Where They Burn Books, They Also Burn People

by Marcos Antonio Hernandez

Two standalone books with alternating chapters—the way the combination is meant to be read.

They’re devoted to God. But will doing the Lord’s work lead them into darkness?

1549. Convinced he’s destined to fulfill a whispered prophecy, Friar Diego de Landa labors to convert the Maya of the Yucatán Peninsula. Discovering a brutal Spanish landowner persecuting the native population, Friar Diego determines to protect them and punish the cruel man. But when he repatriates thousands of Maya and uproots centuries of indigenous traditions, the priest’s obsession may end up destroying them all.

2010. Cortez Vuscar is convinced his father will return if he can grow their church’s congregation. Certain he’s found his true love and believing they can attract churchgoers together, Cortez sets out to win her from her wealthy and unfaithful boyfriend. But his fascination with the famous literature she’s reading infects his mind with a deadly descent into madness…

Can these men save their religion without destroying what they love?

Where They Burn Books, They Also Burn People is the gripping combination of two books in the Hispanic American Heritage Stories series, based on historical events. If you like indigenous revenge, villain origin stories, and the consuming force of religious fervor, then you’ll love this illuminating tale about Catholicism’s shadowed past.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Horror, Historical, Latinx, Fantasy, Literary Fiction

498 pages, Paperback

Published March 11, 2021

About the author

Marcos writes from the suburbs of Washington D.C. He didn’t always know about his passion for writing but has always known about his passion for reading. He began by carving out time every day to develop the habit of writing until the foundations of his first novel had been built. He reads everything he can get his hands on but particularly enjoys science fiction/fantasy. When reading is not possible, he has his headphones in, listening to audiobooks.

After graduating from the University of Maryland with a degree in chemical engineering and a minor in physics, Marcos has been lucky enough to have not one but two dream jobs. He began flexing his creativity muscles during his time as a food scientist at a dessert think tank, specializing in helping clients find solutions to their frozen dessert problems (read: professional ice cream maker). After leaving this career, he began a new career as a strength and conditioning coach (what he calls his “retirement”). He has been a coach for over five years and enjoys interacting with a diverse range of people.

Marcos believes in training his creativity muscles through storytelling. Like exercise, he believes in showing up every day to get the work done. His hope is to learn from every experience and let it shine through the stories he tells.

Reviews

[Mireya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Catholicism is one hell of a drug

[Nurcan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated greatly the idea and the intent behind this book, as it covers a point in history which is not talked about enough. My expectations were high but they were sadly not all met. The first book tells Friar Diego de Landa's story and was greatly executed. Had it been published separately, I would have given it five stars. My issues emerged, as you can guess, with the second book: an alternate storyline set in 2010, that shares common themes with Friar Diego's story.
Beware that there are serious spoilers ahead!
The second book tells the story of Cortez, a religious young man trying to navigate life as he suffers from some type of developmetal disability. Although it is never mentioned which disability Cortez has, he is very clearly an autistic-coded character. Cortez has difficulties with looking people in the eyes, does not undestand social rules instead he reproduces the way characters in movies and shows act, does not understand sarcasm, has rules and routines and gets upset if these are disrupted (which his mother resents him for), has difficulty with understanding other people's emotions - all autistic traits. Which in itself it's not wrong. My issue with this austistic-coding is that his autistic traits are portrayed as the cause for his behaviour: his religious fanaticism, his obsession with Alara and the ultimate murder of Remy. I believe that the author's intention was to show the effect of a centuries-long religious indoctrination and oppression, but he missed the mark when he autistic-coded his main character. And he did it probably without even realizing he did so. This is sadly a well-known cliché in story-telling. Autism is often a shortcut to creating a villain, quoting Allison Wall's article "Film Review: Don’t Look Up – A Masterclass In Autistic Ableism". The portrayal of Cortez's character is not only lazy writing but also ableism that further stigmatizes people with developmental disabilities.

