way that makes the reader feel lost. It is equal parts strenuous and enjoyable. The plot is a diverse fluctuation of a story, the separate waves and stories overlapping and diverging in an almost unbelievable way. At the novel's end, you simultaneously wonder how you got there as well as how you missed at the minor pieces cast within in the novel that hinted towards the end. There are high points that bring joy and low points that make you gasp. There is a narrator that is unsure and it leads the reader to be just as unsure. Each of Us a Desert is ultimately a novel that will stick with you for a long time. While true it might not resonate with everyone, I will admit as a teacher I can see being included in classrooms for years to come and will definitely earn its place on the AP Literature exam, cementing it as a classic.

I was not expecting to feel so many things. I will not be reviewing this book critically because that is not what it deserves. Each of Us a Desert deserves to be loved and cherished and shared and told. This is a story that you will find yourself in no matter who or what or where you are. This is one of the most powerful stories I have read in a very long time. It is a story of finding yourself when you feel so far gone you don't know your way back. this book is your way back. This story, these characters they are your way back. I hope this story falls into the right hands at the right time. It truly deserves to be read and loved.