Review of Katherine Westermann, “The Blackbirds in My Sister’s Chest,” Cossmass Infinities 7 (2022): 82-93 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
This was a very sad, middle-child story, of Alma Ruiz, the daughter who was never the favorite, who was not the son her parents hoped for, the one who is afraid when her sisters never are. There are a lot of complicated emotions re: family and familial relationships, and a sharp undertone of body horror in the animals that inhabit Alma and her family’s chests instead of hearts. Weirdly creepy, and really gripping.
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