Daughter of Rot by Rios de la Luz
Daughter of Rot
by Rios de la Luz
Broken River Books
September, 2026
Daughter of Rot by Rios de la Luz, forthcoming from Broken River Books this September, is a novella that “blends magical realism with dreamlike botanical horror and explores the intertwining of toxic parenting with childhood innocence.”
I had the privilege of getting to review this book early, and the heart-wrenching, surrealist mother-daughter relationship at its heart and hearth had me gripped! It’s hard to recall by the end of the book which chapter my tears finally fell during (it was “Happy Birthday, Olivia”), but the push-and-pull between Isela’s abusive mothering, Olivia’s tender endurance, and their house’s unique caretaking kept my eyes wet throughout the novella. Were I to pluck a line from Daughter of Rot that encapsulates the soul of the book, it would be the following line from the chapter “No Sabo Trees.” Simply replace the words “water vapor” with “water of the womb”…
“The water vapor articulates a story about birth and death and the cycles which link them together forever.”
Aptly set in the Land of Enchantment, the Velasquez’s magical New Mexican home is quickly established to be as important a character as the mother-daughter duo who live inside it. Through rotating points-of-view chapters between the three, the house gets to let the reader into its personification before birthing the new, secret room Olivia and Ismela each retreat to, “The Inflorescence.” The Inflorescence creates a safe harbor environment for the family’s complex emotions, and for Olivia in particular, it acts as a comfort and companion in her neglectful household.
Through the rotating POV structure, the reader is also able to learn more about the thought processes behind Ismela’s poor mothering choices. We’re introduced to her compulsive lying, state of ego, and dissatisfaction with being a parent very early into the novella, and then more and more of her traumatic history that helped create her unhealthy mindsets is revealed throughout the story from both her chapters and Olivia’s. de la Luz does a masterful job of humanizing Ismela, fostering empathy for her, without letting her get away with (so to speak) her abuse of Olivia and abandonment of her two older daughters, Isabel and Lucia, in either the narrative perspective or readers’ hearts.
As deftly as de la Luz constructed a sympathetic antagonist, she created a supremely sympathetic protagonist in Olivia. The balance captured in Olivia’s arc of trauma and forced strength from Ismela’s mothering, whimsical freedom afforded by the house and outdoor environment, and relatively healthy development assisted by her outside support system (their neighbour-mom Rebecca and daughter Yvette, majority-absent but otherwise doting father Alfonso, her sisters and aunt Letty once she learns of them), is realistically and thoughtfully depicted. There is no plot armor shielding Olivia from the psychological effects of Ismela and her circumstances, but she’s given reasonable tools to grow self-love, build a self-determined future, and not completely bum out readers. As saddened and worried I was for Olivia throughout the book, de la Luz still made sure to imbue hope and enough moments of sweet relief to move me through the story. One of my personal favorite reliefs was Rebecca and Yvette, that there were nearby (human) influences looking out for Olivia as best they could. The outpouring of love and protection for Olivia from everyone else was a welcome balm against the torment and loneliness Ismela put her through.
Besides the excellent character work and lush, sensory descriptions of the natural and magical worlds homing this story, I was also delighted by the inclusion of some specialty de la Luz authorial preoccupations I recognize from her past projects: saints, witchery, the wilderness of the imagination, and tarot. These are not presented as traits shared with characters or pointed imagery, but woven naturally through the prose’s style, creating a personalized atmosphere for the reading experience. For example, having laid the characterizations many chapters ago to justify this scene in-narrative, this passage from “Lineage Is Not Linear” was a standout of these preoccupations being smoothly integrated into narration:
“Olivia admitted that she felt like a fledgling. Yvette assured her she was running past The Devil and The Tower toward The Sun.
Enjoy your beginning as a fool. Yvette held up a shot glass filled with tequila.
To becoming The Magician and then The Empress. Lucia held up her beer.
To a new beginning. Olivia kissed the tip of her beer bottle and they clinked their glasses to each other.”
Overall, Daughter of Rot is a vividly spun exploration of generational trauma and the little sweetnesses that can help fortify, grow, and blossom a healed self and future. de la Luz makes space for toxic behavior to be explainable without allowing it to be excusable, and for forgiveness to be optional without judgement. An emotional read that will maybe make you want to call your mom.
Daughter of Rot releases in two weeks! Learn more about the novella and pre-order your copy here: https://interstellarbruja.bigcartel.com/product/daughter-of-rot-presale
Thank you Rios for the complimentary ARC of this title! It was so cool to meet you at AWP26 and I appreciate the early opportunity to read your new work. Can’t wait to see it out in the world :)
— Kylie