This book was phenomenally written and translated. And phenomenally creepy. I was amazed at the vividness of the poverty, the wildness of the drugs, tThis book was phenomenally written and translated. And phenomenally creepy. I was amazed at the vividness of the poverty, the wildness of the drugs, the psychosis of some of the characters, and the overall suspense of the haunted houses and streets. I'm wholly unfamiliar with Latin American Gothic (mostly unfamiliar with the Gothic genre in general), but this was an outstanding read. I don't like scary stories, and these were definitely scary (to me), but they were so well written I couldn't help but keep reading. As the translator's note says at the end, "What there is of gothic horror in Things We Lost in the Fire mingles with and is intensified by their sharp social criticism. Haunted houses and deformed children exist on the same plane as extreme poverty, drugs, and criminal pollution."...more
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