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rosiev425's review
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
barnesstorming's review
3.0
I mean, I didn't hate it, but I did dread having to pick it up every day to read 3-4 chapters to make my book club deadline. It's told from alternating perspectives of two sisters and a brother, all hailing from a small farm in Columbia. And IDK if it's a fault of the translation or a fault of the storytelling, but I struggled to connect with any of the three of them in any meaningful way. They were in no way loathsome; I just didn't care about them. And the greater story -- a heartbreaker about wanting to hold on to *something* in spite of a country filled with people who want to take that thing about from you -- could have been powerful. But here's the thing: I watched the Disney animated film "Encanto" the other night, and I thought it carried much of the same message but delivered it in a way that was more powerful. Abad's writing seems elegant enough and was, I suspect, well translated. So I think I'd try him again, but maybe one of his award-winners, like "Oblivion: A Memoir" or, if it's ever available in English, "Angosta".
cristhebird's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
tronella's review
4.0
I almost DNFed this early on, because it starts with the death of the narrators' mother and her name is the same as my mother's, but I'm glad I stuck with it!
eggiereads's review
dark
informative
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
ali_baba_reads's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
sierracook14's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-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
3.5
fearandtrembling's review
2.0
Surprisingly, this book was a drag. It has three interwoven narratives; three siblings think about their farm, and through their impressions and memories, the history of Colombia. Some interesting points about land ownership, capitalism, and political violence are bogged down by the individual siblings' bland bourgeois nostalgia. Problematic "opinions" about abortion, adoption, and homophobia among African-Americans are simply left unchallenged.
The prose is polished, graceful, lyrical. But it was so well-mannered and tedious. It was the final chapter that had any emotional heft; it puts into context modernisation & what people—whole societies—have lost in terms of their connection to nature. But 300+ pages to get to something moving doesn't make sense. In between, it felt self-indulgent, tepid; characters looping around the same solipsistic concerns. The structure didn't work for me.
However, please take my review with a grain of salt as I predict this book will be widely praised for being a sprawling saga and a modern "literary classic" about Latin America. It is part of that subgenre of literary fiction that gets rave reviews, the subgenre I'll refer to as, "The Pain and Anguish of the Middle Class: We Just Want to be Left Alone with Our Money and Property because The World Out There is Distasteful and Icky and Taking a Political Stand is Unsophisticated". It has received good blurbs from literary heavyweights and good advance reviews in Kirkus and Publishers Weekly. I'm sure it'll find its readers.
Thank you to the publisher for an advance reading copy via NetGalley.
The prose is polished, graceful, lyrical. But it was so well-mannered and tedious. It was the final chapter that had any emotional heft; it puts into context modernisation & what people—whole societies—have lost in terms of their connection to nature. But 300+ pages to get to something moving doesn't make sense. In between, it felt self-indulgent, tepid; characters looping around the same solipsistic concerns. The structure didn't work for me.
However, please take my review with a grain of salt as I predict this book will be widely praised for being a sprawling saga and a modern "literary classic" about Latin America. It is part of that subgenre of literary fiction that gets rave reviews, the subgenre I'll refer to as, "The Pain and Anguish of the Middle Class: We Just Want to be Left Alone with Our Money and Property because The World Out There is Distasteful and Icky and Taking a Political Stand is Unsophisticated". It has received good blurbs from literary heavyweights and good advance reviews in Kirkus and Publishers Weekly. I'm sure it'll find its readers.
Thank you to the publisher for an advance reading copy via NetGalley.
camizeta's review
dark
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0