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A review by lchamberlin97
The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea
4.0
I managed to read this book with either never reading the reviews/summaries in depth. This was pretty refreshing. It also meant that I really didn't know what I was getting myself into/where any of the plot was going - it all felt pretty disconnected and...wandering (not in the least because sometimes the people were literally wandering), between Teresita's early life and stuff with Tomas and Teresita's sainthood and...so many things. So expansive, both in time and mood.
But...I didn't really mind, for the most part. I will say this: I only read it when I was going on some sort of trip and I wanted to read just from my Kindle, so I read it in patches. Each patch pulled me in with something different. If I had to pick something, though, that kept me intrigued overall, I have to go with Urrea's writing. He's got this mix of satire, beautiful description, and genuineness that makes even the weirdest part of the plot seem interesting.
I wasn't so interested in her interactions with God. Sorry. I loved Teresita when she was younger because she was so real and charismatic and cute. I loved Tomas despite all of his infidelity. I loved everything about Huila. Once that was over, I was significantly less enthusiastic, yet the latter part was what it all was leading up to, right, so I felt some obligation to stick around. I'm glad I finished.
I think what the reviews say about Urrea's 20 years of research and writing are TOTALLY valid: he did a pretty kickass job with this story - with patching together her strange life and making it into this novel. I feel like I learned a lot about Mexico during that time period. I loved the Spanish sprinkled in.
In summary: I really respect this book. It might not have ranked 5 stars for me, but definitely worth it to read!
But...I didn't really mind, for the most part. I will say this: I only read it when I was going on some sort of trip and I wanted to read just from my Kindle, so I read it in patches. Each patch pulled me in with something different. If I had to pick something, though, that kept me intrigued overall, I have to go with Urrea's writing. He's got this mix of satire, beautiful description, and genuineness that makes even the weirdest part of the plot seem interesting.
I wasn't so interested in her interactions with God. Sorry. I loved Teresita when she was younger because she was so real and charismatic and cute. I loved Tomas despite all of his infidelity. I loved everything about Huila. Once that was over, I was significantly less enthusiastic, yet the latter part was what it all was leading up to, right, so I felt some obligation to stick around. I'm glad I finished.
I think what the reviews say about Urrea's 20 years of research and writing are TOTALLY valid: he did a pretty kickass job with this story - with patching together her strange life and making it into this novel. I feel like I learned a lot about Mexico during that time period. I loved the Spanish sprinkled in.
In summary: I really respect this book. It might not have ranked 5 stars for me, but definitely worth it to read!