Her Fingers

Her Fingers by Tamara Romero
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When a bionic red haired witch washed up from the Adrenaline River near his house, Volatile nurses her back to health and chooses to reveal some fundamental truths about the world to her. But will the truth destroy them both?

The 2012-2013 New Bizarro Author Series rolls on. Tamera Romero has been a friend of mine on Goodreads for years but I've had little interaction with her apart from reading her reviews. Also, I miss her old avatar photo where she's pretending her hands are goggles. Anyway, she's crafted quite an odd tale.

Her Fingers takes place in a oppressed state populated by persecuted witches, bionic people, and all sorts of other strangeness. It's dark fantasy at times and cyberpunk at others. It reminds me a little of Athena Villaverde's Starfish Girl but the book it really reminds me of is Veniss Underground by Jeff Vandermeer. It also had the slight taste of Steppenwolf, but I can't articulate why I feel that way.

Romero does a lot of good world-building in 60 pages, making me want to read another book set in the same world. I love the crazy concepts like the tree mothers, teenagers getting bionic implants as an act of rebellion, and The Gag, a horrible disease. I also like the shifting viewpoints between Miadora and Volatile, making the climax of the story have that much more impact.

One last thing I want to note: even though this was translated from Spanish, it is typo-free, which is rare for even English bizarro books these days.

Anyway, Her Fingers was a quirky read and a good way to spend a lunch hour.

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