Book Review: Sing Her Down
Before Sing Her Down, Ivy Pochoda was not an author I had read before. Not that I was unfamiliar with Pochoda’s work, as the praise rung high for her novel These Women back in 2020 during my earlier years of bookstagram; I just hadn’t felt the inclination to expose myself to the grit found in her stories yet. Do I regret the delay? Yes. Am I pleased with my introduction to Ivy Pochado? Hell yes.
Sing Her Down takes place during the decrepit times of COVID-19 when we would step foot outside searching high and low for proof of humanity, minding the six-foot markers on the floors of public spaces and adhering to the mandate to “mask up”. The times when familiar everyday spots that formally catered to the crowded hustle and bustle transformed into deserted areas resembling ghost towns. Pochoda’s ability to capture how socially disorienting this recent time in history expertly transported me back to those times. If I had not experienced lockdown in America, this story would’ve read as an almost surreal dystopian, post-apocalyptic if you will, but nope — it is a recount of what happens to a nation and its people during a public health crisis. Specifically, the groups who were overlooked, while also increasing in number, when all of our society’s norms were derailed at the peak of the outbreak: the unhoused, the incarcerated, and the abused.
From the outskirts of an Arizona women’s prison to the backroads and epicenter of Los Angeles, we experience life on the run with two main characters, Florida and Dios. It’s told in alternating point-of-views from the two nemesis, while also hearing from Kace, their fellow (ex)inmate who is haunted by gruesome stories, and Detective Lobos who is determined to track the two women down. Florida and Dios are granted early parole due to the facility’s attempt to handle the uncontrollable health conditions, which is where the “fun” begins. The multiple points of view elevated the story making time irrelevant to Florida and Dios’ crime spree, reminding me of when I first watched Jordan Peele’s film Queen & Slim, how everything transpired heart poundingly quick that all I cared to know was what was going to go down next and whether or not they’ll get away. (Let me clarify here that I know the two storylines are very different.)
The synopsis hints at a cat-and-mouse game, where Dios is chasing Florida to force her to confront the true, dark version of herself. As bad as I wanted Dios to let Florida be this secretly dark woman in peace, her obsession was birthed from an unjust place that Florida deepened during a horrendous act in the middle of a prison blackout. The obsession with Florida spoke to Dios's recurring fate of falling in line with spoiled, rich people who get away with being terrible and allowing people like Dios to take the fall for their crimes.
As soon as the two are released from prison, the crimes commence. Bringing in the very out-of-touch Detective Lobos, who is struggling with the fear lingering from her husband’s abuse that makes her question her instincts and analyze her lack of support. In Lobos’ pursuit of the two women, all their paths and problems are bridged together giving us a very Western showdown at the end.
Honestly, I despise star ratings because I still recommend Sing Her Down even with my rating falling somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. The showdown was a bit underwhelming to me, albeit it’s one of the first I’ve read, but with the author’s investment in setting up a landscape from the crimes to the environment and supporting characters, Pochoda delivered an impressive thriller emphasizing modern times.
Thank you to Farrar, Straus, and Giroux Books for the gifted advanced reader copy. Sing Her Down by Ivy Pochoda is now available where books are sold.