I'm delighted to have discovered this new-to-me author.

A young women calling herself Libertad, incarcerated in a woman's prison in Mexico, uses her "book club" to tell the story of how she came to be there, a story she cannot bring herself to face directly.

Every character is vivid, as are the descriptions of life on the road and in the prison -- although the tale is far more fabulous (as in fable-like) than gritty. ( )

"When she read to her fellow inmates, she felt the pressure in her chest ease. She imagined her lungs backed up with words and her voice pushing them out, letting her breathe. Wiping her soul clean of remorse had turned put to be most difficult and slow, but she had more time than life. This was her only way of alleviating the pain."

This quote really resonated with me and embodies the core of this book. Libertad, cleverly named, starts a Library Club as a way to unload her emotions and free herself of guilt and trauma that she has experienced growing up on the road as a trucker with her dad. Libertad means freedom and that is the best way that I could describe the cathartic feelings I experienced reading this novel. Simply put, this book left me feeling free to just feel, free to just be and free to just think.

There are books in this world that simply take your breath away and leave you speechless. I didn't know what to expect when I started reading this one but I was immediately sucked in. There is something special about having a reader as the narrator telling stories through other stories. I was captivated by the poetic prose and the protagonist's strong storytelling held my attention until the very end. I did not want the story to end and even as I write this my mind is still in this book. The deeper I delved into this book, the more I hung on every word that Libertad spoke. I felt like I was right next her audience listening to her story, wanting to know the ending and captivated by her magic. The way Mexican history was blended into story was brilliant and seamless. I just want to hug this book tightly and never let it go. I will forever be grateful to @idleutopia_reads for hosting this buddy read. I have a serious book hangover.

This bookdragon rates this one 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥. ( )

I like books about women, written by women. I was pretty sure I'd like this since the tagline for the book reads: "A road novel with literary license." Humor and clever play on words. And the book turned out to be one I couldn't put down and kept thinking about when I wasn't reading it. The "daughter" of the title is a long-haul trucker like her father - how she becomes a trucker and easily adjusts to that lifestyle is the story she tells from a Mexican women's prison. This is one of those books you tell all your friends to read. ( )

this was interesting - a bit odd, a little different, and rather meta. libertad can certainly be added to the list of unreliable narrators in fiction! the story didn't quite all come together for me at the end as it felt a bit too tidy in contrast to the rest of the book. but, i did mostly enjoy the plot and the characters. escandón deftly navigates her dual timeline, between libertad's previous life on the road with her trucker father, and her current life in a mexican prison for women. it felt like there were a few holes in the plot, and (for me) there wasn't quite enough depth to some characters, particularly libertad's father. of course, i realize this is libertad's story, but given the importance of her father as the central/only person in her life i would have loved to explore his motivations and psychology a bit more. still, this story felt different, which is often hard to pull off in the fiction market, and i appreciated that very much. ( )

A compelling story, even if it leaves loose threads. Lots of vivid imagery. A passionate, "Mexican" story. ( )