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sregitnig's review
2.0
This novel was inspired by Peggy Guggenheim and her daughter.. I mean, sign me up! But unfortunately it fell pretty flat. I didn’t like the pacing, I didn’t like the diary structure, I didn’t like the little drawings or underlined words. And the characters were surprisingly boring considering who they were based on. So that’s leaves the premise which I initially thought sounded promising but the whole thing just left me very underwhelmed. Upsetting.
klbrida's review against another edition
5.0
Costalegre by Courtney Maum. It’s 1937: an heiress/modern art collector brings her daughter & a group of artists to Costalegre after Hitler has denounced them as “cultural degenerates” and in direct opposition to his regime.
Told through fragments from 14-year old Lara’s diary, this novel explores the relationship between mother & daughter, coming of age in chaotic & fraught times, and coming into one’s art.
Costalegre is heartbreaking, searing, and engrossing. Lara’s narration lends itself to explosive intimacy through coupling strange/wonderful images with such exact emotion. Although this novel ended a bit abruptly for me, that ending paragraph was so beautiful & encapsulated the turbulence present, I was still satisfied. I couldn’t help but read this novel with such admiration & heartbreak.
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Note I received a copy of this novel from Tin House in exchange for an unbiased review.
Told through fragments from 14-year old Lara’s diary, this novel explores the relationship between mother & daughter, coming of age in chaotic & fraught times, and coming into one’s art.
Costalegre is heartbreaking, searing, and engrossing. Lara’s narration lends itself to explosive intimacy through coupling strange/wonderful images with such exact emotion. Although this novel ended a bit abruptly for me, that ending paragraph was so beautiful & encapsulated the turbulence present, I was still satisfied. I couldn’t help but read this novel with such admiration & heartbreak.
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Note I received a copy of this novel from Tin House in exchange for an unbiased review.
bookishcassie's review against another edition
5.0
Read it in a day, three settings. The voice, the extravagance, and the books of the whole world make this book just deliberate, and cunning, and beautiful. I have most pages dog eared for quotes to write down. Thanks Tin House for an ARC.
jacquilough's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked the immersive quality of this novel, where you get to hang out with fictional versions of surrealist artists in Mexico at the start of WWII. And now I'm curious to learn more about Peggy Guggenheim's poor daughter.
mattmatros's review against another edition
4.0
I can't quite figure out where to land on this novel (novella??). It's both lush and spare, sophisticated yet told through the eyes of a teenager, and hyper realistic in places while relying on invented detail in others. It's short on story and isn't particular deep on characterization, but it still manages to evoke some hypnotic alternate reality where any of us might wish to spend some time. I think this book might be making some profound points about art and artists, but again I can't quite put my finger on them. I do know that the book has stayed with me and made me want to learn more about the time period (1930s, Dada, etc.) and made me rethink the ways in which a novel can affect us. These have to be good things.
lalalena's review against another edition
4.0
Loved this—the ending was a little abrupt and was the only thing that kept me from giving five stars.
margaretrose's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
runninginair's review against another edition
adventurous
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I adored this novel. It was written in a style I had never seen—part literary novel, part sketchbook, part diary, part compendium. It was just so neat to never know if I was going to get another chapter-like read when I turned the page, or another short snippet of the flora and fauna of Mexico, or a letter to one of Lara's friends... I LOVED it.
Lara's voice was also so perfect. I'm not really all that familiar with the art world of the 1930s, but the terms were defined enough to where I was easily able to slip into the world Maum was showing me, and using a fifteen-year-old's eyes was such a clever way to do that. Lara was both immature enough to reflect that fifteen-year-old voice but also informed enough to keep me, as the reader, informed enough to really enjoy the story being told. Her reflections and the things she noticed more than the adult artists around her were so important and so well-done. I feel like I really could just rave about this book all day long.
I enjoyed every page of this novel, but especially the ending. Usually, the endings of books bother me for one reason or another. Things are either tied up too nicely, not nicely enough, seem forced, don't make sense, or whatever reason; but that was not the case with Costalegre. The ending was perfection. It was everything the ending of this book needed to be and not a drop more.
I'm sad I borrowed this book from the library. I may have to go out and buy my own copy just so I can reread it at my leisure.
Lara's voice was also so perfect. I'm not really all that familiar with the art world of the 1930s, but the terms were defined enough to where I was easily able to slip into the world Maum was showing me, and using a fifteen-year-old's eyes was such a clever way to do that. Lara was both immature enough to reflect that fifteen-year-old voice but also informed enough to keep me, as the reader, informed enough to really enjoy the story being told. Her reflections and the things she noticed more than the adult artists around her were so important and so well-done. I feel like I really could just rave about this book all day long.
I enjoyed every page of this novel, but especially the ending. Usually, the endings of books bother me for one reason or another. Things are either tied up too nicely, not nicely enough, seem forced, don't make sense, or whatever reason; but that was not the case with Costalegre. The ending was perfection. It was everything the ending of this book needed to be and not a drop more.
I'm sad I borrowed this book from the library. I may have to go out and buy my own copy just so I can reread it at my leisure.
abookishtype's review against another edition
3.0
The author’s note at the end of Courtney Maum’s Costalegre shares the inspiration for the novel. Though the details and many of the names have been altered for this book, the kernel of the story is the life of Peggy Guggenheim. In the late 1930s and during World War II, Guggenheim helped artists to escape from Europe and get set up in America. She bought thousands of dollars worth of art—especially art deemed as “degenerate” by the Third Reich. Costalegre doesn’t tell the story of the woman based on Guggenheim; rather the woman’s fifteen year-old daughter takes up the reins as narrator to show us what life is like living with a group of people who are all competing to create genuine Surrealist art...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss, for review consideration.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss, for review consideration.
notesseton's review against another edition
3.0
I think it's fairly clear from the mega random vibes of the whole book that the author visited Mexico, fell in love with this place, wanted to talk about art and so she then plopped in this fictionalized Nazi era Peggy Guggenheim story with the strained mother-daughter dynamic. Extra points for the 2 mini Mexican flora lessons included in here.
What could have easily been the biggest grievance of this book - the neglected teen daughter perspective - was, in all honesty, the most interesting part of this book. That anguish was pitch perfect, and that material is my jam. And this book really relied on the emotional turmoil because, you know, the plot's surreal to fit in with the artistic vibe.
A true 3 star book! It's just one of those books where you know the person who's getting the biggest kick out of it is the author herself. My regards to Gwyneth and the GOOPers, but like what person in your life are you recommending this to??? A nutty aunt who has a love for surrealism with a side of Amber Tamblyn in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants-style teen angst? A high schooler who's just finished binging a lot of Vanderbilt content and needs a new titan-philanthropist family saga to set their cap on?
I did not intend to write this long a review, but that's the power of 3 star books.
What could have easily been the biggest grievance of this book - the neglected teen daughter perspective - was, in all honesty, the most interesting part of this book. That anguish was pitch perfect, and that material is my jam. And this book really relied on the emotional turmoil because, you know, the plot's surreal to fit in with the artistic vibe.
A true 3 star book! It's just one of those books where you know the person who's getting the biggest kick out of it is the author herself. My regards to Gwyneth and the GOOPers, but like what person in your life are you recommending this to??? A nutty aunt who has a love for surrealism with a side of Amber Tamblyn in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants-style teen angst? A high schooler who's just finished binging a lot of Vanderbilt content and needs a new titan-philanthropist family saga to set their cap on?
I did not intend to write this long a review, but that's the power of 3 star books.