Reviews with content warning for Police brutality - Next Year in Havana

Since it’s fiction, I know to take it with a grain of salt, but I appreciated hearing about the history and cultural background of Cuba. However, I found it hard to care deeply about what was happening since there were quite a few people involved in the story and the setup was hard to follow at times with the changing perspectives/timelines.

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seforaflorian's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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mariposa517's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

I enjoy the storyline, family, relationships, and romances in both the past and present timelines. There are many nuanced discussions about Cuba’s history and recent politics throughout the book.

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kelly_e's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Title: Next Year in Havana
Author: Chanel Cleeton
Series: The Perez Family #1
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 4.25
Pub Date: February 6, 2018

T H R E E • W O R D S

Passionate • Intimate • Atmospheric

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Havana, 1958. Elisa Perez, the nineteen-year-old daughter of a sugar baron, is part of Cuba's high society. Largely sheltered from the country's growing political unrest, she embarks on a clandestine affair with a passionate revolutionary; an event that will change her life forever. As will being forced to flee her native land with her family under growing unrest.

Miami, 2017: In the wake of her beloved grandmother's death, Marisol, a Cuban-American is faced with carrying out her grandmother, Elisa's, last wish - to return to her country of birth and to scatter her ashes. While in Cuba, Marisol will come face-to-face with the country's contrasting identities; unearthing a family secret hidden for generations, and learning the true meaning of courage.

💭 T H O U G H T S

Next Year in Havana wasn't at all what I was expecting (although I am not exactly sure what that was), and I was pleasantly surprised with how this story gripped my attention and taught me so much about a history I knew very little about.

This first installment in The Perez Family series is the perfect combination of mystery, history, and romance. Told is dual timelines, it compared and contrasted past and present day Cuba, as well as comparing the lives of war-torn Cubans. It opened my eyes to a different place than what I know, and see in all the vacation/tourism photos. I always have a deep appreciation for books that send me on a deep dive into researching and learning more, and this was certainly one of those books.

The atmospheric writing transported me into the story, and somehow felt very regency era-esque. At times, the structure made it so I forgot about the other timeline, and because the two had so many parallels, I sometimes mixed up small details. It is highly detailed, and lagged a little because of this. One of my favourite elements is the grandmother/granddaughter relationship, and how Marisol wanted to know her family history.

A story filled with intrigue, family secrets, identity, loyalty and forbidden love, Next Year in Havana weaves a beautiful tale of Cuban political history. It definitely left me thinking about the amount of families who have similar secrets. I look forward to continuing on in the series and learning more about the Perez family.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of family sagas
• historical romance and fiction enthusiasts

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"You never know what's to come. That is the beauty of life. If everything happened the way we wished, the way we planned, we'd miss out on the best parts, the unexpected pleasures."

"War is never anything other than bad, and anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar."

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eesti23's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

"Lucia is your father's daughter -- confident, determined, driven. She pushes herself constantly; for her, the accomplishment is in the attempt."

"'Terrible things rarely happen all at once', she answers. 'They're incremental, so people don't realise how bad things have gotten until it's too late.'"

"That's the thing about death -- even when you think someone is gone, glimpses of them remain in those they loved and left behind."

"You never know what's to come. That's the beauty of life. If everything happened the way we wished, the way we planned, we'd miss out on the best parts, the unexpected pleasures."

I loved Next Year in Havana. Granted I was in need of some distraction, but I don't think that's all it was. I loved the history, the twists and turns, and the

two love stories

. When the book finished, I wasn't ready for it to be over and I am really glad that there are other connected stories to read. Now I just need to eat some ropa vieja.

Learned lots about Cuba, looked many things up, and a really enjoyable read.

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caseythereader's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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kaylamoran's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this so much more than I thought I would. It was beautifully written. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for more of Chanel Cleeton's books.

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jeanniea's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Elisa's story is much more enticing than Marisol's. Felt that a different approach to Marisol's character and storyline would've made for a more interesting story. Marisol was a REALLY annoying character at times. Almost DNFed it because of her character.

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