National Book Award finalist Sonido Reyes (The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School) writes an electrifying, utterly gripping YA dystopia in To Our Untamed Core, about three boys who must survive a televised death match.
Over 600 years ago, conquistadors from the Order of Light brought their "righteous God" to the people of the Afueras. Now, all Afuereños are subjects of the colonial Holy Order and given state-mandated pills to "tame their innate violence." Any Afuereño who steps out of the Holy Order's line can be "sentenced to compete in El Torneo," a once-a-decade Hunger Games-style battle with no winner.
Seventeen-year-old Temo has spent his "entire life keeping [his] head down and avoiding trouble." But when he turns 18, he will have to undergo the sacrament of contribution; the fertility test will show he's been hiding his "child-bearing parts" to live as a boy. The only people who know Temo's truth are his direct family, boyfriend Ollin, and former best friend Socoyote, who practices outlawed brujería. As El Torneo approaches, Ollin gets arrested. Temo and Socoyote, who was once Ollin's sparring partner, are forced into collaborative action: they will break into the place no Afuereño has ever survived to save Ollin.
To Our Untamed Core is multifaceted and cleverly textured, and it depicts sweetness and mercy even in the midst of deadly stakes. Reyes uses flashbacks and alternating perspectives (Temo, Socoyote, and a handful of secondary characters) to compassionately show the choices people must make under colonialism. Readers craving atypical love triangles and exciting combat may find this novel a worthy contender in the arena of dystopian fiction. --Ari Mackoff, bookseller