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harrietnbrown's review
4.0
A haunting, lyrical exploration of family and autonomy, relationships and responsibility, and the intricate knotted strands that both bind us to one another and tear us apart.
terryliz's review
4.0
This is the second novel I've both simultaneously read by ebook and listened to the audio version courtesy of hoopladigital and my local library. Diana Abu-Jaber's prose is so descriptive and delicious than it's music to listen to, but then I want to wrap myself into the pages of her absorbing tale. Can't wait to read another of her offerings.
margardenlady's review against another edition
4.0
This is my second Abu-Jaber novel and they were both very well written and completely different from one another. In Birds of Paradise, there is a sense of longing in each of the characters. Longing for connections, for meaning that defines the book. The story reveals itself slowly and while a few lines are left hanging (Solange, Javier) the main characters do find a sort of peace in their lives eventually. Nothing in the book was as I had expected, necessarily, but neither was it a complete surprise. Abu-Jaber is obviously a skilled observer of people with all their idiosyncracies and self-doubts and glories.
anneaustex's review against another edition
3.0
While I thought the book was well written I didn't much care for it for a few reasons. I much prefer a linear story and this one jumped around in time and between characters. Secondly, I didn't engage with anything in the story except for the relationship that bloomed between Avis and Solange. I enjoyed the descriptions of Avis's baking and even Solange's teaching about the stick, twigs, and flowers but it was so brief.
I was ready for the book to end before it did.
I was ready for the book to end before it did.
amdame1's review against another edition
3.0
Avis is a baker. She shows her love through the amazing pastries that she creates. However, it is her son and not her daughter who shares her love of these finer things and she can't seem to get past this stupid stereotype. Also, her daughter, Felice, goes through some terrible things at school and ends up running away at the age of 13 and lives on the streets/beaches of Miami for the next 5 years, only seeing her family intermittently.
Told in alternating voices between the different family members. I loved the descriptions of the desserts. I despaired about the anguish this family suffered. The writing was rich and evocative - but it did not grab me the way I wanted to be grabbed; I never did relate to the characters in a meaningful way.
Some swearing, teen drug and alcohol use, sexual situations.
Told in alternating voices between the different family members. I loved the descriptions of the desserts. I despaired about the anguish this family suffered. The writing was rich and evocative - but it did not grab me the way I wanted to be grabbed; I never did relate to the characters in a meaningful way.
Some swearing, teen drug and alcohol use, sexual situations.
kcalvert's review
3.0
Poignant story of a mother's inexplicable loss of relationship with her teenage daughter. Food descriptions are a bonus.
jdgcreates's review against another edition
3.0
This was a solid novel with an interesting story, but I found myself skipping/skimming chunks of it because Abu-Jaber goes a little ga-ga for description--as in, she breaks the flow of the story and drowns out the characters' voices with her (admittedly well wrought) metaphors...for everything. With some stronger editing, this would've been really good.
northstar's review against another edition
3.0
This is a solid 3.5, but I took off points because she didn't stick the landing. Whoops, wrong scoring system. Abu-Jaber's writing deserves a 4.5 or 5, but I had trouble getting into the book.
Felice ran away from her comfortable Miami-area home at age 13 and lives on the street. She agrees to see her mother on rare occasions but otherwise is not in touch with her family. During one steamy Florida summer, Felice, her brother and her parents take some baby steps to reconnect to themselves as a family.
Abu-Jaber writes beautiful prose and I continued to return to the novel for that. Here is one passage that describes a mother looking at her adult son.
"Avis turns to Stanley—who is staring at Nieves—and it's like peeling back a series of transparencies. There are the sloping bones of his adult face; there is the sugar-milk skin of Stanley at four."
Unfortunately, the plot sort of wanders and I never felt connected to the characters or their concerns. I would find myself wandering to other books but I always came back, and I recommend reading at least part of the novel just to read her descriptions. The story is tertiary.
Felice ran away from her comfortable Miami-area home at age 13 and lives on the street. She agrees to see her mother on rare occasions but otherwise is not in touch with her family. During one steamy Florida summer, Felice, her brother and her parents take some baby steps to reconnect to themselves as a family.
Abu-Jaber writes beautiful prose and I continued to return to the novel for that. Here is one passage that describes a mother looking at her adult son.
"Avis turns to Stanley—who is staring at Nieves—and it's like peeling back a series of transparencies. There are the sloping bones of his adult face; there is the sugar-milk skin of Stanley at four."
Unfortunately, the plot sort of wanders and I never felt connected to the characters or their concerns. I would find myself wandering to other books but I always came back, and I recommend reading at least part of the novel just to read her descriptions. The story is tertiary.
robertalucy's review against another edition
4.0
The writing is wonderful, with amazing descriptions of south Florida and the astonishing, sugary creations of the mother, Avis. However, do not be lured by the pastry chef thread into thinking this will be light reading. The characters are deeply flawed and the story is dark, almost bleak, with finally some light glimmering toward the end.
lisagray68's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book about a family living in Miami after their thirteen year old girl has run away from home. You get to see how this event affects each member of the family, and the reasons why the girl is running. I love the characters, the mom is a baker, the son owns an organic grocery store, the father is a lawyer.