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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
Original Story That Did NOT Quite Live Up to Its Potential
Four stars seems a bit generous. Think 3.5 instead.
There are so many possibilities in this story. It’s original, unlike any other book I’ve read. It’s historical and I usually love that. And it offers characters varied enough that there’s something here for everyone.
The setting is Spain, post World War II. Rose, a British veterinarian with an expertise in herbal remedies, has taken a leave of absence to find out what happened to her lost brother, Nathan, who left home eight years earlier to fight in the Spanish Civil War. And hopefully to find his lover and their child.
Rose meets Lola, a talented Roma dancer who dreams of going to Madrid to be in the movies.
Nieve is Lola’s young daughter, rescued by Lola after her parents were killed in the massacre of a small town during Spain’s Civil War.
Lola happens to have a good-looking brother and of course, Rose becomes very attracted to him.
There’s Zoltan, a helpful Hungarian living in a remote area, but keeping secrets of his own.
And an old woman named Maria, who some believe is a witch, who remembers everyone’s secret history and has lots of knowledge about herbal remedies.
As the drama unfolds, and there’s a lot that happens, we learn a bit about the brutality of the Spanish Civil War and its lasting effects on rural communities. A bit of Roma culture creeps in, along with the associated prejudices that were common at the time. And there are references to the recent Holocaust where so many of Rose’s relatives perished.
But somehow, I did not find myself very emotionally involved with anyone, even when dangerous and life-threatening events occurred. I certainly wanted to see how the plot would resolve, and what would happen to all the characters. But I didn’t feel much for any of them. And I’m not sure why.
If you read this book and you figure out why that might be, please let me know.
Four stars seems a bit generous. Think 3.5 instead.
There are so many possibilities in this story. It’s original, unlike any other book I’ve read. It’s historical and I usually love that. And it offers characters varied enough that there’s something here for everyone.
The setting is Spain, post World War II. Rose, a British veterinarian with an expertise in herbal remedies, has taken a leave of absence to find out what happened to her lost brother, Nathan, who left home eight years earlier to fight in the Spanish Civil War. And hopefully to find his lover and their child.
Rose meets Lola, a talented Roma dancer who dreams of going to Madrid to be in the movies.
Nieve is Lola’s young daughter, rescued by Lola after her parents were killed in the massacre of a small town during Spain’s Civil War.
Lola happens to have a good-looking brother and of course, Rose becomes very attracted to him.
There’s Zoltan, a helpful Hungarian living in a remote area, but keeping secrets of his own.
And an old woman named Maria, who some believe is a witch, who remembers everyone’s secret history and has lots of knowledge about herbal remedies.
As the drama unfolds, and there’s a lot that happens, we learn a bit about the brutality of the Spanish Civil War and its lasting effects on rural communities. A bit of Roma culture creeps in, along with the associated prejudices that were common at the time. And there are references to the recent Holocaust where so many of Rose’s relatives perished.
But somehow, I did not find myself very emotionally involved with anyone, even when dangerous and life-threatening events occurred. I certainly wanted to see how the plot would resolve, and what would happen to all the characters. But I didn’t feel much for any of them. And I’m not sure why.
If you read this book and you figure out why that might be, please let me know.
Thanks, Amazon, for the First Reads opportunity to read this page-turner as an escape from sociology texts. I honestly hate giving star ratings for books because it's so difficult to explain yourself sometimes. This is not, you know, literary reading. It's a lot of historical fiction, a bit of romance, and an independent woman as a lead character who is actually human enough to make a few mistakes.
Some notes: I'm glad I read the acknowledgments and historical facts this book was based on, because in the beginning, I was all "gypsies wouldn't just let someone come hang, c'mon now!" and then I got all offended by how Rose, the lead character, learned all this herbal knowledge from them and then put it in a book with her name on it. Admittedly, yes, I got a little bent out of shape about that for a second.
Still, couldn't put it down and it was the perfect thing to remove me from academic oversaturation for a minute and yes, absolutely, I would like to visit the mountains of southern Spain now and go pick some flowers.
Some notes: I'm glad I read the acknowledgments and historical facts this book was based on, because in the beginning, I was all "gypsies wouldn't just let someone come hang, c'mon now!" and then I got all offended by how Rose, the lead character, learned all this herbal knowledge from them and then put it in a book with her name on it. Admittedly, yes, I got a little bent out of shape about that for a second.
Still, couldn't put it down and it was the perfect thing to remove me from academic oversaturation for a minute and yes, absolutely, I would like to visit the mountains of southern Spain now and go pick some flowers.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, War
Minor: Animal cruelty, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Abortion
It's taken me months to read this, I'm not really sure why I kept dipping in and out of it. Overall I did really enjoy it, especially the depictions of rural Spanish life.
I thought this book has a great story at its core but execution and details could have been better. I really liked reading about this time period and I found myself very interested in the descriptions of gypsy life. However, I didn't like that there were some side stories of the plot that didn't necessarily lead anywhere, which was pretty frustrating; by the end, it felt like parts were missing to tie up some of the loose ends that had been created. The characters were pretty well developed and I felt myself invested in all of them, so maybe that was the issue with feeling like things were left unfinished & stories untold for some of them (hello Cristobal & Juanita??). Ashford's writing is extremely descriptive which was beautiful for the most part, but there were certainly times where it felt excessive or misplaced and had me skimming past it to get to what was going on.
The Snow Gypsy was my book club's first choice for the new year! I got it on sale for 1.99 (for kindle) so that was awesome, & a highlight of my reading experience here.
If I'm totally honest..I didn't love it. The main character Rose is on a journey to find her brother. She hasn't heard from him in 8 years, & enough is enough. I don't really care for long winded journey reads. I get bored and that was the case here. Also not much action or adventure occurs until the last few chapters. Once I got around 70% in I finally started giving a shit about the plot and characters.
It wasn't horrible, but I wouldn't read it again. The book is based off true events and I enjoyed reading Ashford's afterword.
If I'm totally honest..I didn't love it. The main character Rose is on a journey to find her brother. She hasn't heard from him in 8 years, & enough is enough. I don't really care for long winded journey reads. I get bored and that was the case here. Also not much action or adventure occurs until the last few chapters. Once I got around 70% in I finally started giving a shit about the plot and characters.
It wasn't horrible, but I wouldn't read it again. The book is based off true events and I enjoyed reading Ashford's afterword.
I liked the book, but now months later, I am having a hard time remembering much.
Not my favorite. Apparently it was based on a real woman but it didn’t have a ring of truth to me. It felt a little soap opera-ish to me.
dark
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Snow Gypsy was like someone telling me a story... I never was pulled into it. I can see why a lot of people would love this book but for me it was a ok read.