Samantha Mabry Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

Samantha Mabry is a renowned Latino literature tutor and YA writer. Mabry is mainly drawn to narratives, which blend the fantastic and real. A Fierce and Subtle Poison is Samantha Mabry’s debut novel. Apart from having a Puerto Rican setting, A Fierce and Subtle Poison is a magic instilled mystery. All the Wind in the world is Samantha Mabry’s second novel, which was shortlisted for a National Book Award. Set near Texas, in a dried out city, the book features James and Sarah Jack, two lovers who make a living working as maguey harvesters. Nonetheless, one day an accident eventually leads them into a lam and eventually onto a cursed ranch. From this point onwards, Sarah and James’s life is thrown into peril.

Samantha Mabry Best Books
A Fierce and Subtle-Poison
A Fierce and Subtle-Poison is Samantha Mabry’s debut novel, which follows the life of one Lucas, an extremely young boy who resides in Puerto Rico. Within the community, Lucas is not liked by many people within the community and most specifically by the police officers. Most of the locals believe that Lucas is a troublemaker, who ever since he was young; he has always had everything handed to him. For the most of his day, Lucas spends his time hooking up with the local girls and even drinking. From the look of things, Lucas has lost his sense of direction in life. Nonetheless, Lucas still expects to work with his father when he is older. One fine day, one of the local girls in the town goes missing, and her case becomes the talk of the town. After the girl went missing, several other girls begin to disappear mysteriously and all the evidence point towards Lucas.

With that said, A Fierce and Subtle-Poison is a diverse read, which has been set in Puerto Rico. While Lucas, the main character is half Dominican and half white, All of the main characters in A Fierce and Subtle-Poison are all natives of the small island. All the text in the novel in English. However, author Samantha Mabry has introduced a little bit of Spanish. Despite the fact that the text features a little bit of Spanish, author Samantha Mabry has done an excellent job of ensuring that the readers are still able to follow the narrative. Furthermore, the descriptions of the various islands and locations in Puerto Rico were fantastic. Because the characters in the novel are living on a small island, everyone knows each other’s business. Readers are going to fall in love the lore of the island, and how the men in the island, narrated the tales to the younger generations.

One of the legends that have been highly emphasized in the novel is the one that revolves around Isabela, who is believed to be a cursed girl. Isabel lives with her father who is a doctor. Dr. Ford, Isabel’s father, is a botanist who looks after a Caribbean garden in his backyard. Many of the locals fear his house mainly because of the circumstances surrounding the demise of his wife. Dr. Ford’s wife was a local girl, who just like a daughter was believed to be cursed. Eventually, Lucas ends up becoming involved in the life of the Fords, when he was trying to locate one of the missing girls. With that said, this is a brilliant novel by author Samantha Mabry. It is a blender between a thriller and magical realism. The setting, which is the Puerto Rican island has been brilliantly described and the cursed girl legend will keep the readers intrigued as the narrative unfolds.

All the Wind-in-the –World
After the implosions of the cities, James and Sarah Jac end up becoming picadors, migrant workers whose day-to-day work revolves around picking maguey on Southern-west United States ranches. West of River Mississippi River, an environmental catastrophe has devastated the entire country, especially in the West. The conditions present during this period would undeniably put the Dust Bowls of 1930 to shame. One of the crops that are viable during this period is maguey, a crop that is used in the production of tequila for the rich. For a long time, blueberries had already become extinct. Many at times, people went crazy due to the extremely high temperatures. A majority of the jimadors were mainly at the mercy of the ranch owners. After an extremely dangerous accident, both Sarah and James are sent running for their lives.

After running away, Sarah and James decide to stop at Real Marvelous, which is a ranch that is located a few kilometers from Texas. James and Sarah decide to save a little cash, which they would use to run away to the east. With that said, All the Wind-in-the-World is Marbry’s most recent novel which has already been shortlisted for the National Book Awards of 2017. The dystopian world that Samantha Mabry has created is reminiscent of Gold Frame Citrus by Claire Vaye and Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, all of which were steeped in the Northern magic of the Southwest. The climatic conditions, darkly atmosphere inspire superstition; a regression into attempts of appeasing the gods, a scapegoat and seeking a savior. Author, Mabry has managed to create extremely complex characters that the readers are going to root for.

Sarah and James are forced to grow up much earlier than they are supposed to. Their endurance eventually requires hard hearts mainly because they are faced with tough times. In All the Wind, the desert has been created as a character and the wind as well. The narrative is not only straight-forward but also uncluttered and has plenty of twists. Sarah’s first-person narration is not only absorbing and powerful. The book’s climax is an act of desperation that is extremely shocking and in the process making a satisfying ending ever. Overall, All the Wind is not only vivid but also quite captivating and lyrical as well. Author Mabry has done a brilliant job of drawing the readers quickly into the narrative. Readers will fall in love with the cynical and dark nature of Sarah. The other characters in All the Wind were also brilliantly done, and the readers will undeniably fall in love with them.