Reviews

The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera

kateg1516's review

emotional hopeful mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

creedmk's review

5.0

An interesting take on an end of the world story.  Petra is a wonderful main character to follow, and her desire to be a cuentista (storyteller) when everyone else thinks that is not worthwhile makes her such a layered character.  There are some twists and turns that I didn't see coming in this story, and the language is beautiful.

superbaub's review

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

izzys_internet_bookshelf's review

DNF

Couldn’t get past the writing

barizley's review

4.0

I’m don’t read a lot of YA or sci-fi, so this is not a very informed review. But I did read the book.

The promise was super interesting, and I loved the themes of identity, storytelling, and family history. The author poses, or at least hints at, some compelling philosophical questions, but I wish she’d spent more time there and less time with the space botany and other sci-fi stuff that dragggggged the book along. But again, saying the book lacked some depth and had too much space cowboys jargon might be evidence that I don’t know much about YA or sci-fi.

3/3.5 rounded to 4 stars because the basic ideas are fantastic even if the execution was not stellar (sci-fi joke).

miw6's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

millercr427's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful sad 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

jabnj's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

gralleigh2023's review

adventurous inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

rainbowbookworm's review

4.0

This middle school novel felt more like YA, than a book for middle schoolers. I mean this in the best possible way because the author does not underestimate what middle schoolers are able to understand when the author shows them things instead of explicitly stating them.

I was supposed to do many things yesterday after my roller derby practice, but I ended up spending the afternoon in my hammock traveling on a space ship to a distant planet. I have no regrets.