Reviews

Kantika by Elizabeth Graver

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jessbooks4's review

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challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

generalized89's review

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

This is another family saga, of several that I’ve read recently. Probably my favorite so far. I know nothing about Sephardic Jews being an Ashkenazi myself. It was fascinating to read about the family’s time in Turkey at the beginning of last century. I loved learning about Ladino and could even understand parts of it, having studied Spanish. Of course, I strongly related to the story of immigration, first to Spain then US - that feeling of country-less, being a stranger in a strange land. I realized the main character was just like my mom who left me with my grandmother when she immigrated to US. It took us several years to be reunited. The character’s POV helped me understand my mom in a way. I appreciated the dimensionality of all the characters; they all felt real. And no wonder, they were modeled after the author’s family. Overall, I highly enjoyed the book and read it in just a few days.