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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
This absorbing story puts you in the center of Letty's struggles to become the mother she hopes to be. Letty was a young mom, totally dependent on her parents to raise her kids. When her parents decide to return to Mexico, Letty is on her own. She has to face the problems of a fifteen year old son falling in love with an illegal immigrant, as well as raising her daughter, who has failed to thrive in the atmosphere of poverty. My only problem with the book is that the ease in which Letty turns her life around with the help of Rick, is a bit unbelievable. Well written.
review to come later...but really quick. Great book!!!
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I'm upping the rating to 4.5 stars.
I love Diffenbaugh's writing! It's so beautiful and descriptive and it evokes so many different emotions. In addition to her way with words, Diffenbaugh has a way of creating real people, not just characters. At times I was frustrated with them, struggling and laughing with them and ultimately I ended up loving all of them (yep every single one. How often does that happen!)
This book is great. Not only is it a wonderful and touching story, filled with relatable and loveable characters, but it made me grateful as well as informed.
It made me realize how lucky I am that I was born into this life. And it showed a real (yes it's technically fictional) family with struggles that are incredibly relevant today and it gave me some insight and a different perspective (something great books tend to do).
I don't want to get into politics, but I think it's good to keep the whole picture in mind in regards to tough situations and this book served as a reminder to try to do that.
Anyways, the short of it is that this is a wonderful book and I highly recommend it and the author!
.................
I'm upping the rating to 4.5 stars.
I love Diffenbaugh's writing! It's so beautiful and descriptive and it evokes so many different emotions. In addition to her way with words, Diffenbaugh has a way of creating real people, not just characters. At times I was frustrated with them, struggling and laughing with them and ultimately I ended up loving all of them (yep every single one. How often does that happen!)
This book is great. Not only is it a wonderful and touching story, filled with relatable and loveable characters, but it made me grateful as well as informed.
It made me realize how lucky I am that I was born into this life. And it showed a real (yes it's technically fictional) family with struggles that are incredibly relevant today and it gave me some insight and a different perspective (something great books tend to do).
I don't want to get into politics, but I think it's good to keep the whole picture in mind in regards to tough situations and this book served as a reminder to try to do that.
Anyways, the short of it is that this is a wonderful book and I highly recommend it and the author!
I received a free advanced reading copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Language of Flowers, Diffenbaugh's other novel, netted a rare 4.5/5 star review from me. So it should come as no surprise that I jumped on the chance to read an advanced copy of her new book, out next month.
We Never Asked for Wings is similar to The Language of Flowers in that it deals with a troubled soul finally learning to cope. And it again has beautiful language and great storytelling. But that's where the similarities end. Wings tells the story of Letty Espinosa, a young single mother struggling to make ends meet. Until now, she's relied on her mother to raise her two kids (Alex and Luna). But with her parents' decision to move back to Mexico, Letty finds herself suddenly in charge, in a way she's never had to be before. A good portion of the book focuses on her struggles to learn how to be a responsible adult, then how to be a good parent, all while working, tentatively stepping back into the dating pool, and trying to realize the potential cut short when she got pregnant as a teenager. It's understandably a lot to handle, and there are some missteps. I'll admit I didn't really like Letty as a character at first, because she was just so clueless about really simply parenting things. But she grew on me.
The other parts of the book focus on her teenage son, Alex, as he navigates high school, his first real crush, learning about his father, and helping take care of his little sister. He's skeptical of his mother's ability to actually be a parent, with good reason at first. But then she comes up with a plan to get them out of their bad neighborhood, and her kids into a better school. It's a risky plan, but if it works it would life-changing for them all.
The balance of perspectives between Letty and Alex is nice, and gives an unvarnished look at what it's like to be smart but poor in America. The picture Diffenbaugh paints of this drab stretch of land and bad neighborhood where they live is very vivid, and a bit depressing. There are some pretty great supporting characters- particularly a small family of undocumented immigrants who become very important to the Espinosas. It's an emotionally charged book, but not so rough that it'll make you cry.
