What a great retelling of Persephone and Demeter that’s steeped in Latina and Indigenous culture, and folklore.

Jennifer starts off with a bang by laying out the land, and family, in raw and gritty form. The atmosphere is palpable, and so is the utter desolation of this harsh and unforgiving land. But Mal is strong and rough around the edges, and refuses to let her home break her. And even as girls start going missing, she refuses to let that scare her-if even on the inside, she is terrified for her girls. Then, the unthinkable happens.

As the author keeps us in the grip of Mal’s torment, and her fierce determination to find her child, Jennifer also add an eerie backdrop with a horse-headed woman who keeps appearing to Mal, and who seems to be trying to tell her something. But what? And who is taking the girls, and why?

There is also the forbidden romance between Mal and El Cucuy, who may or may not live up to his namesake. Combined with secrets long held tight just waiting to come to the surface, and you have a recipe for a slam bang climax of painful truths coming to light-in several forms.

I really enjoyed this story, and the love that Mal has for her daughters. It’s an incredible bond that refuses to be broken, no matter what. If you’re looking for a solid mystery with a strong FMC, this one’s for you. 4.5 stars.

Oh my! I'm glad I read this novel! In the beginning, I wasn't sure if this book was for me. But certain aspects piqued my interest and after reading a little further, I ended up HOOKED.

This novel is everything promised in the blurb and more. The author spent some time showing readers who the MCs are as a family through their culture, trauma, hardships and strengths. She also introduces the origins and variations of regional lore and weaves it into the current mystery.

When the unthinkable happens and one of Mal's daughters disappears, you can feel her anxiety and grief as if it were your own. With every hour that passes and the chance of finding her daughter alive decreases, Mal becomes more desperate to find the truth.

The pacing increases as secrets are exposed and the suspect list grows. I had suspicions that wavered as information became available, but in the end, I only guessed a fraction of the truth.

If you have an e-reader or e-reader app, I do recommend an ebook over a physical copy (unless you speak Spanish) because the characters speak Spanglish and having the built in translation feature was a big help.

I recommend adding this to your TBR. It publishes 7/22/25.

Thank you Mulholland Books, Netgalley and the author for the ARC!

Not What I Was Expecting/NetGalley Read

Interesting read, but not what I was expecting. I thought it was to focus more on the devastation and destruction the toxins had caused upon the area, with a side focus on the disappearance of the girls.

Some, if not most of the storyline, was predictable. Without giving away any motives, details, or clues, it’s hard to say more.

It’s definitely had a lot going on to keep track ringof. Took me a while to actually get into it. Had to start it over from the beginning at one point because I had put it down with the intention of a short break, but the break turned out to be longer than I expected.

It’s got the expected plot of small town America, could never happen to us type of feeling to it, where a large population of the community appears uneducated, stuck in the backwoods and never expecting to go anywhere, or amount to much.
It’s almost insulting at times to see the number of writers that use this as a point of geographical placement for the scene of their story, even if they’re from that backwoods town themselves.

Held my interest once I got into it, but nothing so terrifying it induced nightmares. I’m ok with that. I’m not one for heavy details on the gore.

Unfortunately, the ending was also predictable. I felt that with some heavy scrubbing, a tough editor to point out what wasn’t necessary or essential to the plot, it could’ve seen a marked improvement.

Sometimes pushing for that one great novel that you just know is going to change the whole world., Pulitzer Prizes Nobel Piece the classic were all forced to read in junior/senior school, becoming a classic, and the reviled, and required,requisite every teenager must read to pass English Lit.


Final rating is 2-2.5.

This book was so different then my usual but I loved it because it gave adventure and action grabs you in from the very first page thank you for this book net gallery

Mal has raised two daughters and is very protective of them. She knows what can happen to girls here. Her own sister disappeared without a trace and has never been found.

When another girl disappears, she works to find answers.

This was difficult for me to get invested in right away. The visions were confusing with all the other drama. But it evened out nicely and I want to say this is a very important story to tell. It made me uncomfortable and that is not a bad thing here.

Heartbreaking, hopeful, there are so many things this book addresses and I am grateful I read it.


NetGalley/Little, Brown, and Company July 22, 2025

4.5

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an early copy of this book.

I love a great Persephone story and was excited to see essentially a Latinx Demeter and Persephone story. Admittedly, it took me a long time to see the connection.

