Jawbone

By: Mónica Ojeda, Sarah Booker - translator

Narrated by: Victoria Villarreal

"Was desire something like being possessed by a nightmare?"

Fernanda and Annelise are so close they are practically sisters: a double image, inseparable. So how does Fernanda end up bound on the floor of a deserted cabin, held hostage by one of her teachers and estranged from Annelise?

When Fernanda, Annelise, and their friends from the Delta Bilingual Academy convene after school, Annelise leads them in thrilling but increasingly dangerous rituals to a rhinestoned, Dior-scented, drag-queen god of her own invention. Even more perilous is the secret Annelise and Fernanda share, rooted in a dare in which violence meets love. Meanwhile, their literature teacher Miss Clara, who is obsessed with imitating her dead mother, struggles to preserve her deteriorating sanity. Each day she edges nearer to a total break with reality.

Interweaving pop culture references and horror concepts drawn from from Herman Melville, H. P. Lovecraft, and anonymous "creepypastas," Jawbone is an ominous, multivocal novel that explores the terror inherent in the pure potentiality of adolescence and the fine line between desire and fear.

©2017 Mónica Ojeda; Translation copyright 2022 by Sarah Booker (P)2023 Tantor

I don’t know what I just listened to….

????? I’m at a loss for words I don’t even know where to begin or end with this. It was all over the place and the ending?!?!

Disturbingly good listen but ending fell short

If you like disturbing horror this is for you. I enjoyed the references to pop culture and horror as well as the Latinx characters. TW there is violent sexual content/themes making this a disturbing listen for some. It was a little hard to follow at times as it bounced around through time but Victoria Villarreal does a great job narrating so I think it’s overall worth a listen.

The ending left a little to be desired, I think it’s meant to leave it up to the readers imagination but I felt like I wanted more.

And this is why teenagers terrify me

An eerie glimpse into the minds of teenage girls at their most dangerous age. Imagination run wild, exploring boundaries of their bodies, of fear, the neo-occult, breathing life into a new god and creating their own rituals of terror.
Great elements of horror and moving back and through narratives - at times left me a little lost.

Ultimately this book left me wanting more--
I think anyone interested in the horror genre should still give this a listen however. There’s no denying it’s original and I so could see this being translated into a stage performance !
Odeja’s mastery of voice (especially of teenage girls) in Jawbone is uncanny and will definitely leave you wary of youth -

creepy and unnerving

I have no idea what people are talking about claiming this is pretentious. it's about the struggles of adolescents. like Heathers meets Mean Girls meets Stephen King. it's twisted and you'll be saying wtf a lot. I do agree the end falls flat but I thoroughly enjoyed the creepy and creativity of this one

Angst with no where to go

This book is the amalgamation of a teenage loser who thinks they're so dark and screwed in the head but is really just an insufferable freak. There's no story here. Just disinteresting characters reflecting on their trashy obsession with the bleak and foul. I like a dark story, I like messed up characters that do interesting things because of twisted motivations. But that wasn't present here. This was just trying to shock factor itself into people's memories but in reality all I'll remember at length about this book is that I wasted a credit and the time it took listening to it.