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lizloulie's review against another edition
4.0
Spent winter reading about the jungles of Mexico. And artists who fled WW2. Would do again with those weirdos.
katherine_elizab's review against another edition
4.0
A really great read; a confined epistolary-type novel. I love the limited scope and timeframe, a little glimpse into a teenaged girl’s life at such a specific time & place. I could see how she will age, and I could see the other characters’ eccentric personalities so clearly. it’s totally enchanting. One of the reviewers said it was the story of a young girl just starting to fall in love with the world which is so accurate. A little, quiet marvel.
mumsie_2's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
giantjackalopes's review against another edition
5.0
What if you decided to choose your own way? What if you followed the tiger into the woods instead of staying behind? This book was a quick read for me, but I never put it down! It’s deeply full of flora and fauna like a pop up book but for adults! The tension of whether or not a daughter will fall into her mother’s whims or if she will pursue her own life and desires builds so that the tiger in the jungle is more ferocious than expected. This book was magical and uplifting and especially important for those who identify with the struggle to adopt a identity while bracing multiple possibilities of what you could have been.
bugabooloo's review against another edition
3.0
This book was okay, I enjoyed the setting and the backdrop of WWII. I think I just wasn’t very engaged with the story, it all moved a little fast/chaotic.
denisseguadarrama's review against another edition
3.0
La historia en sí no es nada extraordinaria y bastante plana. Sin embargooooo, la cantidad de 'Easter eggs' que encontramos es alucinante y la descripción de la naturaleza en Costalegre me permitió un escape precioso.
Este libro me puso en camino para conocer a una mujer extremadamente interesante con un legado increíble: Peggy Guggenheim. Ya con eso creo que valió la pena. Sobre todo porque fue un libro que me hizo investigar y conocer a muchísimos artistas increíbles, el impacto de la Segunda Guerra Mundial en el arte, la historia de Peggy y las excentricidades de los artistas en esa época.
Este libro me puso en camino para conocer a una mujer extremadamente interesante con un legado increíble: Peggy Guggenheim. Ya con eso creo que valió la pena. Sobre todo porque fue un libro que me hizo investigar y conocer a muchísimos artistas increíbles, el impacto de la Segunda Guerra Mundial en el arte, la historia de Peggy y las excentricidades de los artistas en esa época.
drewsof's review against another edition
4.0
I love watching authors do their strange-historical-novel thing. A few recents that spring to mind include ISADORA, VISIBLE EMPIRE, AMERICA WAS HARD TO FIND, and now COSTALEGRE. Maum takes the story of the Guggenheims fleeing Europe before WWII to set up a surrealist enclave on the Pacific coast of Mexico, changes a few things (including names), and boils it all down into the diary of the daughter -- our fictionalized Pegeen Guggenheim, Lara Calaway -- whose insights are searing, funny, and altogether perfectly rendered.
(Note: this was a fun book to read interspersed w/ Tove Jansson's THE SUMMER BOOK, fwiw)
(Note: this was a fun book to read interspersed w/ Tove Jansson's THE SUMMER BOOK, fwiw)
sarahc3319's review against another edition
4.0
Based on the life of Peggy Guggenheim. Lara is taken to an artist's colony in Mexico because her flighty mother wants to open a museum in the jungle. The art is en route from Europe on a boat that never arrives. Lara misses her brother, is infatuated by a mysterious sculptor named Jack, and tries to learn to paint to impress her mother, who is largely unaware that Lara is there. It's a good little book. I wish it had been longer.
anneaustex's review against another edition
4.0
I loved the narrative voice of 15-year-old Lara who has been transplanted from her European home to an artists compound in the Mexican jungle. Her ‘real father’ and brother have been left behind in her mother’s efforts to save art and artists from the Nazi regime. It’s 1937 and “Mum says our artists are the ones the Führer decided were the most degenerate in Europe and that they couldn’t stay there...because the Führer is a terrible artist so he’s jealous of the good ones. ”
The story is told from winsome Lara’s perspective through a mix of letters, journal entries, and drawings. Her voice is young, and a little confused, and very very lonely. It is such an intriguing way to tell this story of the protection of the arts from the approaching devastation of WWII. It worked for me but I would guess that this will be a love-it or hate-it book for readers.
Based upon the story of Peggy Guggenheim and her daughter Pegeen, this short book made my day.
The story is told from winsome Lara’s perspective through a mix of letters, journal entries, and drawings. Her voice is young, and a little confused, and very very lonely. It is such an intriguing way to tell this story of the protection of the arts from the approaching devastation of WWII. It worked for me but I would guess that this will be a love-it or hate-it book for readers.
Based upon the story of Peggy Guggenheim and her daughter Pegeen, this short book made my day.