A review by sandrinepal
You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue

challenging dark informative mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

For me, this novel bookended itself. The start with the author's notes to his editor about the pronunciation of the Aztec names and the choices he made in defining words (or not) was really engaging, if a little surprising at first. The ending is quite simply some of the very best literary fireworks I've read in a while. I wish I taught Spanish so I could assign some passages to students. It's a master class of historical-dark-magical realism; you have to read it for yourself. Everything in between was more humdrum, although in fairness the book does build up to both Cortés and Moctezuma's respective demise. Special mention for how much it sucked to be a female in 16th century Tenochtitlan.