Welcome to Litsy!

"One does not learn to be silent, one is forced to shut up."

In beautifully poetic prose, Rivera Garza gives voice to her sister, Liliana, murdered at a young age by a jealous ex in Mexico City. By combining her own words with those of Liliana's friends, their family, police and newspaper reports, and Liliana's journal entries and unsent letters, we are given a complete portrait of a young woman making her way in life. cont'd

I keep going back and forth on this one. I get kind of bored of the journal entries but the authors writing is so fluid and beautiful that it sucks me back in. Am I alone? Will it be worth the finish?

Went to a work training, for which I will not be paid, so I treated myself to an indie bookstore visit. 💗

Living in grief is this: never being alone. Invisible but evident in many ways, the presence of the dead accompanies us in the tiny interstices of the days. Over the shoulder, inside the folds of our voice, within the echo of each step. Above the windows, on the edge of the horizon, among the shadows of the trees. They are always there, and here, with and inside us, shrouding us with their warmth, protecting us from the open ❤️‍🩹

Cristina pays tribute to her little sister, Liliana, in this powerful book.

Told using Liliana‘s letters to her friends and family plus interviews with the people who were closest to her and loved her, Cristina tries to bring forth justice for her sister‘s murder by her ex-boyfriend.

A must-read! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a deeply personal and well put together story about the murder of the author's younger sister at the hands of her boyfriend. Rivera Garza pulls together letters and interviews with Liliana's friends as she draws a picture of the bright light Liliana was, and tells of her last moments.
A fantastic book, i liked the narrators voice but wish there were multiple people narrating b/c I found myself confused a few times as to was speaking

Liliana was murdered by her boyfriend, taken away as a vibrant young college student in Mexico City, what‘s termed “femicide” there. Garza, her sister, writes this book to bring her sister back to life through journal entries, letters, and childhood memories. It‘s obvious she wrote this for herself and less for the reader. The grief is palpable and Liliana jumps off the page. Not typical true crime, but instead a vivid portrayal of a lost sister.

Cristina‘s younger sister Liliana was murdered in 1990 by her ex-boyfriend. Here, Cristina celebrates Liliana‘s life, showing the reader who she was and the great potential she carried. She hints at miscarriages of justice (the perpetrator went on the run and has not been found), but doesn‘t heavily explore that, making the book‘s subtitle inaccurate. But it is a lovely tribute to a loved sister.

NBA shortlist, nonfiction