Tigers, Not Daughters is the story of four sisters who feel trapped in their own lives. After the oldest sister falls from her bedroom window and dies, literally mid-escape, if only for a few hours, her three younger sisters are left to pick up the pieces. One turns to the church, one to an abusive boyfriend, and the third retreats into herself and her writing and refuses to leave the house. A year after Ana's death, the three sisters begin to notice strange happenings, and conclude that they are being haunted by their sister.

I am definitely a sucker for stories about sisterhood -- it's something that's so important for me since my own relationship with my sister is so messy and beautiful. Jessica, Iridian, and Rosa may have gone in somewhat different directions with their grieving processes, but it's shiningly clear how much they love each other unconditionally and will always have each other's backs, no matter what. This, I believe is the ultimate triumph of the book.

Magical realism is a genre I really really enjoy, and while this kind of teeters on the edge for me as to whether or not I'd actually call it that, there are so many elements of this book that are everything I love about the genre, regardless of if there's enough magic or not (which is honestly unnecessarily nitpicky, so let's just move on). Mabry's writing has the characteristic simplicity I associate with magical realism, the story follows common themes, the small elements of magic push the characters towards growth. Fans of the genre will not be disappointed.

I will say that my only criticism is the number of POVs. Each of the three sisters has one, and there's also the odd chapter that's told by this unified voice of a group of boys who hang out across the street from the Torres' house. They witness Ana's death, and their outsider's perspective gives the audience access to knowledge that the sisters themselves don't (yet) have. I actually kind of liked this fourth perspective, and honestly, my POV issue is with the sisters.

This is a short book, and I almost wished that I could have spent the entire time in just one or two POVs. I was significantly more invested in Jessica's part of the story than either of her other sisters, and perhaps if the book had been longer, I would have been able to connect more with them, but as it stands, I had trouble feeling equally invested in all four narrators.

All in all, though, I'm a fan of Tigers, Not Daughters. It's a story of growing up and growing together and sisterhood and grief and longing for freedom. If magical realism is something you're a fan of (and you don't mind the odd haunting), then this book is for you.

ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.