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book_concierge's review against another edition
4.0
Audiobook performed by Frankie Alvarez
Scott Torres and his wife, Maureen Thompson, live in an ocean-view Spanish-style McMansion with their three children and a staff they can no longer afford. The gardener and nanny have already been let go when we meet Ariceli Ramirez, “the last Mexican standing” in the household – the last, that is, except for Senor Torres, who is only half-Mexican and doesn’t even speak Spanish. An argument over Maureen’s excessive spending leads to a brief physical altercation, and both Scott and Maureen leave the house in a huff, sure that the other will “get the point” when s/he has to care for the house and children on his/her own. Except, that neither tells the other s/he is leaving, nor, more importantly, bothers to tell Ariceli. Left on her own with the two boys – Brandon, age eleven, and Keenan, age eight – she is first incensed and then worried about how she will manage, and for how long she will have to. She tries but fails to reach the parents via their cell phones and repeated calls to Scott’s office. In fact, she tries every phone number on the carefully detailed “emergency” list posted on the refrigerator. Finally, after three days, with their food supply exhausted, and fearing what would happen if she calls the police, Ariceli decides to find the boys’ paternal grandfather – her only clue an old photo with an address written on the back. And, so she sets out with the boys on a grand adventure towards central Los Angeles.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started this novel and it turned out quite differently from where I thought it was headed. Tobar has written a social satire that examines the division and lack of understanding between two interdependent groups – the affluent suburbanites living in their gated communities versus the nearly invisible cadre of workers, mostly immigrants, many undocumented, who work to maintain the façade of perfection the affluent demand.
The three main characters are all flawed. Ariceli, educated in art history in her native Mexico City, is angry with having to work as a domestic; she is sullen and sarcastic, in thought if not always verbally. Maureen considers herself a perfect mother, but is consumed by the need to spend more money to achieve that perfection; her children’s birthday parties have to be orchestrated, her garden always magazine worthy. Scott has always been a good provider and a successful programmer, but as his inexperience with finances leads to economic disaster he reverts to adolescent behavior, playing computer games and flirting with a female co-worker. That is not to say that they are all flaws and no virtues. Scott and Maureen are obviously caring parents. Ariceli is courageous and resourceful, and shows tenderness to the boys despite her avowed disinterest in (dislike of?) children. When all are thrust into the limelight as a result of that one weekend’s events, they have to finally face some harsh truths about themselves, and all eventually rise to the occasion.
Tobar did get a bit preachy in the last third of the book, as he railed against the media “talking heads,” the injustices of the American legal system, and knee-jerk reactions of the politicians and populace. But he did have some members of each of these groups behave well – a Child Protective Services worker who insisted on seeing the truth of the situation, or a judge who refused to bow to pressure from the DA’s office.
I liked that the story didn’t have a neat resolution, either. I don’t want to include any spoilers so I won’t say more, but the ending Tobar gave us was realistic.
Frankie Alvarez does a fine job performing the audiobook. I liked his pacing and the various voices he used to differentiate the characters.
Scott Torres and his wife, Maureen Thompson, live in an ocean-view Spanish-style McMansion with their three children and a staff they can no longer afford. The gardener and nanny have already been let go when we meet Ariceli Ramirez, “the last Mexican standing” in the household – the last, that is, except for Senor Torres, who is only half-Mexican and doesn’t even speak Spanish. An argument over Maureen’s excessive spending leads to a brief physical altercation, and both Scott and Maureen leave the house in a huff, sure that the other will “get the point” when s/he has to care for the house and children on his/her own. Except, that neither tells the other s/he is leaving, nor, more importantly, bothers to tell Ariceli. Left on her own with the two boys – Brandon, age eleven, and Keenan, age eight – she is first incensed and then worried about how she will manage, and for how long she will have to. She tries but fails to reach the parents via their cell phones and repeated calls to Scott’s office. In fact, she tries every phone number on the carefully detailed “emergency” list posted on the refrigerator. Finally, after three days, with their food supply exhausted, and fearing what would happen if she calls the police, Ariceli decides to find the boys’ paternal grandfather – her only clue an old photo with an address written on the back. And, so she sets out with the boys on a grand adventure towards central Los Angeles.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started this novel and it turned out quite differently from where I thought it was headed. Tobar has written a social satire that examines the division and lack of understanding between two interdependent groups – the affluent suburbanites living in their gated communities versus the nearly invisible cadre of workers, mostly immigrants, many undocumented, who work to maintain the façade of perfection the affluent demand.
