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candacesovan 's review for:
Tell Me Something True
by Leila Cobo
I don't usually cotton to the device of alternate chapters in two voices, but Cobo handles it fairly well. The setting (Cali, Colombia) is evocative, and the story is interesting. A daughter, Gabriella, of both the US and Colombia, on a visit to her deceased mother's family, finds her mother's journal and is desperate to figure out whether or not her mother, Helena, was planning to abandon her for an affair with a man from her country of origin.
Meanwhile, Gabriella begins an affair with Angel, the son of a jailed drug dealer, a young man who has a legitimate business but must be continually on guard for an attack because he is his father's son. Gabriella's reckless liaison parallels, in some ways, her mother's extramarital affair, as Gabriella seeks those who knew her mother, hoping to find information that will resolve the questions she has about her mother.
*** SPOILER ALERT ***
I was surprised at how easily Gabriella was talked into fleeing back to the US by her maternal grandmother and her father. Her love for Angel seemed deep and real, but how she behaved after he was attacked came across to me as a scared, spoiled little girl running home to safety.
Like mother, like daughter, they both seem like spoiled, petted women without a lot of character. I know that such women exist, but do they deserve a book? Overall, I'd say the setting and story telling were quite good, but the plot and female characters left much to be desired.
Meanwhile, Gabriella begins an affair with Angel, the son of a jailed drug dealer, a young man who has a legitimate business but must be continually on guard for an attack because he is his father's son. Gabriella's reckless liaison parallels, in some ways, her mother's extramarital affair, as Gabriella seeks those who knew her mother, hoping to find information that will resolve the questions she has about her mother.
*** SPOILER ALERT ***
I was surprised at how easily Gabriella was talked into fleeing back to the US by her maternal grandmother and her father. Her love for Angel seemed deep and real, but how she behaved after he was attacked came across to me as a scared, spoiled little girl running home to safety.
Like mother, like daughter, they both seem like spoiled, petted women without a lot of character. I know that such women exist, but do they deserve a book? Overall, I'd say the setting and story telling were quite good, but the plot and female characters left much to be desired.