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A review by coldprintcoffee
On a Night of a Thousand Stars by Andrea Yaryura Clark
3.0
!!Spoilers!!
This would be a 3 to 3.5-star read - it started out slow but ended up getting better for me as it went on. The love stories described in the novel, obliquely or otherwise, were less interesting than the Argentinian history, especially since it's a topic in history I hardly know anything about. The strong friendships and the ideals of revolution definitely outpaced the strangely-vague, 'love' feelings, and even though parts of the history had the tone of a info-dump rather than woven seamlessly into the narrative, worth reading to give you a starting point if you're interested in researching more about the Dirty War and what was going on in the country at this time in history.
Overall I loved most of the story, the descriptions of the revolution and what was risked in the resistance, and the effects those choices had on the characters. Though Santiago was described in a way that skewed heroic, I don't know, he was my least favorite. At least Paloma's frustrating and impetuousness, I understood, though she really railed on her mother Lila in comparison to her father, who deserved it, in my view. Lila was a character I felt sympathy for considering she didn't know about her husband's actions, took in a child that wasn't theirs ... I couldn't help but feel the motive was spurred on by his lingering love for a different woman rather than anything noble, and frankly, she was gracious about it. Not sure what I feel, because I'm not opposed to a story about political marriage or doing what needs to be done in the name of revolution, but it just felt flat.
Good, but not great. What was awesome - seeing the book title in the story. Solid read.
This would be a 3 to 3.5-star read - it started out slow but ended up getting better for me as it went on. The love stories described in the novel, obliquely or otherwise, were less interesting than the Argentinian history, especially since it's a topic in history I hardly know anything about. The strong friendships and the ideals of revolution definitely outpaced the strangely-vague, 'love' feelings, and even though parts of the history had the tone of a info-dump rather than woven seamlessly into the narrative, worth reading to give you a starting point if you're interested in researching more about the Dirty War and what was going on in the country at this time in history.
Overall I loved most of the story, the descriptions of the revolution and what was risked in the resistance, and the effects those choices had on the characters. Though Santiago was described in a way that skewed heroic, I don't know, he was my least favorite. At least Paloma's frustrating and impetuousness, I understood, though she really railed on her mother Lila in comparison to her father, who deserved it, in my view. Lila was a character I felt sympathy for considering she didn't know about her husband's actions, took in a child that wasn't theirs ... I couldn't help but feel the motive was spurred on by his lingering love for a different woman rather than anything noble, and frankly, she was gracious about it. Not sure what I feel, because I'm not opposed to a story about political marriage or doing what needs to be done in the name of revolution, but it just felt flat.
Good, but not great. What was awesome - seeing the book title in the story. Solid read.