[Adam Brewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book combines two books where each chapter alternates from one book to the next. The first chapter starts off in the 16th century and illustrates the Spanish colonization of the Yucutan peninsula, following the Franciscan Friar Diego De Landa, a historical figure in the colonization of the Yucutan, and his quest to convert the Mayan population to Catholicism. His religious fervor to do God's work smears with his desire for power and glory and turns to inflicting religious terror in the Mayan inquisition. The alternating chapters occur in the modern day and follow a young man, Cortez, a single minded religious zealot who believes he will help rebuild the Catholic church to its former glory with the help of a woman, of Mayan hertiage, with whom he falls in love, but rejects him.

The alternating chapters are not jarring to me. As the story builds you can begin to see the effects of generational trauma caused by the colonization of Mexico and the destruction of Mayan culture. Hernandez evolves these characters believably, and interweaves bits of magical realism that reflect what each character truly believes and desires with imagery rather than simple exposition. His use of magical realist imagery intensifies as the story and stakes, personal and historical, get progressively larger. I found this to be a fascinating read and would definitely recommend it to any who simply enjoy good literature, or who like historical fiction.

[emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

probably one of my most highly anticipated books of the year due to the content, but fell somewhat flat. the book was published as two separate works but combined into one and is intended to read it as such. but i just did not like the storyline of Cortez in modern day. Cortez is a very clearly neurodivergent-coded character, but his traits of stalking and persistent dark thoughts just paint a bad picture for those who relate to his quirks. the story of Friar Diego in the Yucatan Peninsula was much more engaging, albeit devastating, but there were layers to that story - especially in comparison to the modern day. the lazy "connection" between the two stories pushed me over the edge. however, my biggest gripe is the sexualization and lack of importance placed on the women of the story. i have a pretty strong feeling that their roles were not as minimal as the author made them out to be and i felt it was a pretty short-sighted portrayal of women. overall, just a fine book with some important highlights of the shadowy past and dark beginnings of Catholicism, but definitely missed the mark in a few places.

[Krisztina Soto]

I had very high hopes for this book, but it severely disappointed me. After 130 pages, it was clear that female characters are not this author’s forte. Which makes sense when you find out one of his favorite authors is Murakami. The unease that I felt when I read the first few descriptions of Mayan women was enough to let me know it would not get better.

Perhaps I did not give it enough of a try, but after reading about Cortez’s first interaction with Alara it was clear.

I was happy to discover that while both stories are meant to be read in tandem, separate books for each story exist. I think I would have enjoyed the experience a bit more had I just read Friar Diego’s story. Even then, I was apprehensive to read more since I was never ready for any of these men’s interactions with women.

La mala :/

[Teté Simim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had far more interest with Diego’s story rather than Cortez, however I realize that you can actually get the book with one story, rather than both. I didn’t even know Cortez’s story was in it, as I saw ads for this book only about Diego’s.

Had a slow build up but it was worth it.

This book made me grieve a lot and be angry honestly, a lot of parts describing the cruelty made me taking breaks, understanding that these are real things that have happened to mine and many others ancestors. I often wonder what was lost.

4.5

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always have a hard time getting started with multiple timeline stories (that's a me thing) but once I got a few chapters in to each one I was hooked. It was so interesting to see the stories parallel (often in neighboring chapters) and how two men so far apart in time could make such similar choices. And all the interconnectedness as well as the magical realism thrown in here and there, I loved the way the story wound around but found it's way, just as Friar Diego would walk through the jungles of the Yucatan and Cortez would walk around in his concrete jungle.

Really amazing writing, looking forward to checking out some of the author's other works!

[Ghaida · Rating 3 out of 5]

i think men need to stop writing women..


2.5 rounded up

[Santiago Carniado · Rating 3 out of 5]

An uneven reading experience. Being a combination of two books, it is a bit rough how we alternate from one story to the other in a chapter by chapter manner, not because it is not easy to follow, rather because my enjoyment of one was leages below the other.

