Reviews - Before We Were Free

294 reviews for:

Before We Were Free

Julia Alvarez

3.82 AVERAGE

lala_books's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

emmyriggs's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

kvanhook92's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

shel_beh's review against another edition

4.0

hopeful informative fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

hollysue22's review against another edition

4.0

another one of what i call my "quick reads". i liked this one and plan to read others by the author about this girl and her family. definitely recommend!

bitchnbooks's review against another edition

3.25

informative sad tense fast-paced

renatasnacks's review against another edition

4.0

Julia Alvarez walks a fine line between exploring history and cultural exchange in a compelling way ( [b:In the Time of the Butterflies|11206|In the Time of the Butterflies|Julia Alvarez|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1211592550s/11206.jpg|1408023]) and just being didactic and preachy ([b:Return to Sender|4599006|Return to Sender|Julia Alvarez|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320488073s/4599006.jpg|3271108]). Luckily this one was pretty good. Trujillo's dictatorship is a pretty good dramatic background. Also I listened to some of the audiobook, and Julia Alvarez reads it herself, and she sounds kind of like an excited robot. It's really weird and I'm not sure how to explain it. I used part of it in the video I made about it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmWKWXfMsrY

(This book might only be medium-interesting to someone who isn't already familiar with Dominican history, IDK. But maybe you'll ~*learn something*~)

via_the_word_witch's review against another edition

5.0

This story starts out sweet and wonderful, with darker undertones. By the end, those undertones are the main themes, and my heart was breaking—not only for Anita and her family, but for all the people around over the world who have lived through events like the ones in Before We Were Free (many of which are true). This book deserves every award that it’s won and should be on the TBR list of every person who hasn’t read it yet.

prof_shoff's review against another edition

3.0

While I prefer Alvarez's In the Time of the Butterflies, this is a good version of the Dominican struggle for middle school readers.

kris_reading's review against another edition

4.75

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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