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jayisreading's review
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
3.5
I started this novel with no assumptions or expectations, which, for me, ended up being a good approach. I thought this book was enjoyable enough, in that I didn’t expect to find bits of humor here and there (your mileage may vary on how you feel about snark) and Suárez does a decent job building up the “whodunit” situation for the reader to try and figure out who has the Meucci documents (and learning more about the man himself, Antonio Meucci, credited as the inventor of the first telephone).
In the midst of mystery, though, what really caught my attention was what life was like in 1993 Cuba. The protagonist, Julia, described her country at one point as such: “We were living in a country being screened in slow motion and sometimes in black and white, where the only things that weren’t an uphill struggle were a smile, making love and dreaming. That’s why we’re always smiling here in Cuba, why we make love and dream all the time. We’ll dream of anything.” I really would have loved to read more about daily life in lieu of Julia ending up in all kinds of drama along the lines of deception and infidelity. (When I say the characters are all messy, I really mean they are messy.)
My major gripe with this novel was actually how it was translated. I found that the English translation read very awkwardly and found the flow difficult to follow. Since I haven’t read the original, it’s unclear to me if this is a translation issue or if this is just Suárez’s style and MacSweeney was trying to remain faithful to the source, but it really didn’t work for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Alcohol
thewordsdevourer's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
havana year zero shouldve been more enjoyable for me, alas it wasnt meant to be. suárez's novel has a unique enough premise, but pretty quickly it devolves into a strange take of whodunnit, or in this case, 'who has it,' w/ it being meucci's document.
initially julia's gradual discovery and frequent revelations are interesting and bemusingly surprising, but w/ the same cycle repeating over and over for the last 3/4 of the book, it gets old and now i couldnt tell u the order of events in the middle bc thats how mixed up it all seems. it's just one thjng after another, but none memorable enough to stick.
still, it's good to learn abt cuban life in specifically 1993, and the complexity of the characters' relationships are indeed compelling, though the aforementioned arent enough to outweigh the negatives.
initially julia's gradual discovery and frequent revelations are interesting and bemusingly surprising, but w/ the same cycle repeating over and over for the last 3/4 of the book, it gets old and now i couldnt tell u the order of events in the middle bc thats how mixed up it all seems. it's just one thjng after another, but none memorable enough to stick.
still, it's good to learn abt cuban life in specifically 1993, and the complexity of the characters' relationships are indeed compelling, though the aforementioned arent enough to outweigh the negatives.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexual content, Alcohol, and Death
emilyacres's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
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