The book following Friar Diego was rich and compelling in every aspect of its narrative and themes. Perfectly creating a complex tapestry of cultures clashing and religious zealoutry put to the test. I was immediately immersed into it, and while it isn't perfect, it's a consistently good story from start to finish.

Cortez Vuscar's story, on the other hand, was not my cup of tea. It often felt generic and dull, very trope heavy and not as interesting as it thought itself to be. It wasn't bad, but I never felt excited to turn the page and see a new chapter of this awaited me.

The thing is that the themes connecting these two stories are, in my opinion, not strong enough to create a true relationship between them, rather they feel a bit forced together and that hurts the better story when you have to endure one you don't like very much.

[Tammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was drawn to this book due to its provocative cover and title. I also make it a point to read stories about history and other cultures because I get bored with the same old plotlines found in most contemporary literature. This book was remarkably well-written.

Marcos Antonio Hernandez has shown us the tendency of history to repeat itself. He describes the insidious way evil creeps through broken people who believe they are specially chosen for greatness. They create a religion unto themselves that views humanity as fruit to be plucked and consumed. Their deranged apostacy justifies their increasing brutality until it consumed them to.

I would like to see Where They Burn Books, They Also Burn People in every US high school and college library. It contains lessons we need to be teaching the next generation. It will help them stop the next madman from using religion to justify genocide. It will help them understand the tyranny of censorship.

[Michael Lynch · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was very slow to start, and it didn't pick up until almost the end.

[Luna Itza · Rating 4 out of 5]

More historical fiction books that aren’t just about WWII and the wives that stayed behind, please. I thoroughly enjoyed reading and listening to Where They Burn Books, They Also Burn People by Marcos Antonio Hernandez. I gravitated to the cover and title immediately after watching a number of promo reels from the author themself. (It worked. Thank you!)

The narrative of the book speaks to the injustices of the Spanish Inquisition during colonial times in the Middle Americas and the continuation of its presence in modern times. I think the combination of both timelines created a great balance in portraying the very real challenges Indigenous/mestize people still face today. The irony of both protagonists’ journeys finishing on such high notes left me speechless.

Sometimes, if I take long enough to read a book to completion, I fall into the series of events that I, at first, did see coming, but eventually fell into it as the story as was intended. Which, in my opinion, is always an immersive feeling to experience. I sometimes have tendencies to want to predict how stories will end, but if the writing is thought-provoking and contextually loaded enough for me, it’s possible I can fall onto the pages and journey alongside them without impatience. It’s something I’ve also learned to do as I’ve started to pick up larger-volume books.

This book is nearly 500 pages in length, and I took my time reading it. Like, several months long -and that’s okay too. I go through these periods of spacing out my intake of literature so that I can also allow myself time to reflect on what it is that I’m reading. What messages are the authors trying to convey? What forms of expression are being used in order to tell said story? Or if there aren’t any, why?

I think the undertones in this particular novel were as enticing as a late-night dessert. Loaded with subtext about attitudes and perspective, both shared and separate; they could be read in almost every page. The living contradictions were loud, but the lack of hope was louder.

If you choose to take on this Goliath and get to the very end, I hope you can sit with the last moments of each story and think about the overarching theme that is Latin America. And how, even still today, half a thousand years later, some mysteries remain unsolved; shackles still left untouched. But what isn’t, is the truth that there is evil in even the holiest of places -and most certainly in those spaces where fear is predicated onto those who have purpose. Taken and trampled. Burned and disappeared. Erased.

Thank you, Marcos, for writing this much-needed story, for there is so, so much we all need to know about what once was and what still is.

[Theresa Heiss · Rating 1 out of 5]

The idea to represent Maya history in an non scientific book is really good - the execution was not.
The religious fanatism and god complex in the 15th century timeline had potential, but wasn't executed to it's fullest.
The modern timeline was a Desaster.
Point 1: the coding of the main character as neurodivergent and this as to be the reason behind his mad actions was unnecessary and is dangerous. Neurodivergent people aren't monsters and media coding them as such puts them in a dangerous place and is reinforcing discrimination.
Point 2: the very old thinking of the children of criminals being criminals is also dangerous! Why is he framed like fulfilling his father's thoughts - a person he never met? Why is she making the connection between him and his ancestors, like in a revenge kinda thinking?
Point 3: the women in this book are very passive, doing all the labour and smiling through unwanted attention of men.

