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jbird_reads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
emilypeartree's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
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? Yes
4.0
book_concierge's review against another edition
5.0
Digital audiobook performed by Marisol Ramirez, Almarie Guerra and Ingrid Rojas Contreras.
Based on the author’s own life experiences, this novel tells the story of a family “safely” ensconced within their gated community in Bogotá, Columbia in the early to mid 1990s. Chula, the 7-year-old narrator, and her older sister Cassandra enjoy a relatively carefree life within the community. But just outside the walls of their compound, the infamous, and seemingly all powerful, drug lord Pablo Escobar continues his reign of terror with kidnappings, car bombs and assassinations.
I loved that Contreras used two different young women (girls, really) to narrate this story. The viewpoint alternates between Chula and Petrona, who is the family’s teen-aged maid. Chula has a naivete and innocence of youth, and of her upbringing in a relatively safe, secure and stable (if isolated) environment. Petrona, on the other hand, has suffered the indignities and deprivations of the poor and uneducated. The oldest of nine children who live in a slum, she has taken on the burden of being the breadwinner for her family at the tender age of thirteen. The way these two narrators see what is happening in their country is colored by their experiences – each of them having a limited viewpoint for different reasons. And those limitations make them vulnerable to manipulation, and result in some dangerous situations.
I was completely immersed and engaged in their story from beginning to end. Having both viewpoints I recognized the danger long before either of the narrators, but was still caught off guard a few times as twists and turns occurred in the plot. For the time I spent with these characters I had a glimpse of the uncertainty the citizens of Columbia must have felt.
It’s a strong debut for Contreras and I look forward to reading her future works.
The audiobook was masterfully performed by Marisol Ramirez, Almarie Guerra and Ingrid Rojas Contreras. Brava, ladies.
Based on the author’s own life experiences, this novel tells the story of a family “safely” ensconced within their gated community in Bogotá, Columbia in the early to mid 1990s. Chula, the 7-year-old narrator, and her older sister Cassandra enjoy a relatively carefree life within the community. But just outside the walls of their compound, the infamous, and seemingly all powerful, drug lord Pablo Escobar continues his reign of terror with kidnappings, car bombs and assassinations.
I loved that Contreras used two different young women (girls, really) to narrate this story. The viewpoint alternates between Chula and Petrona, who is the family’s teen-aged maid. Chula has a naivete and innocence of youth, and of her upbringing in a relatively safe, secure and stable (if isolated) environment. Petrona, on the other hand, has suffered the indignities and deprivations of the poor and uneducated. The oldest of nine children who live in a slum, she has taken on the burden of being the breadwinner for her family at the tender age of thirteen. The way these two narrators see what is happening in their country is colored by their experiences – each of them having a limited viewpoint for different reasons. And those limitations make them vulnerable to manipulation, and result in some dangerous situations.
I was completely immersed and engaged in their story from beginning to end. Having both viewpoints I recognized the danger long before either of the narrators, but was still caught off guard a few times as twists and turns occurred in the plot. For the time I spent with these characters I had a glimpse of the uncertainty the citizens of Columbia must have felt.
It’s a strong debut for Contreras and I look forward to reading her future works.
The audiobook was masterfully performed by Marisol Ramirez, Almarie Guerra and Ingrid Rojas Contreras. Brava, ladies.
intorilex's review against another edition
4.0
Content Warning: Rape, Child Soldiers, Disturbing Violent Imagery, Extreme Poverty
Chula and Petrona are two young girls struggling to grow up in a increasingly dangerous country. Chula and Petrona meet when Petrona is hired to be a maid for Chula's family. The novel is told through Petrona and Chula's point of view. They perspectives worked well, contrasting the very different thoughts and obstacles these young girls faced to survive childhood. The novel details their experiences and the political turmoil involved throughout Columbia in the 90's. The prose was engaging and the author was able to create complex and memorable characters.
We shall eat more and we shall eat less. What at dinner you have fire, for breakfast you'll have water. What is left for time, time will take away. It is only death that doesn't have a remedy.
Many disturbing and unsettling things happen to Chula and Petrona's family and the author does a good job of describing it from a child's point of view. While the characters were described masterfully the plot did diverge and slow down in unexpected ways. As I was reading I kept hoping that it would all come together, but the ending wasn't that tidy. The diversity and unique voices in the book kept things flowing and me engaged. I learned more about Colombia and Pablo Escobar than I ever have before. Despite the slow parts of the book, I enjoyed it overall and will continue to look for more work by this author.
Multiply me when necessary,
make me disappear
when peremptory.
Transform me into light when there is shadow,
into a star
when in the dessert
Recommended for Readers who
- want to read a coming of age story that explores, race, class and Colombian History
- enjoy reading about characters dealing with serious trauma
- appreciate character driven stories
**I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review. **
anachronistique's review against another edition
A slow build to a frantic and devastating climax, and then a slow, aching denoument. Beautiful but tough.
mnstaples4's review against another edition
4.0
“I thought about Petrona, how she had nothing to lose and how she was not touched by the tragedy of the girl and her red shoe as Cassandra and I were. I thought about what she had said- that the girl with the red shoe didn't even know she was dying and how she had meant it as comfort, but how the thought only filled me with terror.”
“I began to see the Spirit of Holy Fear everywhere. It lived in my dreams, in the pipes that didn't bring water to the house, in the television that showed me Pablo Escobar. It lived in the deep sound of electricity leaving our home the sizzle static of the television, the humming of voltage through walls and floors and ceilings-ebbing, unwinding, pirouetting into silence. It lived in the quiet after the electricity was gone: the dog's bark, a grasshopper's song, the howling wind rustling the leaves of the Drunken Tree. It lived as some kind of imminent sense, some kind of dark wingspan that slowly advanced on our house.”
“I began to see the Spirit of Holy Fear everywhere. It lived in my dreams, in the pipes that didn't bring water to the house, in the television that showed me Pablo Escobar. It lived in the deep sound of electricity leaving our home the sizzle static of the television, the humming of voltage through walls and floors and ceilings-ebbing, unwinding, pirouetting into silence. It lived in the quiet after the electricity was gone: the dog's bark, a grasshopper's song, the howling wind rustling the leaves of the Drunken Tree. It lived as some kind of imminent sense, some kind of dark wingspan that slowly advanced on our house.”
saraanneb3's review against another edition
5.0
Wow! This book. Amazing, stunning, heartbreaking. The writing is gripping, the story is riveting, and the characters are fully-fleshed and vivid.
This book is going to haunt me.
This book is going to haunt me.
mettetta's review against another edition
5.0
This book was absolutely stunning. The story of two young girls in Colombia during Pablo Escobar's reign of terror. Chula is the daughter of affluent parents, traumatized by the events around her. Petrona, a girl from an invasión, comes to work for Chula's family, and hurtles the family toward disaster and heartbreak.
isabelorlie's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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? Yes
5.0
Really amazing book. The author did an amazing job at capturing a child’s perspective in very difficult situations, because she lived them.