Mexico by Josh Barkan- Book Review

If it were not for Blogging for Books, I am not sure this one would have been in my TBR stack. While the cover is an interesting one, the book never crossed my radar as a must get. Since it was an offering on the site, I figured- why not?

Mexico stories by Josh Barkan should have been called "Cartel stories" as each short story is about how an ordinary person just trying to get by in Mexico has a cartel figure pop into his/her life and now must figure out what to do.

We have stories of a chef who must prepare an outstanding dish for a cartel leader only using two ingredients or he loses his life. A story of a woman carved and what her scars mean. A doctor who must choose to save the life of a cartel leader. Along with many other stories.

Each story did have a uniqueness to it and were well written, but there was just something off about the book as a whole for me. After a few stories, I found myself wanting the book to end as each one pretty much has the same plot, but the story is now a new situation, namely how is this person going to overcome the cartel? It got a bit tedious after a bit and I wonder if that is why the book seems to be getting negative reviews on Goodreads. It just becomes too much.

I kept feeling that if the book is called Mexico, Mexico should be a "character" of some kind. The country barely plays a role, except here is where these two people will now square off. This is why I suggested a title change might be in order. Mexico is simply a backdrop and doesn't pop into the story.

These are not bad stories by far, although I did feel the doctor one has been told so many times, but they were too similar to each other. I also would not call the book a fun read. Many of the stories are depressing and there isn't much hope contained within them. For example, the chef overcomes the odds, but what is the payoff besides being able to live? It just ends with the cartel leader leaving and t he chef facing someone else in the restaurant. There isn't guilt or shame, but life goes on.

I would have a hard time recommending this one to people, but I can see an audience. I just wasn't one on that list. I gave this one 3 stars.

Here is your Amazon link- Mexico stories by Josh Barkan