"Strange how even when death is the most natural thing in the world, the one thing we can count on in life, strange how even then death remains unfathomable to the loved ones of the deceased."

I went into this one for pure entertainment and it surprised me with characters that I grew so attached to. Pedro and Marques Take Stock by José Falero, translated by Julia Sanches turned out to be a really great read for me. Pedro and Marques are Afro-Brazilian Stock clerks who one day decide to start selling weed in their neighborhood, Porto Alegre. Both are hard workers who long to escape the poverty of the favelas and have hopes and dreams for the future that won't ever materialize for them due to the inequalities in society. 

Falero's writing is gritty and humorous, and you really get an inside view of what it's like growing up and living in the favelas. Pedro is smart and a constant reader and soon realizes that they will never beat capitalism and overcome their poverty if they continue just peddling through life and give their all to a job that will always steal their labor and profit someone else. Marques has a family and can barely support them on his wages. Pedro is the brains of the operation and uses a socialist model to start their weed business where everyone involved shares equally in profits and has a fighting chance to make enough money to themselves out of the favela and achieve their dreams. Things start off slow for them at first but soon their business takes off and they are ready to leave the crime life behind then when a tragedy sets off a chain of events. The last few chapters were non-stop action and emotional.

What I appreciated the most about this one was the commentary on capitalism, wealth inequality, classism, labor exploitation, hierarchy of good and bad drugs, police brutality against Afro-Brazilians and socialism. Pedro, Marques and the rest of the characters were multi-dimensional and complicated and I fell in love with their journeys. The author did a great job of building empathy for them and making a point of highlighting their humanity even though many may not agree with their choices. Thanks to @astrahousebooks for the gifted copy.