Summa sumarum: this book isn't a book to open one's mind to this side of history and culture it could have been. it's s reinforcing stereotypes and dangerous framing of women, neurodivergent people and children of criminals.

[Susieq_reads · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just NO! Cortez story was so bizarre and just unnecessary. The friar story had great potential but aoo much filler details that made this book waaaay tooo long.

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

It really took awhile to get the ball rolling, but then it gets going, speeding toward the conclusion. Cortez's story is such a downer, one negative, sad thing after another. Society has failed him, but the circle is all so personal and private and small that it's almost like blaming him or implying some sort of inevitable fall.

Diego's story is more compelling, but really takes a dark turn. There's something interesting about imagining the actual interactions between Franciscan friars, Maya priests, the Indigenous people in general. How DID things get built? What DID people think? How DID they reconcile competing religious claims? What DID education mean, how DID it take hold? DID it take hold? They must have talked and thought about things. Hernandez leaves room for lots of reactions and suggests a lot of the machinations within colonial society--friars and encomenderos and native elite fighting for position, allegiance, plus generational upheaval and change.

Some obvious parallels (the title is too literal, takes a lot of the suspense out, although the author clearly wasn't going for suspense because the library is burning in the first chapter, and then we backtrack), some more subtle ones. I was not prepared for the direct connection between them, revealed halfway through. But then they are different. Diego is clearly prideful and confident, whereas Cortez is bewildered by the world and relatively helpless. But they both have this deluded vision of the world and their role in it, I guess. Diego's sins are revisited on Cortez, maybe? So Cortez was doomed from the start? I can't really get a grasp on what any of this is saying, except that people (men) do bad things in the name of God while simultaneously selfishly wanting something for themselves. That was a long way to go for that.

Most of the women are caricatures and plot devices, nowhere near as complex as the men. Some weird sentence structures with misplaced modifiers. The Indigenous people, except for the few named characters, are this mass background of labor and believers, and then they are betrayed and oppressed. Their motives (particularly the younger generation who aid the friars, especially at the end) are opaque. For all the imagining of the specific restructuring of patriarchy, the ways things might have gone down, I'm not sure if that's a step forward in representation or storytelling/point of view.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Expectedly graphic and very interesting to me... the historical half, that is. It was a little exciting to see how the two stories had parallels, but that's about all the modern Spanish wannabe-Joker story half does for me. Also, I'm glad to see others also felt some type of way about the way the author writes the women in the book, 1-dimensional and with jiggle physics.

Here's favorite quotes:

[The men] worked from dawn until dusk with a fervor any Spanish [conqueror] would have been amazed to witness. There was a competitive nature to their task, each man wanting to contribute more to the church. The [forced labor] system would never capitalize on this way of life because the community was the sole recipient of this labor force's benefits; the improvement to the community, not padding one man's pockets, making the work worth completing.

"I am keeping them safe", Friar Diego whispered. "Some, yes," Ahkinmai agreed. "While leading the rest to death. Your eyes are covered with honey while you trample the flowers." Friar Diego couldn't understand why the Mayan priest was talking about nature. He heard the words but couldn't remove himself enough to appreciate the lesson hidden within.

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

Without her parents' expectation that she read, and subsequent disappointment, she rediscovered her passion for reading and began working through the volumes she'd collected over the years. Dating Remy provided her with a reason for ignoring men, which provided her still more time to catch up on years of neglected words.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t know it was two books combined until i did some research.

One story follows a new priest in the new world after the colonizers arrived to what is now Mexico in the 1500’s.

The other story follows a young adult in the 2000’s who is timid, has mental issues and thinks brining people to his church will save him and his church.

