A review by rara2018
The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova

5.0

I first attempted to read this book months ago, but I just couldn’t get into it. Luckily, my library account alerted me that it was finally a few days overdue, and I got to reading it as quickly as I could, and was met with a truly magical story. This is a story of family (however imperfect they may be) and a story of magic (however inexplicable it may be) and a story of hope. I’ve grown to really love magical realism recently, and this story was truly a paragon of the genre. The story was mysterious from the get-go, and I loved getting to explore its every crevice with Marimar and Orquídea and Rey and Rhiannon—and everyone else, of course. Parts of the ending and main conflict felt a little super-villain-y at times, but the final parts of the story itself felt so hopefully and beautiful, that it was impossible not to love every page. It’s a difficult book to explain, from its magic based in both the earth, sky, and water to the plot itself, taking us from NYC, to Equador, to Four Rivers, and to the circus. This wasn’t a story I’d expected to enjoy (though I should have, seeing as I tend to like most things Marines recommends on TikTok), but it ended up being one I was completely swept away in, finishing the entire thing in basically one sitting. I’ll definitely be exploring more of Zoraida Córdova’s work in the future.