And I'll Take Out Your Eyes: A Novel

by A.M. Sosa

"An insultingly good debut" following a queer Chicano’s cannon-shot into adulthood amidst familial turmoil and the suffocating violence of Stockton, California in the early 2000s (Ruth Madievsky).

Cría cuervos y te sacaran los Raise crows and they’ll take out your eyes.

Since the age of seven, Christian has been under the thumb of a curse. He reads its dark signs in his bedridden mother’s wilting plants; in his brother’s estrangement; in his father’s eager fists and glassy stare. He reads it in his nightmares, in Stockton’s soundtrack of sirens and gunshot. Above all, he reads the curse in the mirror, watching himself “turn” into the crow his father always predicted he’d become.

Maddened by the city’s heatwaves and his own unthinkable desires, often high and drunk, Christian rips through his neighborhood, desperate to escape not only the city but the monster of his pain. But even when he leaves, the curse follows. Can Christian ever be absolved? Or is he condemned to be consumed by the same violence as his father? 

And I’ll Take Out Your Eyes is a defiant, shattering portrait of self-discovery in the face of violence, mental illness, and other dark inheritances. In a lyric, circuit-bending onslaught of ragers and laments, A. M. Sosa delivers a redemptive story—and an unforgettable debut.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Young Adult, Fantasy, Queer, LGBT, Hispanic

291 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 7, 2025

Reviews

[Whatithinkaboutthisbook · Rating 5 out of 5]

And I’ll Take Our Your Eyes A Novel by A.M. Sosa
Pub Date: October 7/25

This is a raw and powerful novel that examines a coming of age that is shaped by rage, fear and the haunting weight of generational trauma. Set against the backdrop of Mexican culture, the story weaves together family violence, complex family dynamics, immigration issues, curses and brujeria to create a narrative that is both brutal and tender. This book explores complex family relationships framed within their Mexican culture, including curses and brujerias and shaped by their experiences of being illegal immigrants creating a unique and compelling narrative that is equal parts brutal and tender.

Sosa’s unflinching exploration of abuse and repressed sexuality is visceral, authentic and deeply affecting. Through Christian we witness a life plagued by rage, shame, isolation and a crushing sense of unworthiness. His emotional turmoil is rendered so vividly that at times the novel is difficult to read, but impossible to put down.

Although steeped in trauma, the novel is also an examination of resilience, healing and hope. Christian’s career as a writer and his therapy sessions serve as unique and effective narrative tools. They provide insight into his memories, his emotional journey and his attempts to understand both his pain and his relationship with his father. The nuanced portrayal of complicated family relationships, the therapeutic process and the catharsis of writing illuminate Christian’s healing journey. Through these elements Sosa offers a piercing look into the cycles of violence and the possibility of breaking free from them.

This is an unforgettable debut novel will remain with you long after you put it down. Readers who enjoy the writing of Douglas Stuart and Daniel Black will love this book.

[Kristina Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartbreaking and deeply unsettling, this story confronts trauma and abuse that too often get dismissed as superstition or “bad luck.” Sosa captures how cultural beliefs can blur into denial, and how entire communities can overlook suffering right in front of them. The writing is raw and emotional — not always easy to read, but impossible to forget. Sometimes hard to follow because the timeline does jump around.

Trigger warnings: SA, child abuse, trauma, emotional neglect. Far too many children and adults will see their own experiences reflected here. This child wasn’t cursed — he was abused. A painful, necessary read that lingers long after the final page.

[Serena Mancini · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this memoir had really good content, but I just could not get behind the writing style.

[Viv · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this story and the way it was told.
It was hard to read at times. The horror in this novel are the horrors of everyday life. The things our main character went through are things that can happen to anyone. I feel like we forget how scary real life can be sometimes.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Initially hesitant as to whether I'd finish this, I was quickly enraptured and couldn't put this down. The horror and fantasy elements were much stronger in the beginning, giving way to a much more realistic progression as Christian processes the abuse as he ages. The YA tag I'd say sells this novel short, as it is much more mature and carries unexpected depth for a novel supposedly written for teens. The impact of violence and abuse is conveyed so viscerally, and Sosa does a masterful job interweaving this with generational trauma, immigration concerns, familial relationship, sexuality in a way that doesn't feel forced or like a book "on intersectionality". Characters are flawed, multi-dimensional and believable. Wonderful novel - though I would say, this is likely a bilingual novel. There's not a ton of content in Spanish, but what is is not translated and I think significantly adds to the experience if you can read it in both (it's an accurate depiction of life as a child of immigrants, held between two languages constantly).