There are three POVs: Mal, Amar, and Griselda. The division between the POVs was difficult to distinguish sometimes, and I'm hoping that gets fixed in the published version.

An element that I wish there was more of a discussion on was how much of a difference a major part of the book has to do with how many resources you have available depends on who you know. There were many great things going on in this book and this topic was brought up with different examples, but there was one example that I'm thinking of specifically. Mal has a bit of a privilege when it comes to a specific situation that gets pointed out by a semi-stranger and even seen as entitlement by one of her daughters. Everything else is acknowledged by Mal except this and it felt missing. (I'm trying to be vague about spoilers, but I hope what I'm saying gets across.)

I thought there were several different ways this story could have gone. I think I went more horror with it in my mind than what the story eventually ended up being. That was my mistake. I did predict certain things but I think that was more from the idea of thinking anything as wild as possible.

I think I was let down by the ending since the author does such an amazing job of building up everything that by the end it feels like … that's it? I understand why because it's not marketed as a fantasy or horror (at least through NetGalley's categories) so that's on me. I do want to re-read it once it's published with those specific categories in mind. I'm not going to knock the rating for something that's on me.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. There were moments where I wanted to a literature paper using the book so that's always a plus for me.

Salt Bones is a good book to read if you're trying to challenge yourself by reading books about people from a different socioeconomic background. This could either be based on gender, socioeconomic class, or even the fact that this is set by the Salton Sea. I was satisfied with how the story wrapped up, as back-heavy as it was with a lot of things being revealed. I thought I would like this book more, but I had a rough time in some of the earlier parts because I like getting into the head of the narrator. Mal's life feels like a constant headache, for good reason. One of the best yet also mildly depressing things about this book is that it gives us closure for all the missing indigenous/women of color who have gone missing but whose disappearances were not taken seriously by the authorities.

Review of Digital Galley Edition

Mal [Malamar] Veracruz has lived in El Valle her entire life, unable to escape just like her mother and grandmother. The only one in her family that managed to get away was her sister, Elena, who vanished some twenty-five years ago, was never found, and is, most likely, long dead. Other women have vanished from El Valle over the years, but Griselda managed to escape by going away to school.

But none of that matters when Mal’s other daughter, Amaranta, disappears, just like Elena.

=========

Set in the Salton Sea area of California, this emotional story is a mix of family, culture, and magic. It is creepy, atmospheric, and dark, a treat for horror fans.

Strong, interesting characters Through generations, the stories of the Veracruz family and the Callahan family have fallen to the children, Griselda and Harlan. Mal, given to dreams, nightmares, and visions, creates a combination of myth and reality for readers. Everyone here holds secrets; as the plot twists and turns, readers will find themselves wondering if they will be revealed before it is too late.

There is a significant amount of [unexplained] Spanish blended with English throughout the telling of this tale. Unfortunately, this becomes something to pull readers out of the tale unless they speak Spanish. While context does provide some clarity, there are times that readers are likely to be confounded.

Recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Little, Brown and Company / Mulholland Books and NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving this review.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for providing a free ARC of this title in exchange for my review.

This was quite a different book for me! With beautiful prose and descriptions, this thriller is more than a thriller, it's a family drama covering generations of lost women. Focusing on magical realism, Latina and indigenous cultures, environmental themes set in the Mexicali area. It was a fast read - so hard to put down, once I settled into the Spanish blended to the English. (Thank goodness I've been keeping up with Duo Lingo! Seriously, I think non-Spanish speakers could decode the sentences.)

4 stars - Recommend!

It took me a moment to settle into Salt Bones. Though I studied Spanish in high school, and grew up familiar with ‘Spanglish,’ in the Bronx, those days are long behind me. Thankfully, much of the blended Spanish and English is easy to grasp from context, and reading on Kindle allows for quick translations.

Salt Bones is a gripping mystery infused with magical realism, Latina and indigenous culture and environmental themes, all set in the Mexicali borderlands. Girls go missing in the town of El Valle, a once booming mecca of sun and sand, now a desolate beach littered with fish bones along the brackish Salton Sea.

Jennifer Givhan skillfully blends supernatural horror with the saga of two families—one white and powerful, the other brown and proud. The fates of the Calahan and Veracruz families become deeply intertwined through their children, Harlan and Griselda. Themes of mother-daughter relationships, loss, and the search for missing girls are central to the tale.

