untitledlullaby's review
1.0
I like the cover but I can’t stand the outdated lingo. It makes for a hard cringy read. I do not like the authors writing style either. DTF
brice's review
4.0
Manuprāt, šī grāmata patiesi varētu būt par iemeslu latviešu tūristu pieplūdumam Kubā.
Plašāks apraksts blogā: https://gramatas.austra.lv/2019/07/01/toms-kreicbergs-havanas-kaku-karalis/
Plašāks apraksts blogā: https://gramatas.austra.lv/2019/07/01/toms-kreicbergs-havanas-kaku-karalis/
lpcoolgirl's review against another edition
5.0
This was a fun read, Rick was geeky and fun to read about, with his attempts to learn to dance to impress a girl, and learning about his mom's side of the family!
islandgeekgirl's review
4.0
I wasn't too sure what to expect going into this book. I fell in love with the cover. It looked fun and it immediately had my interest. Internet cat videos, salsa dancing, a bit of a dirty dancing feel, and a family mystery. I couldn't wait to crack the spine(not literally of course). It was one of those books I didn't know I wanted to read until I was reading it.
I really liked Rick, the main character. He was very skilled at editing videos of cats and had made a name for himself doing it, along with some money, but those skills and fame didn't translate to popularity in school. He had a sense of humour that I loved, very self-deprecating and aware, and he was not perfect, nor did he try to be perfect. He did want to better himself, part of the reason he decided to take salsa dancing, and it was his struggle to do this and his journey to discover more about himself that made him an extremely relatable character.
I also loved the dynamics between Rick and Ana. There was nothing insta about them. Rick had a crush on her but she had no interest in him and she wasn't going to suddenly change her mind just because he was the hero of the story.
I thought everything flowed well together. There were times when the plot was slow but not in a way where I was bored. There was a good balance between funny scenes and the more serious ones. The descriptions of everything, Cuba, dance, the setting, were very vivid. Everything worked well together to make a really great read.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I really liked Rick, the main character. He was very skilled at editing videos of cats and had made a name for himself doing it, along with some money, but those skills and fame didn't translate to popularity in school. He had a sense of humour that I loved, very self-deprecating and aware, and he was not perfect, nor did he try to be perfect. He did want to better himself, part of the reason he decided to take salsa dancing, and it was his struggle to do this and his journey to discover more about himself that made him an extremely relatable character.
I also loved the dynamics between Rick and Ana. There was nothing insta about them. Rick had a crush on her but she had no interest in him and she wasn't going to suddenly change her mind just because he was the hero of the story.
I thought everything flowed well together. There were times when the plot was slow but not in a way where I was bored. There was a good balance between funny scenes and the more serious ones. The descriptions of everything, Cuba, dance, the setting, were very vivid. Everything worked well together to make a really great read.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
katrinamarie's review
4.0
This review was originally posted on Bookish Things & More
Even with the darker sides, this is a fun read. I loved seeing everything Rick did to learn salsa, and seeing him around his family that he's never met. It's the perfect book to wind down from the summer days.
5 Reasons to read The Cat King of Havana
Even with the darker sides, this is a fun read. I loved seeing everything Rick did to learn salsa, and seeing him around his family that he's never met. It's the perfect book to wind down from the summer days.
abbymads3n's review against another edition
4.0
I thought the book started out very, very slow, and didn't get interesting until the last 3 chapters. The beginning was a little confusing, but i has to get the right mind set on reading this book. Rick was a little to into Ana. I also didn't like Yosvany, at All!! But my favorite character was Yolanda, because she was powerful and has the courage to stand up against the government in Cuba. I thought this was a good book, it just could of used more action.
rocketrabbits's review against another edition
I really love the whole cuban aspect of the book, it just felt so... real. We see the good, but we see the not so good parts too. I don't really know how I feel about the characters though, (especially that one cousin)
miezhuks's review against another edition
4.0
I was not a big fan of the book at first, but the writing, plot and ideas grew along with the protagonist. I also did not expect the slight YA elements (maybe it was not meant like it at all, and was fully misunderstood by me, but it made the book a bit more special to me), which truly connected to the setting and the main ideas of the book.
There were many similarities with John Green's writing (although that is not what the book is about), but I would even say that the execution was a lot better :)
There were many similarities with John Green's writing (although that is not what the book is about), but I would even say that the execution was a lot better :)
samwlabb's review against another edition
4.0
This was a fun, quirky and heartfelt coming of age story with dancing, Cuba, and lolcats. Our MC, Rick started a cat video site following his mother's death after discovering a folder full of humorous cat videos. In an attempt to know his mother better, and to get closer to his crush, Ana, he embarks on a trip to visit family in Cuba.