Both stories have alot of similarities but honestly the one that interested me the most was about the priest.
He wanted to protect the Mayans and make sure they were treated fairly through his years in Izmal however in the end, he was the destroyer of pretty much the Mayan culture in the region. He tortured and burn everything they believed because according to the priest, they couldn’t worship their gods and the gods they brought from Spain.

The other story which follows a young adult who is a stalker, creeper, has issues and obsess over a girl who he met at a coffee shop. The fact that he follows people and he uses his religion for his own personal pleasure is sick. The girl already told him to stay away from him and stop bothering her. He can’t take a No. He kills the cheating boyfriend of the girl in a fire at the library. And gets stuck in the fire he started. Weirdo

Religion is a heavy topic but this book makes you realize that religion, Catholicism, is just fishing for more people.

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow.
The story of Friar Diego de Landa's cruel, tyrannical conquest of the Yucatán should honestly be required reading for anyone studying Hispanic heritage or the colonization of the Americas. I suddenly wish to apply to get my PhD just to have a reason to research the history behind this work and apply different critical lenses to its analysis... It's such a heartbreaking account of the genocide of Maya people, but a crucially important history to remember.

Meanwhile, the story of a modern day zealot and certified creep named Cortez is painfully awkward and disturbing. Reading it was like watching a car crash. But I thoroughly appreciated the author's ability to draw parallels through history and demonstrate the dangers of religious delusion, the isolation embedded within our systems of power and marginalization, and the curses of generational trauma as history spins itself into repetitive cycles of destruction.

TLDR: Religion is poison, colonization is evil, and men have never known shit.

[Ginger Fargas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more than I ultimately did. The premise is good and unique. But truly I struggled to stay engaged because of the storylines changing chapter to chapter. Not in a connected way but in a thematically tied way. The stories are good but the historical story is better than the “modern”. Give it a shot.

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

(2.5 stars) An interesting premise but lost the plot in the second half. I didn’t like the Cortez storyline and found it boring compared to the Franciscan one. I loved the premise but found the plot slow to move, and then escalate all at once (just like game of thrones season 7!) DNF.

[Israel · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is so bad that to write a critical review of it would be a waste of my time and terrible use of my words.

[Mariana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Difficult to get into, but man, that ending.

[Sierra Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a rare time when I am able to finish a book that has made me so emotionally invested in the ending. I knew what was going to happen, I was well aware of the history, but I felt for a few moments that I was suspended in an area where I didn't while I was reading the book. The characters go through their character arcs like an impending tsunami wave; it looks and feels like nothing from far away, but the closer to the end that you get, the more terrifying and the less familiar that you begin to feel about it. I was invested in these characters, knowing from the first few pages how it was going to end, and yet, everything still felt new and painful whenever the occasion happened.
The writing is phenomenal, dancing between the ever-present thoughts of the two "main" characters and those of the characters whose lives are being affected by their presence in them. I wish that I could say that I enjoyed this, but in reality, it was a study of the human condition. The power that corrupts comes in many forms, and while we think we are able to stand tall against it, we will ultimately fail by the hand of our own hubris. It was a painful book to read; painful, real, and gorgeously beautiful.

[Dido Verboven · Rating 1 out of 5]

What can I say, for a book with such a great title the writing is truly horrible. Never have I taken so long to read five hundred pages and that includes It by Stephen King which I also hate with a passion. For three quarters of the book, close to nothing happens except politics and stalking. If it had been written well I wouldn't have minded that, but one doesn't use a phrase like "elongated blink" and expect a person to not role their eyes. The vision was there but the execution was dreadful and it is clear that the author's writing skills just weren't up to par for what he had in mind. It had the intention of sounding beautiful, and one or two phrases were, but most of them didn't land at all.

