Alebrijes Book Review written by the Bill B. This post contains affiliate links, you can find out more on our policies page or in the disclaimer at the bottom of the blog.
Know Before You Read
Book: The Last Cuentista #2: Alebrijes
Author: Donna Barba Higuera
Published: October 3, 2023
Personal Rating: 5 stars
Trigger warnings: Cruelty and bullying, death of a major character; dysfunctional families (both biological and adoptive)
Related Content: The Last Cuentista Review
Alebrijes Book Review
Alebrijes is a continuation of the story begun in The Last Cuentista. While it is the second book in the trilogy, no knowledge of the first book is specifically needed until the Epilogue. As background, in The Last Cuentista, a few humans flee Earth headed to a distant planet, as a comet is about to collide with the Earth and destroy all life.
Alebrijes begins over 400 years after the comet strike. While most life was destroyed, a few pockets of humans survived by going deep underground. One such group is the Cascabel – descendants of workers in the San Joaquin Valley for generations. Cascabel is a common name for rattlesnakes in parts of Latin America, and the group adopted this name because they lived in caves inhabited by rattlesnakes.
The Cascabeles eventually leave the caves and forage throughout the southwest, finally finding an inhabited city – Pocatel – whose inhabitants had survived in nearby mines.
Initially offering friendship, the Pocatelans soon virtually enslave the Cascabeles. The inhabitants of the city do not venture out at night. The city is enclosed by mountains on 3 sides. On the fourth, a trench keeps out viscous wingless dragons – wyrms – who live underground and will kill any who venture out.
The story centers around a young Cascabel – Leandro. Leandro is short and is sometimes bullied in the potato fields where he toils daily. The Pocatelans look down on him, as they do all Cascabel, with contempt. When his younger sister Gabi steals a fruit, Leandro takes the blame. He fully expects to be banished – sent from the city at night to die. Instead, he learns that his mind is to be separated from his body until he comes of age – a technology from the old world. However, the Pocatelan doing this has an ulterior motive.
She is able to take the separated mind and place it in an animal drone – another piece of old-world technology. Years ago, she was forced to do this with her daughter, and has since done so many times, with the hope that someone will find her daughter and ask her to return. But she is running out of time. For Leandro she chooses a hummingbird, as a larger drone would attract attention.
A couple of quotes:
- The smallest flap of wings can change the course of history (carved into the hummingbird drone)
- We get to choose who we become in the end. (Leandro)
Note: Alebrijes are brightly colored Mexican folk-art sculptures of fantastical creatures, traditionally made from papier-mâché or wood. In the book, set far in the future, they are a remembrance of “magical creatures” from the old world. A fun project would be to look up some examples of alebrijes.
Alebrijes Discussion Questions
- Leandro is small and is bullied. Yet this is the story of “Leandro the Mighty”. Do you have to be big to be mighty? Why was Leandro mighty?
- Leandro is shaped by the friends he meets. How have your friends influenced you in a positive way?
- Why do you think family is so important to Leandro?
- Leandro relies on values his community has passed down to him. What are some values that have been passed to you?
- Leandro struggles with being implanted into the drone. How does this wind up changing Leandro? How does becoming a hummingbird help him understand himself?
Thanks for read our Alebrijes Book Review. We will have a review of the entire trilogy later this year.
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