this book combines a mystery, a coming of age narrative, a historical fiction immigrant story, and a literary take on mother-daughter-relationships. margot, the daughter, returns home to LA and finds out her mother is dead. she then tries to find out what happened. her chapters make up half of this book, the other half are chapters about her mother, mina, and what happened to her when she first came to the city. the story kept my attention but it wasn't completely enjoyable, and also just very sad and bleak. i read lots of sad books but something was missing for me here. it felt like it took a while to get going, i don't know! i still think it's a good book about specific experiences and specific cultures, and i'd read more from the author. the characters were compelling and interesting, i enjoyed the writing and the pacing. maybe i've just read a few similar books already.