At least three quarters of the book was tiresome to read, mostly because of the dialogue. The issue is that dialogue is very sparse because most of the character interactions weren't written out at all. Most of it was "they talked about X and decided to do Y", but this not only makes dialogue very fragmented, it also makes it very hard for the reader to immerse themselves into the story. If most of a story is written like that it makes for a very dull read and hard to relate to the characters. It was also very hard to sympathize with any of the characters. They were all very unlikeable but not in the way that was intended I think. Friar Diego was supposed to be a young and driven priest but instead he was annoying from the start and a very hard person (not character, person) to like, but he gets described as having a lot of support from he other friars and a good leader. Except he was rude and borderline disobedient to most everyone around him. Twice I had to read how he "pouted" when he didn't get his way and twice I was reminded that that is a grown man, not a baby. His pride was very evident in his behaviour and this would've had more consequences in real life. I am not disputing any historical events, simply that it was badly written. The very few female characters had it worse, however. They were written in such an unlikeable way that I almost feel personally offended. There is nothing strong or proud about them and remind me of a character trope that I thouht we had left behind in 2007. Alara is supposedly "cruel" and "enjoying Cortez' suffering" when he is nervous to talk to her, but the author never made her express more than slight annoyance. To make someone cruel is not a light trait to give, especially when she never acts cruel or says unjust things. The only thing proving she is "cruel" is the fact that the author says so. And to make her like that in opposition to Cortez who is very autistic coded is a dangerous game to play when Cortez is violating her privacy immensly. Cortez is not an unlikeable character because of is autism but because he is a creep, and this is a very important distinction to make but wasn't. It made it seem that Alara didn't like him for his neurodivergence and not because he makes all the warning bells go off. Any other woman would've felt uncomfortable as well and women always know to trust their gut when it comes to a man. All other female characters weren't much better, swinging between stereotypes and unoriginality.

Gradually, as the story (finally) picked up the pace the writing became less bothersome, and the violence and torture at least made it seem like something was happening for a change, but then it ended so abruptly that it somehow made me annoyed that the book was over... which I had been dreaming of since chapter three. It really could've benefited from an epilogue just to clarify what happened td the rest of the characters but no. Several times it was mentioned throughout the book that Friar Diego after the events- but never what those events were- would be sent back to Spain to receive the consequences of his actions, and then when it finally comes to it, it just ends... nothing else. No final looks of disgust, the other friars standing up to him, or even the natives fighting back. Just nothing .As for Cortez, his mother is his entire life and vice versa, but we don't get to see what happens to her, or Alara for that matter. Giving the characters some closure would've really benefitted the book and maybe even elevated it to two stars, but alas.

The whole story feels too drawn out and yet not detailed enough and it makes me wonder if there was a proofreader or an editor because it really didn't have to be this long. The characters were lifeless and unlikeable, impossible to relate with, and the ending, the only redeemable part, belly flopped into the water. I really hoped this book was going to be a life changer and the one that put things into motion, it's too bad that failed.

[erin :) · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was… something

Overall this book had some interesting aspects but was not at all what I was expecting and at various points was very hard to read. By the end I only forced myself to finish because I wanted it over with

The story is actually two stories - something I didn’t know - and while the first story at least had some interesting aspects, the second was just unnecessary for how bad, uninteresting, and hard to read it was

Starting with the first story. This at least had some interesting aspects. I liked the progression of Friar Diego’s character of a new recruit who appears innocent and driven to helping and protecting the Maya to an absolute monster that he had always been under the surface. I liked how his point of view tricked you into believing him when he talked about helping the Maya whilst at the same time, his reasoning was only ever for his own personal benefit.

However, my major problem with this side of the story was how the women were treated. We see close to nothing about the Mayan women. Other than a short passage about a Mayan woman grieving her stillborn child, the only mentions of women are just… weird. There is a description of a Mayan woman in the eyes of Friar Diego where her figure and beauty is described in detail. Creepy detail. By a priest. And while I understand that this is as a result of the time period, when this is one of the only introductions of women to your story it’s just… yuck. Now, the only major female character on this side of the story is Ix - a ‘tragic’ little girl who is saved from human sacrifice and converts to Christianity almost instantly (a process we never get to see explored) so she can sit away in the infirmary, serving patients the way she’ll serve the plot when she’s needed. When she finally comes back into the story it is when she is old enough to fall in love with and tempt Friar Diego into sex and get pregnant with his child. Yeah… and then she’s gone again.

