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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.
llayaz's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
allarminda's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
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
4.0
agrinavich's review against another edition
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
khuizenga's review against another edition
4.0
This book is told through a child’s eyes but captures the nuance and impossible choices around kidnapping and militarized groups in Columbia. It’s a snapshot into a story and time that I had little knowledge of. It was well done, but it took me a long time to read due to the weighty topic while also not being suspenseful or particularly plot driven.
teresa42's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 A sad, moving and dramatic story based on true events. An unsettling life for all of the families trying to hold together.