In Malinalli by Veronica Chapa, we follow the titular main character through the events of her life, as she goes from child to adolescent to woman. She learns early on that she has an aptitude for magic, but only boys are allowed to attend the school for magic in Tenochtitlan, so her twin brother Eagle leaves her. But his subsequent suspicious death, and that of her father’s, fills Malinalli’s heart with a desire for justice and revenge. So she sets off on a journey to meet Moctezuma, whom she holds responsible. But her quest veers off track for various reasons, as numerous obstacles arise. She is forced to fight for her life and her freedom, to use her magic and her intelligence to manipulate the powerful men around her, and to make questionable decisions in order to reach her goal.

I admit, I’ve never heard of this woman before, but she’s a real-life historical figure from Mexican history at the time of the Spanish conquistadors. And it was fascinating to learn about her through this retelling, and to explore some history and mythology with which I was pretty unfamiliar. I loved seeing some of the religion and ritual of the indigenous peoples of that area, and the magical elements were really cool.

As for Malinalli (often also called Malinalxochitl), she’s an intriguing, complicated character. This fictionalized version of her is given a lot of depth and a compelling backstory that makes you root for her, especially after seeing how devastating the loss of her brother and father were for her. But some of the choices she has to make are clearly the wrong ones, especially when she allies herself with Hernán Cortés, who we all know was not a good person. It’s interesting to view these events in hindsight, knowing how the meeting between Cortés and Moctezuma went down. However, knowing that Malinalli has a hand in it, but not quite how, made for an exciting reading experience for me, even if I was frustrated by some of her decisions. Yet I still enjoy a morally gray character, and her motivations always made sense within the narrative.

I also liked some of the side characters, especially Hummingbird, Copil, and Pakal Balam. The former two were excellent friends, full of kindness, who brought out Malinalli’s soft side. And Pakal Balam was a decent love interest, encouraging Malinalli and supporting her throughout. Overall, the cast of characters was pretty solid.

I will note, however, that a lot of this plot involves some pretty dark stuff. Not only does Malinalli get kidnapped into slavery and then is made a concubine, there’s also a lot of violence. This was not a calm, peaceful period of history, after all, and this narrative reflects its realities. The sexual content isn’t super graphic, mostly just alluded to, but the situation is not shied away from either. And of course, the violence is present, and though it’s not overly gory, still might not be suitable for everyone. But I went into this expecting most of that, and still thought the story was gripping and moving.

The final act of the book is pretty exciting as everything comes to a head. There’s a confrontation between Malinalli and Moctezuma that’s particularly memorable. But the way the story ended overall felt quite rushed to me; the climactic scene ends abruptly, with what seemed to be a lot of events left to go in Malinalli’s life. Then, the epilogue feels like a speedrun through the rest of the story, as if Chapa didn’t have time or energy to continue. This almost should have been two books, with the second one expanding upon the epilogue to better explore the fallout of Cortés’ actions in Tenochtitlan and how Malinalli dealt with them. So as it was, it was kind of a strange, fizzling ending.

However, in the end, I thought that Malinalli was an impressive debut novel. Chapa clearly has done extensive research, and did a lot to humanize and contextualize the lead character. The plot is tense, the settings are vivid, and the supporting characters (both fictional and based on real people) are great. I wish the pacing had been better, especially toward the end, though. But overall, this was a good read. The audiobook narrated by Cynthia Farrell was excellent. If you’re looking for a retelling, or a book about Mexican history, try this one!

Malinalli is available now!