lorofox24's review
5.0
Pain, shame, and generational trauma... and humor to make it all bearable. I saw stories of my family reflected throughout the book.
lorolemman's review
5.0
Felt so familiar
As the child of a Cuban refugee, I saw bits and pieces of my family in these stories. No matter the level of abstraction or realism she chose to write with, I felt and recognized many of the joys and pains I see in my own world that I often do not see reflected in media. I loved it in a soul soothing way.
As the child of a Cuban refugee, I saw bits and pieces of my family in these stories. No matter the level of abstraction or realism she chose to write with, I felt and recognized many of the joys and pains I see in my own world that I often do not see reflected in media. I loved it in a soul soothing way.
divineauthor's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
“How every story needed a beginning. How her past had come to seem like a blank page, waiting for the truth to darken it.” —Lisette, in “Her Mother’s House.”
this was so good in such a slow, meandering way. everything had such a heavy ache but written in such a light way that it balanced out. ugh!!! i do like some short stories better than others—“miami relatives,” “hurricane stories,” “the perfect fruit”—but i didn’t Not enjoy the other ones <3
this was so good in such a slow, meandering way. everything had such a heavy ache but written in such a light way that it balanced out. ugh!!! i do like some short stories better than others—“miami relatives,” “hurricane stories,” “the perfect fruit”—but i didn’t Not enjoy the other ones <3
csgvassar's review
4.0
Dreams. Reality. Memories. Ana Menendez weaves them all together in a way that makes you question whether they are all one in the same in her fascinating stories of the Cuban-American experience.
ramblingbard's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
bundy23's review
1.0
DNF.
It's all just so boring. The writing is boring. The characters are boring. Everyone is so miserable that they can't return to Cuba that they are incapable of seeing any joy in anything at all. Case in point, there's a girl complaining about how awful life is and that they had to leave their good cutlery in Cuba BUT HER FAMILY HAVE A LIVE-IN MAID AND COOK!!! If you can't be happy with a maid and cook you don't deserve anything resembling happiness and I'm buggered if I can be bothered finishing a book with these types of people as tragic hero's. If anything, it actually made me more Pro-Castro than I already was :-D
It's all just so boring. The writing is boring. The characters are boring. Everyone is so miserable that they can't return to Cuba that they are incapable of seeing any joy in anything at all. Case in point, there's a girl complaining about how awful life is and that they had to leave their good cutlery in Cuba BUT HER FAMILY HAVE A LIVE-IN MAID AND COOK!!! If you can't be happy with a maid and cook you don't deserve anything resembling happiness and I'm buggered if I can be bothered finishing a book with these types of people as tragic hero's. If anything, it actually made me more Pro-Castro than I already was :-D
ericamh_'s review
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0