tazrean's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-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? No
4.0
claudia_is_reading's review against another edition
4.0
This is a book about identity, about uprooting, about being queer inside a macho community, and about family.
It's about Juani and all her wrong choices, about making mistakes and get angry and being hurt until you finally get to understand who you really are.
I really liked it =D
And even when at first I didn't enjoy Ruth Oakes' voice, soon I got used to it and savoured her narration.
It's about Juani and all her wrong choices, about making mistakes and get angry and being hurt until you finally get to understand who you really are.
I really liked it =D
And even when at first I didn't enjoy Ruth Oakes' voice, soon I got used to it and savoured her narration.
shelikeswaves's review
4.0
Of all the Caribbean literature I've read this term, it is this, this odd, disturbing, frustrating novel, which has had the greatest impact on me.
I'd like to think that it isn't because I identify with the narrator; Juani Casas, twenty four years old, Cuban-American, lesbian, terminally incapable of taking a stand about anything in her life. Juani leads the reader through a tangled web of memory, family, politics and sexuality, paying attention to all the wrong things and striking out at those around her in her attempts to uncover a truth that may or may not exist. She's infuriating, unable to fully emphathise with the other characters, unable to drag herself out of the rut she's in.
And yet, Obejas draws me in, Juani's impossible dance speaking to something within me which I would prefer to ignore. The sense of displacement and suspension in the novel is really striking; the narrator is caught between two nations, between love and frustration, between family and her desire for truth. There is no real resolution here, just a hurricane of doubt and anger puctuated by the occasional calm of sensuality, or by the urgency of sex, or by distrubing power strugles.
A moving, honest and intruiging look at questions of sexuality, nationality, and identity.
I'd like to think that it isn't because I identify with the narrator; Juani Casas, twenty four years old, Cuban-American, lesbian, terminally incapable of taking a stand about anything in her life. Juani leads the reader through a tangled web of memory, family, politics and sexuality, paying attention to all the wrong things and striking out at those around her in her attempts to uncover a truth that may or may not exist. She's infuriating, unable to fully emphathise with the other characters, unable to drag herself out of the rut she's in.
And yet, Obejas draws me in, Juani's impossible dance speaking to something within me which I would prefer to ignore. The sense of displacement and suspension in the novel is really striking; the narrator is caught between two nations, between love and frustration, between family and her desire for truth. There is no real resolution here, just a hurricane of doubt and anger puctuated by the occasional calm of sensuality, or by the urgency of sex, or by distrubing power strugles.
A moving, honest and intruiging look at questions of sexuality, nationality, and identity.
taratearex's review
4.0
about a cuban lesbian living in chicago, about adjusting to american culture, being a lesbian, exile, cuba . . . i read it in high school and really really liked it, a lot of strange events, and great stories about life in cuba.
rubyxcube130's review
DNFed with like 15 minutes left in the audiobook so I'm saying I read it
maddieshort00's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
This was read for class and I found it the most emotionally challenging read so far this semester. It was helpful to have a discussion about it as we read to process some of the things that come up in discussing memory and power in these stories.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Child abuse
Moderate: Domestic abuse
werds's review against another edition
2.0
Don't like that I didn't like it more: https://recenseernogeenkeer.wordpress.com/2016/05/12/memory-mambo/
jaycatt7's review against another edition
3.0
This was more the story of a family than a person. We moved backwards and forwards through time, exploring memory and truth.
I'm glad I read it, but I'm not quite sure what to say about it, at least without spoiling the ending.
I'm glad I read it, but I'm not quite sure what to say about it, at least without spoiling the ending.
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