After her father passes away, young Isla Larsen Sanchez is shuffled off to Puerto Rico every summer by her mother, who is addicted to alcohol. There, she grieves alone while living with her great-aunt and grandmother. Then, the summer after Isla turns 18, Isla’s grandmother dies, and Isla inexplicably begins to have visions of events from long ago. Slowly, Isla learns that she belongs to a family of cuentistas, storytellers who relive the tales of family members who came before. Every day, a cuentista relives a chosen narrative until they retell it just right. But as the stories grow darker and more dangerous, Isla realizes that her family has dark secrets that impact the present. The story effortlessly moves between Isla’s tense life with her mother in New Jersey and her adventures in Puerto Rico, later interweaving the haunting stories of lost loved ones. Marisol Ramirez does excellent work voicing each character distinctively and with their own personality, making for an engrossing listening experience. VERDICT Cardinal (Category Five; Five Midnights) delivers an intriguing coming-of-age drama that combines historical fiction, magical realism, and buried family secrets coming into the light. Share with fans of Zoraida Cordova and Ayanna Lloyd Banwo.