The three main characters are all flawed. Ariceli, educated in art history in her native Mexico City, is angry with having to work as a domestic; she is sullen and sarcastic, in thought if not always verbally. Maureen considers herself a perfect mother, but is consumed by the need to spend more money to achieve that perfection; her children’s birthday parties have to be orchestrated, her garden always magazine worthy. Scott has always been a good provider and a successful programmer, but as his inexperience with finances leads to economic disaster he reverts to adolescent behavior, playing computer games and flirting with a female co-worker. That is not to say that they are all flaws and no virtues. Scott and Maureen are obviously caring parents. Ariceli is courageous and resourceful, and shows tenderness to the boys despite her avowed disinterest in (dislike of?) children. When all are thrust into the limelight as a result of that one weekend’s events, they have to finally face some harsh truths about themselves, and all eventually rise to the occasion.
Tobar did get a bit preachy in the last third of the book, as he railed against the media “talking heads,” the injustices of the American legal system, and knee-jerk reactions of the politicians and populace. But he did have some members of each of these groups behave well – a Child Protective Services worker who insisted on seeing the truth of the situation, or a judge who refused to bow to pressure from the DA’s office.
I liked that the story didn’t have a neat resolution, either. I don’t want to include any spoilers so I won’t say more, but the ending Tobar gave us was realistic.
Frankie Alvarez does a fine job performing the audiobook. I liked his pacing and the various voices he used to differentiate the characters.
kcotsira's review against another edition
A little too complicated storyline for my liking.
alisonjfields's review against another edition
4.0
An engaging social satire, and as such occasionally without a lot of nuance, graded up for relevance and actually letting its precocious eleven year old be realistically weird and sometimes annoying instead of some precious, wisdom-filled, tiny mensch.
rc90041's review against another edition
3.0
Kind of like the Orange County novel version of the movie Crash. Suffers from the same schematic feel of that movie, with Run, Lola, Run little back stories for every relevant Southern California demographic group in bit characters standing in for entire groups. Still, a surprisingly compelling plot that really picked up about half-way through, and made the second half of the book fly by. The writing was a little heavy handed and purplish, but those flaws seemed less glaring as the plot picked up. Worthwhile.
dianametzger's review against another edition
5.0
Such a fantastic book full of detailed characters and palpable anxiety that still has incredibly storytelling momentum. The reader meets a barrage of characters but they all feel vivid and necessary.
emiliefox's review against another edition
4.0
My son is going to be reading this book for a writing class at UCM next semester, so I picked it up to check it out. It had me at "Xochitl".
scos618's review against another edition
5.0
While it took me some time to get into this book. The way that Hector Tobar brings together this story and the cultural, racial and political issue that engulf this story is wonderful.
orchid_2023's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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? It's complicated
4.0
emjay24's review against another edition
3.0
This is one of those "smart" books, but written in an accessible enough way that it's still enjoyable to read. It's about a live in mexican housekeeper, Araceli. I like the way that they show the story from her own point of view then show how other people see her, as mean, snobby, etc. It's clear she's an introvert like me! I def identified with this character. one day both of the spoiled, rich employers leave, not realizing they left their kids there for days with Araceli. Not knowing what to do, she tries to take them to find their grandfather, since who knows if the parents will ever return. This leads into a whole nother big thing.. Araceli was the only character i liked, besides a couple super minor characters at the end. And those kids - they're supposed to be 8 and 11 or something like that, and somehow they act like they're two. or, two year olds that read a lot.. that's not realistic, i remember how i was at those ages and i didnt think homeless people were refugees from an imaginary fire war or random weird things like that. i know theyre trying to portray that these are sheltered children but c'mon.. this was interesting, but not liking anyone in the book kept me from liking it more. still, i liked it enough to read the whole thing. oh and i saw in some reviews that some people were put off by the spanish in it, that they don't translate a lot of it. i can read spanish, and i liked the effect the spanish parts had on it, it created the atmosphere and realism i dont think that you would have trouble if you can't read spanish, it's easy to intuit. Good book, especially if you like to read smarter types of things, or even if you don't.
ellegehr's review against another edition
4.0
Super interesting story but a bit too long and drawn out at parts. I appreciated the different perspectives but some of the sections continued on for too long, especially in the beginning.