Fernanda: Of course que sabía que lo que hacía estaba mal, pero no sabía que estuviera taaan mal. Solo me di cuenta de que estaba taaan mal cuando lo hice y lo sentí y dije: “Mierda. This is so fucked up.” No, miento: fue cuando ella le enseñó la foto a esos tontos de la fiesta.

Dr. Aguilar:

I read this novel for my book club a few months back and the discussion was great, albeit we are a group of Mexican women that could relate to the context of Catholic Schools in Latin America. Mónica Ojeda writes a psychological/horror fiction novel about a teacher, from a Catholic school, that kidnaps a student under the premise that the student, and her friends, bullied and pranked the teacher to a point that needed serious repercussions. The novel starts in the middle of the forest, with the student tied up thinking about how to get away. It then follows a non-linear structure that dives into the lives of both teacher and students.

The teacher, Clara, shows signs of mental disorders closely related to her relationship with the mother and a traumatizing previous experience in another school. The student, Fernanda, talks about the perfect life with her group of friends, obsessed with creepypastas, a white god and dangerous dares that they put on themselves. Probably my favorite chapters are Fernandas’s sessions with her psychoanalyst, a man that sits on his chair and just listens to a ranting teenager that answers her own questions. Among Fernanda’s friends, Annelise, her best friend almost sister, also has a voice and her own chapters throughout the novel. She dives into the supernatural world coming back to her relationship with Fernanda.

The novel touches upon the violent love that occurs in teenage friendships, in mother-daughter relationships, dares, and an Opus Dei all-girls school. Its name itself describes this motherly love, as the female crocodile carries its offspring in her mouth, but her jaw is so strong, that once it closes with something inside, it’s practically impossible to open. It is a novel difficult to put down, with an exquisite stream of consciousness, but a bit too ambitious for me. The girls’ voices sometimes feel too mature for their age, I would have enjoyed it more if it were told only from one point of view, maybe Fernanda. Nonetheless, I do recommend it and hopefully, it was recently published in English by CoffeeHouse Press with the title, Jawbone.

About Mónica Ojeda

Mónica Ojeda was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador in 1988. She wrote her first novel in 2014; Jawbone is her third novel published in 2018. She was included in the list Bogota39 of best young authors from Latin American, and is currently pursuing her PhD in porno-erotic literature in Madrid. Her writing style is horror.

Other books written by Ecuatorian women

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CENTRO ECUATORIANO PARA LA PROMOCIÓN Y ACCIÓN DE LA MUJER

This organization was founded in 1983 by a group of women striving for equal rights, social justice, inclusion and opportunities for women. It started with the creation of Casa de la Mujer (Women’s home), a place that offered a safe haven to women and fought for their reproductive rights. Today, their services include legal aid, social service, psychological help, and capacity-building workshops in topics such as human rights, empowerment and leadership.