The second story I have much less to praise… My main issue with it is the character of Cortez, the main character who stalks a girl. That is pretty much the plot. But my issue is that Cortez is heavily, and I mean HEAVILYY implied to be autistic. It is all but stated. And how does his autism affect his character and the story? It makes him stalk a girl and the kill himself in a fire. Wow. Not to mention he is constantly described by himself and everyone around him as a pathetic, deplorable creature. There is also an entire scene where his mother lashes out at him and proceeds to tell him all the ways his autism makes it difficult for her to live with him and ‘put up with him’ and that this is the reason he has no friends and nobody loves him. Reading that as an autistic person sure was a nice experience!!

And now my criticism for the Alara - the girl Cortez stalks. Yep her character is just plain misogyny. She only exists to be the object of Cortez obsession, she has absolutely zero personality despite being irresistibly attractive to absolutely every man in her presence who just can’t help themselves but creep on her. Yes, maybe some of this can be attributed to the story being mainly from Cortez’s point of view but even when the story is told from outside perspectives, we still see this strange misogyny

The only praise I can muster up for this story was that some of the symbolism was cool I guess? And a few of the ways it linked back to the first story were quite interesting (though others were confusing and didn’t make much sense)

This story gets two stars solely for the first story. If I had to rate the second on its own it would be getting zero

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was such a journey. Sitting at just about 500 pages, the first half dragged--there was so much context and backstory to build up--and the second half absolutely flew by.

Two stories play out across over 400 years but are deeply intertwined. In the late 1500s, Friar Diego de Landa finds himself in the New World, ready to bring about the Age of the Holy Spirit, a secret and heretical belief among some clergy. He believes God has called him to convert the native populations to bring about this new age, and over the course of his service, he becomes a cruel and exacting religious zealot, destroying the lives and culture of the Maya people.

Cortez Vuscar is a pathetic twenty-something with no life outside of the church and no social skills. One act of kindness leads to his fixation of Alara and the belief that, together, they can save the church. The only problem? Alara has a boyfriend and despises the church for what it's done to her people and heritage.

Over the course of the 500 pages and in alternating chapters, the story of these men's destruction in the name of religion and love play out, and you as a reader are as helpless as the bystanders at the library fire.

This book is as horrifying as it is exciting, and the history that it puts on display is very well done. Where They Burn Books puts the tense relationship between the Maya people of the Yucatan and the Spaniards who invaded on full display, the good and the bad hashed out together. This book also pulls us into the modern world where the ramifications of the brutality and destruction are still felt by the descendants of the Maya.

There's not a single male character that I liked in this story, and I was incredibly frustrated by the lack of agency shown by the women. There are also questions left unanswered that could have provided interesting nuggets of information tying the two timelines even closer together.

CW: Religious zealotry, abuse, murder, suicide, torture, violence, stalking, arson, death

[Christine Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Standing alone, this book was intriguing and challenging as I tried to follow the parallel story lines from the two independent plot lines. The story of the attempted conversion of the Yucatan Mayans by Friar Diego de Landa and his descent from a well-meaning, spiritually inspired pilgrim to a cruel and unforgiving Inquisition leader was like watching a train wreck: I didn't want to see it but I couldn't look away. The story of the fruitless search for approval, acceptance and love by Cortez and his descent from simple, good hearted ice cream factory worker to a misguided, vengeful stalker was train wreck #2. Neither story line was bound to end well, but both intersected and crossed paths in a way that kept me intrigued through the book. And, no spoiler alert necessary here, the ending ties the two story lines together brilliantly.

