Fresh-voiced multigenerational magical realism in the tradition of Latin American greats Isabel Allende and Gabriel García Márquez. Fans of Alice Hoffman, Alix Harrow, Neil Gaiman, and Erin Morgenstern should check out this adult debut from Zoraida Córdova!

When Orquídea Divina Montoya invites her children and grandchildren back to the Four Rivers valley to attend her upcoming funeral and collect their inheritance, her call goes out far and wide — and as impossible to ignore as her quasi-zombie rooster Gabo who seems to have an unlimited number of lives. The invitation has to go far to reach all the stretching branches of the Montoya family tree. This mysterious and powerful matriarch has herself come far from the time when she was alone, an outcast, a "whisper of a girl who wanted to become a Scream." But some things that she put well behind her are beginning to catch up. Things her family doesn't know about or understand. How could they? That valley they called home was as thick and mysterious with secrets as it was with magic. True to form, Orquídea's passing causes even more family drama. Even as it sparks untapped talent and strength, it provides refuge, provokes danger, and of course generates more questions than any one generation could possibly understand or answer.

"There were hundreds of things Marimar wanted to know. Why is this happening? Why can't we stop it? Why didn't you try to tell me sooner? Who are you? Why do this? What broke your heart so completely that its splinters found their way through generations?"

It's up to Marimar and her cousins to track down some answers before a stalking darkness destroys the last of the Montoya heirs.

"The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina" is lyrical, character-driven literary fantasy written in an effective dual timeline that reveals Orquídea's early life in Ecuador and the current lives of her grandchildren as they explore and try to understand the power and danger of that legacy. As with most magical realism, the system of magic isn't well explained (or explained at all for most of the book) and may be rooted in traditions that the reader is unfamiliar with. That may frustrate some readers but adds an interesting dimension to a story that is saturated with secrets and explores the lives of people responding to the frustrations of marginalization and rejection. If the early, character-heavy, character-development parts of the tale don't grab you, stick around for the mystery that unfolds in the later parts.


Topics and themes: legacy and inheritance, heritage, magic, elitism, colorism, love, heartbreak, treachery, found family, outcasts, Ecuadorian and Latin American culture, refuge, strength, colonialism, secrets, communication, wishes, fame, fate, creativity,

Content notes: bigotry, bullying, poverty, abusive step-family, absent father/parent abandonment, death by drowning (backstory), colonialism, anti-LGBTQ bullying (backstory), enslavement, infidelity, circus/sideshow, death by insects, body horror, running away from home, death of parents, necromancy, strong language, brief but specific sexual content

My thanks to #NetGalley, Atria, and Librofm for a digital ARC and LRC!