Surely, this book has an important story to tell about a devastating fragment of the history of Argentina, which I almost knew nothing about. The truth that hides within these pages is gruesome - and I found myself wishing it was fictional. 
 While the book certainly has an interesting historical background, I don't think it is told in the best possible way. Perla's chapters reads like a typical coming-of-age novel, and Perla seems very self-absorbed. The chapters of the drowned man almost feels like poetry, and the shifts between his perspective and Perla's seem too abrupt. 
 Carolina de Robertis' magic realism is ambitious - but as I read the novel I couldn't help but wonder, whether a realistic account would have been more powerful. After all, the story is there - and it doesn't need any embellishments.