But the book also sparked an interest in learning the history of the Franciscans in the Yucatan, and some searching on Google taught me that the Diego de Landa storyline was pretty darn accurate to what the man actually accomplished (the good stuff) and carried out (the awful stuff). The author had taught me some important history in the form of a couple train wrecks. Even the cathedral, the statue of Mary, and the great atrium is visible online, and looked nothing like what I envisioned while reading, but the descriptions of its construction and design were completely accurate in the novel.

On the whole, I think this is an important book. We don't have enough of these kinds of books making the rounds in the U.S.: those that teach us the history of the lands south of our border that share our continental rock. We know our European history much better, but the history we don't know is the one that is woven into the cultures around us, just like Cortez' and Alara's story was written 500 years earlier.

[SourPatchKid99 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't mean to be the "show don't tell" person, but honestly, there was so much imbalance between what was summarized and what was shown in a scene that the pacing of the whole novel was off and it felt like the wrong things were emphasized with scenes. For example, we got an in-depth scene where Friar Diego heals an infection in his foot with an herbal balm, but the scene really has no impact on the overall plot. Whereas, when four Mayan workers are killed in a workplace accident (which directly results in Friar Diego breaking his vow of chastity and sets a domino effect in motion for arguably the rest of the 1500s plot as well as the whole modern plot), the incident is summarized in a few paragraphs so while it's clearly important, it feels very unimportant.

This lack of focus is also apparent in character motivation, and we're mostly told what characters are feeling/what their motivation is instead of being shown (for example, we're told Cortez is a religious fanatic, but that is shown so little that when it becomes apparent that his motivation for killing Remy is partly due to religion, it feels jarring and out of left field).

Basically, the story has a very strong thesis: inform people about the Spanish priest who burned all but four Mayan texts. However, the absolute lack of writing craft makes the novel a difficult to get through. That being said, if you're able to put aside your inner writing craft critic while reading this (which I would highly encourage, because it's actually really important to know about the cultural genocide that was enacted against the Mayan people in the name of God), it's a good resource for learning about the destruction of Mayan culture and artifacts by the Spanish colonizers.

[Ian Rivera · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed the book and it reaffirmed my thoughts regarding the church, in particular the innate evil that exists within Catholicism. It is painful to read at times because in the modern world we know how it ends and how these situations were not isolated.

The cultural erasure, in the name of god, is evident wherever missionaries went and its implications are held strong. The book does a good job at influencing the way you see both the protagonists. Starting innocently enough but they turn into characters that you really hate by the end. By having them be related and driven by the same “prophecies” it is evident what the author is trying to drive.

The juxtaposition of Alara and Cortez is evident in the beginning, when they realize they are both of South American descent. In the end this is the only thing that they have in common. Their two reactions or ways of viewing the church/god etc. showcase two different responses that people from these cultures may experience. One of devout faith (obviously magnified by Cortez’ conditions) and one of hate. Hate for the erasure, torture, and brainwashing of people whose goodwill was betrayed.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone, and I feel that I would like the firm believers in my life to read this and see their responses.

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The library fire wasn't the punishment they deserved, because no fire would ever be enough - all the books that would burn in the library could, and would, be replaced. There was no one to replace the tomes her ancestors wrote, nobody to print another edition; they were lost to time, erased from human history by a priest who'd decided the power for his judgment had been bestowed upon him by God."
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I forget how I came across this book and added it to my tbr a while back, but I am so glad I did. This book not only felt personal to me, but it also hit on a lot of themes I like to read.

The author (via his TikTok) says he wrote this book after researching his indigenous ancestors - something I could relate to.

The relevancy of this book is so important today, in this moment, and these stories need to be known and told more.

Honestly, it feels like not even Mexicans or other Hispanics themselves understand or fully grasp the historical context of what happened with religion and colonizers against their ancestors and culture.
The erasure is ever present today in these communities.

"One aims to control our body, one aims to control our souls."

The juxtaposition of the two stories was interesting and I think fit well. I think it is important to dive into how the past affects the present, and I think that was the purpose of the two timelines/characters.