[Niamh · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75

[Chanel Chapters]

Writing style not for me
DNF

[Vampyre]

DNF. As a non-Hispanic person this book was very hard for me to read. Between the Spanish to English dialogue swap, and an overall boring storyline that really didn’t make any sense, I couldn’t finish this one. Was hoping for good things for it.

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was very ambitious and took risks, but unfortunately I don’t think they paid off. This book was a Frankenstein of writing devices, it felt like the author put in everything but the kitchen sink. We switch back and forth between one narration POV to the next, no quotation marks for anyone speaking (of even a knowing who said what), random foot notes in just one chapter, and towards the end we get conversations written like a screenplay. I thought the use of untranslated Spanish could have been an interesting social commentary on what we expect western books to be and how the audiences need for their language and culture to be the default, but that was ruined by every other literary attention grabbing device that added nothing. This author has potential, the story had potential, I just hope in their next writing project they can narrow down what they want it to be instead of meshing every idea they’ve ever had or every device they’ve ever seen into one singular book. The book also was boring in a sense that was exaggerated by the choppy prose. There was no real journey, plot or character wise. Yes it ended with a change, but it was unsatisfactory and random.

[Katy T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the book. Well written, you get a good flavour of what the main characters life was like and how his life affects and is affected by those around him as well as the circumstances.
It covers a whole range of experiences (no spoilers) and cycles through the range of emotions and feelings that come with those.
It covers the struggle with mental health and self worth as a result and also the coming full circle. The main character then begins to reflect and understand what may have driven other people and comes to acceptance and forgiveness.
True understanding comes through his writing and having written his story, realisations about his perception of events and by acknowledging them allows healing for him and his family to truly happen as he then talks and shares with those who matter most to him.
Hard to read due to experiences, but ultimately uplifting.

[gwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good, affecting. It plays with the conventions of the Memoir and the Novel while also being a sincere and effective deployment of those modes. You can also tell that this is a debut work—though a very good one. Many of the sentences are lovely, but there is a noticeable amount of prose which is not quite at the same level. Inconsistent, I guess. The first part really did not work for me, but it picked up dramatically in part 2. And there is an argument to be made that the first part is still necessary and succeeds at what it is trying to do.

Looking forward to more from Sosa in the future!

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the duality of seeing the different levels of accountability in how each generation deals with their stuff. I appreciated moving from vague, almost folklore like tellings of Christian’s traumas in youth to more specific recall in adulthood.

It might be elitist of me to think that using so many different narrative devices and POVs is too bold for a debut novel, but I don’t think It served much of a purpose here and in the second half of the book felt like a Charlie Kauffman ripoff.

Picked this one up just perusing the library shelf instead of pulling from the old TBR. Trying to do more of that this year so I’m expanding horizons, etc.

[Lex · Rating 5 out of 5]

And I’ll Take Out Your Eyes is an ambitious, impressive text that reads like a memoir. And in a lot of ways, it is!

This book does a lot of things well, talking about generational trauma and mental health through the lens of memory. The disjointed, “kaleidescopic” (pulling from the book’s pitch) storytelling tells a story in itself about how the narrator reflects on his own history.

The prose and story are rich, and I know that I could walk away with a very different (but still positive) perspective of this story if I reread it down the line. I'm going to keep an eye on this author, who most certainly has the skill to publish cutting-edge stories in the future.

[Kallie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, I think maybe I need to learn Spanish to enjoy this more? There are a lot of not translated bits that I feel like I needed to know to follow along. There are some excellent themes here of generational trauma and cultural lore/curses overlapping and finally coming to light, but a bit hard to follow at times.

[Kathalene A · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were parts of this I didn't see coming. But Sosa has me intrigued, heart-broken, and hopeful. Life gets ugly, brutal, violent. Memory is vivid, murky, repressed, motivating, and mistaken. And family can at times be both devastating and yet all you have. And, by the end, I'm not totally sure where we've landed. But, I'm choosing to believe that love wins the day.

[JXR · Rating 5 out of 5]

intense and interesting horror-ish book with a lot of intense and interesting vibes. would recommend. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75⭐

Dark and heavy. 

[Lauren Not Bacall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book grew on me! It’s kind of rough to get into, but this could be me and the writing style, but ended up loving this book as the main character started to age.

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

*2.5 ⭐️

Not bad, just not for me 💔

[Jen]

I'm sure there's a really good story in here, but I could not find it. It's once again a me problem.