The answer is no. Both Ana and Rick grew and changed so much from their visit to Cuba. They fell in love, they had their hearts broken, they made mistakes. They also danced, laughed, and lived. This was quite a coming of age story. I have never been to Cuba, but I feel like I know so much about this country now. The way Crosshill painted the scenery and filled it with dancing and music, created quite a vivid picture of Cuba for me.
Rick was a fantastic protagonist. I wanted so much for him, and I couldn't help cheering when he succeeded or dropping my head when he was defeated. There are many humorous and smile inducing parts, but there were also many heartfelt moments. I admired the choices Rick made, which were not always in his best interest, but rather, the best interests of others.
Overall - a quirky and wonderful coming of age story filled with love, family, and dancing.
"It's hard to believe we're going back to our old lives tomorrow," Ana said to me halfway to Cancun.
"Are we?" I asked her.
The answer is no. Both Ana and Rick grew and changed so much from their visit to Cuba. They fell in love, they had their hearts broken, they made mistakes. They also danced, laughed, and lived. This was quite a coming of age story. I have never been to Cuba, but I feel like I know so much about this country now. The way Crosshill painted the scenery and filled it with dancing and music, created quite a vivid picture of Cuba for me.
Rick was a fantastic protagonist. I wanted so much for him, and I couldn't help cheering when he succeeded or dropping my head when he was defeated. There are many humorous and smile inducing parts, but there were also many heartfelt moments. I admired the choices Rick made, which were not always in his best interest, but rather, the best interests of others.
Overall - a quirky and wonderful coming of age story filled with love, family, and dancing.
sofiaxaguilar's review against another edition
5.0
"The Cat King of Havana" by Tom Crosshill follows the misadventures of Rick Gutierrez, an entrepreneur of hilarious cat videos for views. When his girlfriend Rachel dumps him because of this time-consuming (and very nerdy) hobby, he decides to turn his life around and start taking salsa dancing classes. Yes, it's to connect with his Cuban roots, but it's also to spend time with Ana Cabrera, the fiery and beautiful salsa dance teacher. Rick soon invites her to spend the summer in Cuba with him and his family, but what he thinks is a romantic getaway quickly turns into a political scandal, which will reveal the dark side of the island and why his mother left all those years ago.
I first saw this book at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena. What really caught my eye was the vibrancy of the cover and the uniqueness of the title. Reading the synopsis on the inside cover only heightened my interest, and I would've bought it right there and then had it not been for the realization that I had no money. So here I am several months later, borrowing it from the library and wishing that I could buy my own copy because that's just how wonderful it is. Let me explain.
I love the writing and how interesting Rick's voice was throughout the novel. Tom Crosshill had that coveted ability to make even the most mundane things sound interesting. I enjoyed the mix of Spanish words with English, but more than once, I had to look up foreign terms when I couldn't tell the meaning from the context. If you want to read this book and you don't know Spanish, you could just skip those parts, but I would highly recommend looking them up for yourself because they deserve to be understood. Sometimes Crosshill did translate them, but he didn't keep it up consistently. (It's not bad, but that might be a turn-off to some readers.) Here's a little quote that I really liked because of how interesting it was phrased:
"Many patches of shadow hid amidst the brightness, where only isolated streetlights flowed like individual pearls sown on black fabric."
Though he is not Cuban himself, I could tell how much research he had done to make the story as authentic as possible. He not only consulted actual Cuban natives, but also lived there himself for several years. The way he described both the bad and beautiful parts made me want to visit Cuba for myself. But he also kept it real. One of my favorite parts was when Rick and Ana was meeting Miranda, one of his cousin's political blogger friends:
"Ana here just told me she wanted to get to know the real Cuba."
Miranda's eyes snapped to Ana, sharp and steady. "The real Cuba? As opposed to what?"
Ana hesitated as if sensing a trap, then shrugged. "All this tourist stuff. 'El Cuarto de Tula' on every corner. People yelling 'taxi!' in your face. Shops selling pictures of Fidel and Che and old American cars."
"You think that's not the real Cuba? What''s not real about spending ten hours in the street to get a few dollars off some tourist so you can buy something to eat? Dinner's about as real as it gets, girl."
Miranda then goes on to say that tourists are always wanting to know the dark secrets of Cuba just so that they write something about it on Facebook and feel better about themselves even though they didn't do anything. I realized that whenever I go to a foreign country, I always want to see past the tourist attractions for the realness because that's how I view Los Angeles. It's more than the Hollywood sign and the Walk of Fame and Sunset Boulevard. There's so much about the city that tourists don't get to see, but this book made me view that attitude differently. Because the U.S. isn't like other countries. Sure, there are vendors trying to make a quick buck off tourists just like any other place, but it isn't a main source of income for most of them. In other countries, it's a matter of survival, and as Miranda said, that's "all real as it gets."
