Malas

A Novel

By: Marcela Fuentes

Narrated by: Christine Avila, Victoria Villarreal

A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK

Winner of the American Book Award 2025 • A Bookpage Best Historical Fiction Book of 2024 • Finalist for the Writers' League of Texas 2024 Fiction Book Award • Winner of the WILLA Award for Contemporary Fiction 2024 • Shortlisted for the 2025 Mark Twain Award

“A vivacious, page-turning novel of rebellion and rebirth.” —Xochitl Gonzalez, New York Times bestselling author of Olga Dies Dreaming and Anita de Monte Laughs Last

A story full of passion and revenge, following one family living on the Texas Mexico border and a curse that reverberates across generations—"Fuentes has achieved something rare and indelible with this story of complex women.” (Erika L. Sánchez)

In 1951, a mysterious old woman confronts Pilar Aguirre in the small border town of La Cienega, Texas. The old woman is sure Pilar stole her husband and, in a heated outburst, lays a curse on Pilar and her family.

More than forty years later, Lulu Muñoz is dodging chaos at every turn: her troubled father’s moods, his rules, her secret life as singer in a punk band, but most of all her upcoming quinceañera. When her beloved grandmother passes away, Lulu finds herself drawn to the glamorous stranger who crashed the funeral and who lives alone and shunned on the edge of town.

Their unexpected kinship picks at the secrets of Lulu’s family’s past. As the quinceañera looms—and we move between these two strong, irascible female voices—one woman must make peace with the past, and one girl pushes to embrace her future.

Rich with cinematic details—from dusty rodeos to the excitement of a Selena concert and the comfort of conjunto ballads played at family gatherings—this memorable debut is a love letter to the Tejano culture and community that sustain both of these women as they discover what family means.

I loved the way the "reader."

The person reading the book did an excellent job with the way the characters speak. The details about the different types of "Mexican" music brought the story to life for me. The explanation of the different "types of Mexicanos" will be enlightening for our Non-Mexican friends. Great storyline, too! I could relate to Lucha's family life. So similar to mine.

Beautiful coming of age story. Real life!

Loved this story, lovely narration as well. Very well written. The bridge between past and present in this story came together nicely.

Unique and interesting

It was a little bit slow at the beginning but it became very interesting. The intertwining of the characters and their relationship was very interesting! Well written with many relatable scenes and pop culture references.

Vivid characters, stunning prose

Finally, female characters rendered in all their complexity! The women in Malas jump off the page and the sentences quite literally sing. Crank up your fav 90s tunes and dive into this beautiful debut!

The first main character is so unforgiving.

Both main characters are very interesting and draw you in. All of the life events were so sad at the beginning.