Reservoir Bitches by Dahlia de la Cerda, Translated by Heather Cleary and Julia Sanches – Book Review

Mexico isn’t a safe place for young women, especially if they’re involved in sex work and gangs. The death of young girls and women alike is unfortunately common, but have you ever wondered what went through their minds leading up to their murder? Or even the minds of those who are closest to them?

This collection of connected short stories is raw, graphic, and sometimes triggering but shows you the reality some women face in their everyday lives.

2.5 ⭐⭐⭐

Trigger Warning: Sexual Assault, Verbal/Physical Abuse, Gun Violence, Descriptions of Homicide

I had the absolute pleasure of attending a talkback for this book, presented by one of the two translators for the English version. She read a gut-wrenching story about a young woman who gets raped on a bus, killed, and left for dead in the desert. She also gave phenomenal insight about the translation process which, as someone who works in the industry, made me absolutely fan girl at the event.

Having been born and raised in New England though, I wasn’t initially interested in reading Reservoir Bitches myself for the sole purpose that I wouldn’t understand the Mexican culture references. However, after the glowing recommendation by someone who read the Spanish version of the book, I knew I had to see what was so exciting about it.

Dahlia de la Cerda cultivated short stories about women in Mexico and their struggles to stay alive in otherwise unsafe lines of work. Think sex work, the necessity of robbery in low-income areas, being the wives of gang members and the daughters of corrupt politicians, and simply existing as a woman in public.

Most of the short stories feature the point of view of one woman who either ends up dead or experiences the death of someone they hold close to them. These stories are woven together to show how interconnected each woman is to the other without hitting you over the head with the point. A fantastic example of “show don’t tell.”

I love the concept that Dahlia de la Cerda cultivated, however, I don’t think it translated well to English. Just as I thought, the Mexican pop culture references left me breaking out of the world Dahlia de la Cerda created to research specific words and phrases. I loved the inclusion of some Spanish words and Mexican slang, but I did have to look up most of those as well.

What also brought me out of the stories was the similar voice that was used for every character. Because I work in the industry, I’m certainly hypercritical of tone of voice and differentiating between character voices. However, I was told that some of my concerns about this are normal idioms for Mexican dialect.

I truly think this collection of short stories would be phenomenal in Spanish, especially to those who understand Mexican slang and pop culture. Although the translation to English was very well done, I don’t think the content itself translates well to an English audience.

I have a much different opinion about the last few stories in this collection, though. They strayed from the theme of connecting the narrator to another story (as far as I could understand) and instead incorporated Sci-Fi and fantasy themes along with the typical hard-hitting content that was in the first two thirds of the book. For my personal taste, I enjoyed these stories so much more.

One of my favorite short stories in this collection was about a girl who is raped, killed, and left to die in the middle of nowhere. It isn’t until the end of the story that it is revealed that she was bitten by a vampire before dying. She then is mentored by another member of the undead and seeks revenge on those who killed her. If Dahlia de la Cerda incorporated more stories about vampires and brujas (witches) in her stories to connect them rather than connecting all the characters together, I think this would have been much more successful for an English audience.

I wish I could give this collection of short stories a higher rating. I think there is so much potential in it and Dahlia de la Cerda certainly has talent. However, I couldn’t get into the stories because of the culture and language barrier. I truly think the Spanish version of this novel, along with knowledge about Mexican slang and pop culture, would be phenomenal, but I can only speak to my own experiences.

Unfortunately, I wouldn’t recommend the English version of Reservoir Bitches, but if you are a native Spanish speaker, definitely give the original version a try!

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Questions for Book Club:

How would you describe Dahlia de la Creda’s narrative voice? Does her use of regional slang effect your reading experience?

What were the moments that felt especially rebellious or empowering?

How did you, or didn’t you, relate to the characters? What stood out or stayed with you?

How would you define what feminism looks like based on this collection of short stories?

Some stories included graphic content – do you think this was meant to shock the reader, or tell a deeper truth? What was your reaction?

After reading Reservoir Bitches, has your perspective shifted about the lived experiences of marginalized women? How?