At first, Rick's obsession with cat videos was cute, but I didn't really see how it fit into the bigger picture. But then he began using the cats as metaphors. For example, he compared himself at one moment to a cat in a video that was trying to jump onto a kitchen counter but kept failing. His knowledge about computers was also incredibly relevant to the story because at one point, he encrypts photos and an important video so avoid the Cuban government intercepting them.
His character development is also astonishing over the course of the story. He starts out as this shy, mousy kid who couldn't dance to save his life, to becoming mature and confident, even dancing on live TV with Ana! It was so satisfying to watch him grow. And I was also in constant awe of Ana. Their relationship reminded me of the movie "500 Days of Summer," where Ana is this girl who isn't sure if she even believes in love and Rick is the nerdy guy doing anything he can to make her love him. Let's just say the it ends the way it should.
Overall, I highly enjoyed this book and I could recommend it to anyone who's looking for a fresh new voice in the young adult fiction genre.
I first saw this book at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena. What really caught my eye was the vibrancy of the cover and the uniqueness of the title. Reading the synopsis on the inside cover only heightened my interest, and I would've bought it right there and then had it not been for the realization that I had no money. So here I am several months later, borrowing it from the library and wishing that I could buy my own copy because that's just how wonderful it is. Let me explain.
I love the writing and how interesting Rick's voice was throughout the novel. Tom Crosshill had that coveted ability to make even the most mundane things sound interesting. I enjoyed the mix of Spanish words with English, but more than once, I had to look up foreign terms when I couldn't tell the meaning from the context. If you want to read this book and you don't know Spanish, you could just skip those parts, but I would highly recommend looking them up for yourself because they deserve to be understood. Sometimes Crosshill did translate them, but he didn't keep it up consistently. (It's not bad, but that might be a turn-off to some readers.) Here's a little quote that I really liked because of how interesting it was phrased:
"Many patches of shadow hid amidst the brightness, where only isolated streetlights flowed like individual pearls sown on black fabric."
Though he is not Cuban himself, I could tell how much research he had done to make the story as authentic as possible. He not only consulted actual Cuban natives, but also lived there himself for several years. The way he described both the bad and beautiful parts made me want to visit Cuba for myself. But he also kept it real. One of my favorite parts was when Rick and Ana was meeting Miranda, one of his cousin's political blogger friends:
"Ana here just told me she wanted to get to know the real Cuba."
Miranda's eyes snapped to Ana, sharp and steady. "The real Cuba? As opposed to what?"
Ana hesitated as if sensing a trap, then shrugged. "All this tourist stuff. 'El Cuarto de Tula' on every corner. People yelling 'taxi!' in your face. Shops selling pictures of Fidel and Che and old American cars."
"You think that's not the real Cuba? What''s not real about spending ten hours in the street to get a few dollars off some tourist so you can buy something to eat? Dinner's about as real as it gets, girl."
Miranda then goes on to say that tourists are always wanting to know the dark secrets of Cuba just so that they write something about it on Facebook and feel better about themselves even though they didn't do anything. I realized that whenever I go to a foreign country, I always want to see past the tourist attractions for the realness because that's how I view Los Angeles. It's more than the Hollywood sign and the Walk of Fame and Sunset Boulevard. There's so much about the city that tourists don't get to see, but this book made me view that attitude differently. Because the U.S. isn't like other countries. Sure, there are vendors trying to make a quick buck off tourists just like any other place, but it isn't a main source of income for most of them. In other countries, it's a matter of survival, and as Miranda said, that's "all real as it gets."
At first, Rick's obsession with cat videos was cute, but I didn't really see how it fit into the bigger picture. But then he began using the cats as metaphors. For example, he compared himself at one moment to a cat in a video that was trying to jump onto a kitchen counter but kept failing. His knowledge about computers was also incredibly relevant to the story because at one point, he encrypts photos and an important video so avoid the Cuban government intercepting them.
His character development is also astonishing over the course of the story. He starts out as this shy, mousy kid who couldn't dance to save his life, to becoming mature and confident, even dancing on live TV with Ana! It was so satisfying to watch him grow. And I was also in constant awe of Ana. Their relationship reminded me of the movie "500 Days of Summer," where Ana is this girl who isn't sure if she even believes in love and Rick is the nerdy guy doing anything he can to make her love him. Let's just say the it ends the way it should.
Overall, I highly enjoyed this book and I could recommend it to anyone who's looking for a fresh new voice in the young adult fiction genre.