Jawbone

By: Mónica Ojeda, Sarah Booker - translator

Narrated by: Victoria Villarreal

Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

"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

Nooooooo! What did I just listen to?

This was so boring and I feel like nothing even happened. The ending was such a let down. I had to push myself to finish it because it was so dull and when I finally got to the end, I literally said, “are you freaking me??” Save your credit on this one.

A little to intelligent for me I guess?

I felt like I understood it, then I didn’t, then I thought I got it…then I didn’t. It started out as a promising story then went a different direction. I bet some would find it as a great piece of literature but for me it was a little to heavy on the literary side for me.

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.

Interminable

This was almost unbearably pretentious. The narrator did the best she could with what amounted to absolute drivel. A ridiculous story about unhinged people that went nowhere. There is not a single relatable character or genuine voice in this book. It's just unrelenting navel gazing and mental illness. The only things shocking or truly transgressive is how self-important it all feels. Hard pass.

Horrible

It was a horrible story. Very disturbing and lacked any sense of goodness. I would not recommend it to anyone

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 -

Unbearable

Pretentious and unbearable. The story never went anywhere, and the prose was cheap and undiscovered. Not a single character made a single decision that made any sense. No one was relatable. Big yikes.