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butzjenna's review
emotional
reflective
slow-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? It's complicated
5.0
sarangx's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
nilaalicia's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-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? Yes
3.75
farzi_q_pickle's review
4.0
3.7
The biggest thing I got out of this book was being more intrigued in learning more about the history of the area and more about the real Salome as I’ll admit that I didn’t realize that she was a real person until close to the end. The characters and story line felt a bit flat otherwise and I wasn’t really feeling from the bits we got why she had the following she did. Camila’s character was sort of boring and that narrative felt unnecessary rather than all being from Salome’s story and it was really confusing to have one story line go forward while the other went back. I think I would have felt more with Camila if I didn’t hear how things ended up from the start and then later found out who she was talking about. I wonder if she did this because listening to a talk by the author, it seems like she found out about her as an adult and then learned about her childhood and past from marrying her younger brother.
Overall really appreciate the calling out of the US influence, impact of political unrest, how race was examined, and the vivid descriptions of how pervasive political unrest can be in everyday life such as of a family lifting a child up to see what government has now taken over…how that determines how much you saw your family and the constant moving and idea of home and country.
Julia Alvarez definitely calls out people from the US not knowing or paying attention to poets in smaller countries unless a movie is made about them… so definitely appreciate her writing a book so i could educate myself. I just felt that we were more told that these ladies were great rather than Feeling it through their actions and words and the way they were written.
Maybe if we had a whole poem by Salome rather than two liners that didn’t sound so awe inspiring without more context?
The biggest thing I got out of this book was being more intrigued in learning more about the history of the area and more about the real Salome as I’ll admit that I didn’t realize that she was a real person until close to the end. The characters and story line felt a bit flat otherwise and I wasn’t really feeling from the bits we got why she had the following she did. Camila’s character was sort of boring and that narrative felt unnecessary rather than all being from Salome’s story and it was really confusing to have one story line go forward while the other went back. I think I would have felt more with Camila if I didn’t hear how things ended up from the start and then later found out who she was talking about. I wonder if she did this because listening to a talk by the author, it seems like she found out about her as an adult and then learned about her childhood and past from marrying her younger brother.
Overall really appreciate the calling out of the US influence, impact of political unrest, how race was examined, and the vivid descriptions of how pervasive political unrest can be in everyday life such as of a family lifting a child up to see what government has now taken over…how that determines how much you saw your family and the constant moving and idea of home and country.
Julia Alvarez definitely calls out people from the US not knowing or paying attention to poets in smaller countries unless a movie is made about them… so definitely appreciate her writing a book so i could educate myself. I just felt that we were more told that these ladies were great rather than Feeling it through their actions and words and the way they were written.
Maybe if we had a whole poem by Salome rather than two liners that didn’t sound so awe inspiring without more context?
mad_didas's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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
4.0
solaana's review against another edition
I love the comment she makes about how now that her poems are being embraced by...everyone, people are really listening to what she's saying and how it's what being beautiful must be like.
meremoth's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
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? Yes
5.0
pow_la's review against another edition
3.0
Much more interested in Salomé's story than Camilla and would have rather read only about her than have the two stories intertwined.