[A] lucid, poignant collection of essays and poetry.

Across some 200 pages, Garza applies a lingual scalpel to the narrative of systemic violence.

Like everybody’s favorite guest at a dinner party, Cristina Rivera Garza is an excellent conversationalist. She pays careful attention to those who have spoken before her, then makes her own contribution, which unfailingly proves relevant, fascinating, and productive.

...concise but weighty and timely.

This book is an act of resistance against the institutional violence of Mexico and the US, and shines a light on the policies that make poor Mexican bodies, especially female bodies, disposable.

Rivera Garza’s remarkable writing captures a sense of place through evocative imagery and detail. Her incisive look at Mexico’s national grief emphasizes the humanity and struggle of daily life there.

As Rivera Garza ably demonstrates, so much of the responsibility for the violence can be attributed to the failure of the state.