Review Detail

Graciela in the Abyss by Meg Medina was a whole experience. Imagine falling into a magical, eerie, totally surreal world that feels like a mix of Latin American folklore, emotional therapy, and one long, trippy fever dream and that’s Graciela in the Abyss.

Graciela aka Chela is going through it. Her family is fractured, her grief is heavy, and her anger? Unchecked. So when she runs away and ends up in the mysterious, mythic El Abismo, a place her family warned her about, things get weird. In the best way.

We're talking about shadowy ancestors, whispering vines, talking rivers, and a literal abyss full of memory and magic. It’s part fantasy, part coming-of-age, part emotional excavation. Chela has to confront generations of family secrets, pain, and rage and decide who she wants to be on the other side of it all.

What I loved:
The writing is absolutely gorgeous poetic without being too heavy.
Chela isn’t your usual likable main character, and that’s what makes her so real.
The vibes? Dark, dreamlike, witchy, and full of heart.
And the story never shies away from hard stuff like grief, generational trauma, and complicated family love.

If you love books that make you feel and think, that explore identity and healing through magical storytelling this one will sit with you long after you finish it.