A review by labbyreads
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

emotional hopeful inspiring sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

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This collection of vignettes is a box of chocolates. Some are joyous and fun others are poignant or foreboding.

The House on Mango Street is a coming-of-age story about Esperanza Cordero, a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago. The novel is told in a series of stories follow Esperanza as she deals with the challenges of adolescence, poverty, and racism.

I would have enjoyed the book a lot more if I had read a single chapter at a time and spent time reflecting, dissecting, and absorbing the material. But that's not normal life.

As it is, I would binge through four or five of the vignettes before reflecting on what I was reading and as a result, it felt like I didn't get much out of it. I felt lost in a sea of stories that were tethered together without being a complete story altogether.

Although there were moments of beauty, for the most part, this wasn't something that I wanted to pick up and read. The good moments felt like a reward, but they were in the minority.