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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
incredible book, felt very seen. have rarely read a more accurate portrayal of an immigrant russian mother in the US
i haven't cried because of a book in a long time
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Sexual assault
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Misogyny
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
⭐️ finished: 3/19/22
⭐️ rating: 8/10 + sexy cover bonus —> 9/10
⭐️ takeaway: Sixteen-year-old Lara Montoya-Borislava is used to (and fed up with) her mother’s antics: dying her hair extreme colors, reading existential novels in different languages, spouting generalized criticisms about “you Americans,” and keeping Lara at a great emotional distance even as she drags her around the country. Lara and Yevgenia land in the Oasis Mobile Estates in the California desert and their dysfunctional relationship assumes a new form shaped by the people and circumstances attached to life at the Oasis. The novel examines inheritances—sexual, intellectual, emotional, and political—and closely links country of origin and nationality with maternity in an echo of the Soviet ideas that Yevgenia fled from years before Lara’s life. All of the central characters seek to escape their circumstances, which they do in different ways and with varying degrees of success. In a way, the relationship between Lara and Yevgenia is another character that develops throughout the novel, with lurches of its past and future glimpsed by the reader. This quote stuck with me because of how well it encapsulated the central relationship: “And like all the other moments between us, this too gets lost in the inevitable ways we disappoint each other.”
⭐️ rating: 8/10 + sexy cover bonus —> 9/10
⭐️ takeaway: Sixteen-year-old Lara Montoya-Borislava is used to (and fed up with) her mother’s antics: dying her hair extreme colors, reading existential novels in different languages, spouting generalized criticisms about “you Americans,” and keeping Lara at a great emotional distance even as she drags her around the country. Lara and Yevgenia land in the Oasis Mobile Estates in the California desert and their dysfunctional relationship assumes a new form shaped by the people and circumstances attached to life at the Oasis. The novel examines inheritances—sexual, intellectual, emotional, and political—and closely links country of origin and nationality with maternity in an echo of the Soviet ideas that Yevgenia fled from years before Lara’s life. All of the central characters seek to escape their circumstances, which they do in different ways and with varying degrees of success. In a way, the relationship between Lara and Yevgenia is another character that develops throughout the novel, with lurches of its past and future glimpsed by the reader. This quote stuck with me because of how well it encapsulated the central relationship: “And like all the other moments between us, this too gets lost in the inevitable ways we disappoint each other.”
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character