This book officially comes out on August 18th. If you like strong contemporary fiction that doesn't shy away from social issues, give this a try.
The Language of Flowers, Diffenbaugh's other novel, netted a rare 4.5/5 star review from me. So it should come as no surprise that I jumped on the chance to read an advanced copy of her new book, out next month.
We Never Asked for Wings is similar to The Language of Flowers in that it deals with a troubled soul finally learning to cope. And it again has beautiful language and great storytelling. But that's where the similarities end. Wings tells the story of Letty Espinosa, a young single mother struggling to make ends meet. Until now, she's relied on her mother to raise her two kids (Alex and Luna). But with her parents' decision to move back to Mexico, Letty finds herself suddenly in charge, in a way she's never had to be before. A good portion of the book focuses on her struggles to learn how to be a responsible adult, then how to be a good parent, all while working, tentatively stepping back into the dating pool, and trying to realize the potential cut short when she got pregnant as a teenager. It's understandably a lot to handle, and there are some missteps. I'll admit I didn't really like Letty as a character at first, because she was just so clueless about really simply parenting things. But she grew on me.
The other parts of the book focus on her teenage son, Alex, as he navigates high school, his first real crush, learning about his father, and helping take care of his little sister. He's skeptical of his mother's ability to actually be a parent, with good reason at first. But then she comes up with a plan to get them out of their bad neighborhood, and her kids into a better school. It's a risky plan, but if it works it would life-changing for them all.
The balance of perspectives between Letty and Alex is nice, and gives an unvarnished look at what it's like to be smart but poor in America. The picture Diffenbaugh paints of this drab stretch of land and bad neighborhood where they live is very vivid, and a bit depressing. There are some pretty great supporting characters- particularly a small family of undocumented immigrants who become very important to the Espinosas. It's an emotionally charged book, but not so rough that it'll make you cry.
This book officially comes out on August 18th. If you like strong contemporary fiction that doesn't shy away from social issues, give this a try.
Not as good as her first one. But a good story nonetheless.
Vanessa Diffenbaugh has a unique talent in taking characters that would normally drive me nuts in other books and developing them into people your rooting for, she did this more deeply for me in [b:The Language of Flowers|10032672|The Language of Flowers|Vanessa Diffenbaugh|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1333577674s/10032672.jpg|14928278] but with more characters she still did well in this requard for me. I also enjoyed having a teenage boy narrator for this book, I haven't read anything from that perspective in a long time especially outside of the YA genre and it was nice to venture into Alex's head for a bit. Overall the story was good and somewhat believable, I'm glad that I stuck with it since the opening chapters had me wondering if I really wanted to read about a train wreck of a mother but like in [b:The Language of Flowers|10032672|The Language of Flowers|Vanessa Diffenbaugh|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1333577674s/10032672.jpg|14928278] we have the unique opportunity to watch a mother blossom over the course of the book.
3.5 It was more than okay but not 4 stars and good because...
I liked it less than her first book because I found the story less gripping, however the characters are endearing, Letty is full of strength, she takes on her role as mother but tries through her courage and resilience to offer a better future to their children.
I liked it less than her first book because I found the story less gripping, however the characters are endearing, Letty is full of strength, she takes on her role as mother but tries through her courage and resilience to offer a better future to their children.
The main plot line of We Never Asked for Wings is Mexican immigration into the United States - both legal and illegal. Issues that work out too neatly and many sub-plots make this story difficult to engage with, but the writing creates some engaging characters and a wonderfully visualized setting. I didn't love this one, but I look forward to Vanessa Diffenbaugh's next book.
See my complete review at: http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2015/08/we-never-asked-for-wings.html
Reviewed based on a publisher’s galley received through NetGalley
See my complete review at: http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2015/08/we-never-asked-for-wings.html
Reviewed based on a publisher’s galley received through NetGalley