Reviews

his book is literal perfection for a book club. It’s a family story that crosses generations. Reading it was a bit hectic as the story flowed from multiple povs and timelines.

Although some people complained about the Spanish.. we can look it up. So to be honest it did not bother me at all!

I totally recommend this book for a moving story.

TW: sexual assault, domestic violence, toxic family relationships

Content Warnings

feralreads's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

beeeaux's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

goodverbsonly's review against another edition

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5.0

read for senior sem:

THIS BOOK IS SOUL CRUSHING AND AFFIRMING ABOUT A MOTHER AND DAUGHTER UNDERSTANDING GENERATIONAL TRAUMA AND ALSO .... CULTURAL TRAUMA BY LIKE... LISTENING TO EACH OTHER

(a summary that does not do this book justice at all!!!)

when olivia screams at the end she breaks through generations and years of her own abuse because that is the moment that soledad needs her. even though the whole book is framed as soledad coming home to save olivia really olivia saves soledad !!!!!

lizzie04's review

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emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Definitely stranger compared to Cruz's later books. I would have to reread to develop my feelings toward this fully but here are my overall impressions:

-This book is very horny, at times unnecessarily or it doesn't come across in the way the author perhaps intended.
-At least half of the characters are unlikeable but not in a deep way that you can still appreciate.
-Flaca and Ciego were my favorites. Flaca's internal dialogue was just funny in how much it represented the POV of a naive teenager. She was a relief from Soledad, who irritated me until she started getting some development in the latter half of the story. I liked Ciego as the wise elderly father figure for everyone.
-I'm tired of Dominican men being so awful oh my GODDDDD. I know our men do not have a good rep, but it would be nice to see a different personality aside from the abusive machistas that prey on little girls. Dominican men are a lot more complex than that, just like anybody, yet I tend to see the same male archetypes across Cruz's books. Victor got on my nerves for this, he was the typical manwhore who still lives off his mother because he fears commitment and has a poor father figure and blah blah blah. Manolo was far more egregious but I do not even want to get into that.

I enjoyed the focus on this singular Dominican family because it still showed all the different dynamics at play. It was messy, dysfunctional, at times funny, and touching. I can tell this is Angie Cruz's first book; the premise/characters could be interesting but are not completely cohesive and intricate like her later books. Soledad and her relationship with her mother Olivia, arguably the center of this story, started lukewarm and turned out to have the most depth out of the rest of the character relationships. This was also the only time I have read of her messing with magical realism and the more superstitious elements of campesino Dominican culture.

"When Soledad cried, I saw her eyes, the color of fresh cinnamon sticks turned a new leaf green like my own. I reminded Soledad that her eyes turn green when she cries because her sadness belongs to me. When I saw the reflection of my face in her eyes, I was sorry for all the sadness I had given her."

rosii_reads's review against another edition

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emotional

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.75

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