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LOVE WAR STORIES
Puerto Rican girls are brought up to want one thing: true love. Yet they are raised by women whose lives are marked by broken promises, grief, and betrayal. While some believe that they’ll be the ones to finally make it work, others swear not to repeat cycles of violence. This collection documents how these “love wars” break out across generations as individuals find themselves caught in the crosshairs of romance, expectations, and community.
PRAISE
“Rodriguez conceives exquisite misery and makes alchemy of hopelessness in her debut short story collection.”—Electric Literature
“Wise, ferocious, and beautifully executed.”—Patricia Engel, author of Infinite Country
“Rodriguez’s stories can be as powerful as a fire hydrant opened at full blast during a heat wave and as subtle as a lazy fan spinning in a corner of a bodega. This is an important collection that like a chorus of Santera’s conga drumming, it will reverberate for many years to come.”—Ernesto Quiñonez, author of Bodega Dreams
“A tough smart dazzling debut by a tough smart dazzling writer. Ivelisse Rodriguez is a revelation.”—Junot Díaz, Pulitzer-prize winning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
“This is the short story collection I’ve been waiting for…. Love War Stories is extraordinary. Punto y final.”—Angie Cruz, author of How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water
“This reviewer kept returning to [these stories] for their freshness, urgency, and sheer heart.”—Library Journal
“This book will leave you breathless.”—Bustle
“This collection of short stories takes the happily-ever-after that so many girls are raised to long for, and turns them, not into fairy tales, but into a war zone.”—Remezcla