Mal’s older brother, Esteban—now calling himself Steve—is running for Senate, aligning himself with the influential Calahan clan. Her younger brother, Benny, works as a local police detective. History threatens to repeat itself when Mal's coworker vanishes without a trace. Mal becomes overprotective of her daughter, Amaranta, fearing she will be next.

The disappearances in El Valle stir up whispered legends—the horse-headed woman, La Siguanaba, who haunts Mal’s dreams, and the boogeyman, El Cucuy, whom townspeople blame for the missing girls. These figures, rooted in Latina and Indigenous lore, add a supernatural weight to Mal’s unraveling reality, making the novel feel like a descent into myth and terror.

Every character in Salt Bones harbors secrets, and within those secrets lie answers to mysteries both old and new—truths that could unravel everything.

A horror tinged mystery about missing girls that will keep you riveted to the end. Set in the environmental wasteland of the Salton Sea.

Salt Bones is a riveting mystery of lost girls filled with folklore, generational trauma, family secrets, and class politics in the California desert. Billed as a retelling of the Persephone and Demeter myth, Givhan’s world- and character-building blended with magical realism incorporating the Mexicali myths of El Chupacabra and La Siguanaba creates a new myth. Givhan takes care to invest the reader in Mal and her family and when her youngest daughter Amar goes missing - just like Mal’s sister Elena 25 years earlier - it became impossible to stop reading before learning whether Amar would be another victim of what Mal has become convinced is a family curse and whether what is haunting them is a supernatural or human monster.

I loved this magical realism thriller! Thank you for the copy as the author is from my hometown. I feel really connected to her and support her being a voice for marginalized communities. Unfortunately the issues of indigenous women going missing and no one batting an eye is all too real, and in the real world it’s not fiction at all. I liked how I couldn’t predict all the twists and turns. The first 30% was a little slow and took me a while to get into, but the last half especially was a good pace and had me wanting to keep coming back in my free time. This is my favorite of the authors books so far!

I loved the themes of Mexican folklore and dystopian future. Even though I have limited Spanish proficiency, I was able to use context to understand the phrases and passages woven in. Certainly a compelling retelling of the story of Persephone and Demeter. Thank you NetGalley and Little, Brown, and Company for the e-ARC!

4.25 stars!

Thrilling, gripping, heart-wrenching…SALT BONES is the perfect choice if you are looking for a fantastical, genre bending mystery. Family saga/story, multiple POVs, a mystery of missing girls throughout history, and a touch of the supernatural through the motif of La Siguanaba (the horse headed woman) haunting our main character Mal. One of the things making this book compelling and unique is Mal’s perspective as a mother, panicked and desperate and determined to find her daughter. She is suspicious of everyone, which means the reader is, too. Red herrings galore! So many twists! And ending you won’t see coming! This book also heavily explores inter generational trauma and its impact on mental health, family dynamics, worldview, etc. The writing style is a little hard to get into—-very descriptive, even graphic and gory in some parts—-but once I adjusted, the story sunk its teeth in and didn’t let go! Note that it does contain a fair amount of Spanish and Spanglish. Really enjoyed this reinterpretation of Demeter & Persephone, just didn’t have that five star feeling” for me.

An absorbing story of family, lies, and secrets! You are immersed in this richly told story.

#NetGalley

The plot was intriguing, but the writing style just wasn't for me. I couldn't quite finish the book with the POV shifts. But I liked the plot and the characters were interesting.

3.5, really, but rounding up because of how beautiful the prose and descriptions are in this dystopian-feeling thriller set in the Salton Sea. This is a thriller, yes, but also a riveting family drama spanning generations of lost women. I flew through this one, though I did occasionally get hung up on and distracted by the interludes of visions that Mal, the main character, occasionally had throughout the novel that took me straight out of the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC of Salt Bones by Jennifer Givhan, published by Little, Brown and Company
Awesome book! I'll admit it took a few chapters to get me hooked, I was having a hard time connecting with the characters and their personalities. I persevered and boy am I glad I did! Twists, turns and drama! Great setting and descriptions. The plot was excellent. The ending surprised me with who the culprit was.
I liked how there were Spanish phrases and words throughout the novel, it added to the story and characters. I didn't look up what everything meant, I just went with it. It gave the book a nice authentic and cultural feel.
This is a new author for me and I will definitely read more of her books!

This is a new author for me. It took a while for the story to get going and by the time it finally did, I was a bit bored. Maybe I missed something but nothing hooked me in. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book