Gorgeous range of short stories, where I wanted to have each story continue on for longer. Prose-y, well-written, deep characters and descriptions, as well as a study of Guatemala and it's interconnectedness to other parts of the world, American government, and more. I thought it was elegant, restrained, interesting, thoughtful, and just such a good read.

WOW. I can't say I've read or learned much about Guatemala, which is very much an indictment of the American education system, so this collection of short stories was quite eye-opening. I really appreciated that each story delved into the perspectives of different types of people as they experience Guatemala during the civil war (now better understood as genocide), emphasizing Guatemalan and visiting American perspectives across ages.

Reading each story felt a bit like putting together the pieces of puzzle to get at the larger picture of the history, background, and impact of this time. As expected, these are deep and unsettling stories but not in a grandiose way - instead focused on small, realistic, individual people and their experiences while exploring themes of fear, uncertainty, memory, heritage, heartbreak, fitting in, safety, and home.

Big shoutout to the short additional reading list at the end - will be diving in to learn more ASAP!

Primero quiero agradecer a NetGalley y a UPitt Press por permitirme leer este libro antes de su lanzamiento those who vanish, una historia muy cruda y sin complicaciones, un libro que cuenta la verdad tal cual fue y no tiene miedo de incomodar. Tal vez me hubiese gustado que historias como la de Martín y Abby o la de la niña que sus padres fueron secuestrados y ella vivió con su tía hayan sido las historias centrales, mucho mas largas, pero entiendo que la realidad es que la historia de Martín y la de su familia, o la de esta niña (que no recuerdo el nombre) no fueron historias largas, fueron historias cortas y trágicas, como la de toda persona que vivió durante una dictadura.

4/5, le iba a dar menos porque la historia de Fernando con su profesor gay y la de la mujer que se escapó del marido yendo a Guatemala no me llamaron tanto la atención, pero el final del libro es muy bueno y desolador, y yo a eso lo valoro !!!

Those Who Vanish is Patricia Grace King's first book: a novella set against Guatemala's civil war and its long afterlife. The stories move around a lot, traveling from Guatemala City to a Mennonite Bible camp in Kentucky and across time to give us a broad dip into Guatemala.

This is a beautiful book for readers who love political history and want to see it at a close range with fierce tenderness. As we watch how American ignorance plays out in the war and aftermath we also are confronted with colorism and racism. We see time and again how lightness gives privilege both in Guatemala and out. We learn about how the war affected Mayan identity as well as how class and indigenous identity overlap into a complicated picture of their own. A beautiful and heavy story that I will feel for a long time.

Highly recommend this short story collection for readers who learn about the world through literary fiction. Each story takes us into the perspective of a different character navigating the decades-long crisis in Guatemala. The stories delve into the government repression, violence, and fear that marked this time period, but are able to deftly center community resilience and care alongside those realities. King exposes the U.S.'s involvement, and the ways that Americans have failed to understand, learn about, and account for their complicity.

This is an excellent collection. Each story was clearly chosen with great care, as they all build toward a greater understanding of this snapshot in time, helping us make sense of the present.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you netgalley for the ARC!! I absolutely ADORED THIS. I knew when I read the description that this had to be something I read. Set in Guatemala, during a civil war, (which actually was in fact a genocide), King takes you through a collection of small stories highlighting the reality, nuance and complexity of conflict. Theres themes of identity, theres grief, theres trauma, violence. I felt like I learnt so much from the perspective of many different characters. Definitely an enriching experience reading this.