Liliana's Invincible Summer: A Sister's Search for Justice

“I seek justice for my sister.”

In Liliana’s Invincible Summer, Christina Rivera Garza pays tribute to her younger sister, Liliana Rivera Garza who was a 20 year old university student in 1990 when she was murdered in her own home.

Drawing from paraphernalia that belonged to Liliana, including notebooks, letters, notes, photographs, and postcards, conversations and interviews with friends and family, and Cristina’s own memories, Garza shares an affecting portrait of her beloved sister and her too brief life.

“…it was so clear, that we knew very little. A naïve girl, prey to the daily abuse of a manipulator. A woman perhaps too free. A disciplined swimmer. A confused young woman ready to try everything. A good and docile show more youngster, exceptionally blind to danger. A customary liar. An outstanding student. An all too innocent teenager. A friend for life. A woman full of love. A sloppy kid. Someone with a past. The pictures painted by these stories, and even by my own memory, multiplied exponentially, contradicting each without so much as a blush.”

Liliana first met her killer when she was in middle school, and though he pursued her immediately, she was fifteen, and he seventeen, before she agreed to date him. Over the next four years theirs was an off and on relationship, Liliana struggled to seperate from him completely, and he, reportedly possessive and aggressive, refused to let her go. Just weeks before her murder it seems she had made the resolution to cut him from her life for good.

Sadly, Liliana is one of many women murdered in Mexico by an intimate partner. Garza discusses how the ‘machismo’ culture of the country, along with law enforcement corruption, has historically failed to protect women. Femicide was not incorporated as a federal crime until 2012.

Liliana’s killer, though identified as Ángel González Ramos, evaded the police in the days following her murder, and has yet to be brought to justice.

An eloquent, impassioned and poignant memoir, Liliana’s Invincible Summer is a powerful read. show less

A love song to a treasured younger sister, an accomplished architecture student, lovely, with a brilliant future yet simultaneously a dirge of sorrow over that future stolen by violent femicide, this book touches the heart of all who understand the devastation of loss of a loved one at the hand of one who protests their deep love of the one they kill.

I would not say I "enjoyed" it, rather I felt it was a valuable insight into the realities of femicide from the perspective of one left behind to mourn so devastating a loss. I'm grateful I had a chance to learn about Liliana's story, and a small part of Christina's as well. Yet, it carries a sadness as the justice sought, ultimately, was denied, as it, far too often, is.

Deeply admirable. Often beautiful. Profoundly moving. If it were a hundred pages shorter it could be a perfect book—an elegy written with starlight and feminist urgency.

I liked the first part of the book, detailing Cristina's efforts to find the case file of her murdered sister in a maze of Mexican bureaucracy and the emotional journey that takes her on, very much. The later narrative in which Cristina attempts to bring Liliana back to life, leaning heavily on Liliana's writings, I found a bit disjointed and lacking in clarity. I did appreciate that the book takes on a culture of femicide head-on, with the emphasis changing from a general look at femicide in the early part of the book to a much more personal one in the latter part. Overall, a very good book, but just not really my style.

This is such an interesting book. The author lost her sister to a femicide, and through the papers and letters she left behind, tries to piece together a full understanding of the woman her sister had become before she died. It is so fascinating to see what stands out and what doesn’t, what little turns of phrase hold meaning, and finding a person between the lines. Trying to understand what was done to her sister and what was taken from her family, the book does a really good job of not only trying to sort out the “why” of such a heinous crime but also who Liliana was, in as many of her own words as possible.

Author Cristina Rivera Garza’s beloved younger sister, Liliana (1969-1990), died at the hands of her predatory ex-boyfriend. Using Liliana’s classmates’ reminiscences, Liliana's own jottings on random scraps of paper, and even some final thoughts from their parents, Rivera Garza reconstructs her sister’s brief life, with a focus on the eight trimesters Liliana spent studying architecture at a Mexican university.

Unfortunately (for the narrative’s sake), Cristina was in Houston, rather than Mexico, during Liliana’s final years. Much of the narrative consists of quoted material from Liliana’s friends. It is unclear to me if Liliana’s besties and frustrated suitors actually gave the extensive statements attributed to them, show more or if the author shaped their testimonies to suit her own image of her sister. Moreover, Liliana’s own musings, which also form much of text, are cryptic and are rendered in a hard-to-read typeface.

Although Liliana clearly continues to inspire strong feelings in those who knew her, I was not particularly moved by this book. show less

This is a woman's testament to her sister who was murdered thirty years ago when she (Liliana) was a student in Mexico City. The author starts the book by going back and researching the police investigation and news coverage of her sister's death. This all centers on a man she had an on and off relationship since high school. (He becomes a stalker.) We learn about how smart and creative Liliana is through her writings and the words of her friends and relatives. This is a wonderful homage to a sister who was dearly loved.