Reviews

Lotería by Cynthia Pelayo

comonter's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

This is a book of short stories. I didn't know what to expect but I honestly really enjoyed it. It does get really dark with some stories, but I enjoyed reading this. The pace made it very enjoyable. 

bear_ridge_tarot's review

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adventurous emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

 Lotería is a Spanish word meaning lottery. It is a traditional Mexican board game of chance, much like Bingo, and is played with cards rather than numbered ping pong balls. In this collection of short stories, each of the 54 cards of the Lotería acts as inspiration. The stories range along the lines of paranormal to horrific and include ghosts, vampires, goblins, and ghouls. Latin American myth, folklore, superstition or belief bring each card to life with monsters.

This book holds stories that are representations of the 54 cards. Each story story is a telling of the way the card could be used. Loteria is something akin to a cross between Tarot and Bingo, and can be played as a game or used as a divination tool. These stories bring the cards to life. I particularly liked the longer stories and wish some of the shorter ones were longer. I would love to see some of these ideas develop further into novellas or full-length novels. 

 
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hirvimaki's review

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2.0

I usually enjoy collections of short stories, but 54 tiny stories? Not my thimble of tea.

brancrisp's review

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adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

youraveragedave's review

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dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

A fascinating exercise in writing.  Loteria is a Mexican card game, kind of like a cross between Tarot and bingo or the lottery.  Each card is presented as a short story or poem.  Some work better than others.  I found myself drawn more to the longer short stories.  Especially the werewolf and missing  women working in the boarder town one.   

I really liked the final act of the book, a game of Loteria played with a young couple who lost their child.  As she does the reading we read so many hints and allusions to all the cards in the deck. The woman doing the reading brings this mathematical aspect to Loteria that I enjoyed as well.  

kian_bri's review

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dark medium-paced

3.5

oriana095's review

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dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

cswirl1's review

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slow-paced

3.0

jazsc's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

melodyseestrees's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Each of these chapters can be treated as separate short stories. Some of which really felt like they could have been a much longer story. Some had characters that were not at all loveable, while others had characters you could bond with. Quite a few of these stories are very very violent. The culture weaved into these tales is apparent, even though I was not fully aware of several of them.
I highly recommend the audiobook edition as the narrators did a fantastic job and several of the stories are reportedly longer than in the physical edition. 
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