Scan barcode
ashleysbookthoughts's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
3.0
I suggest reading the author’s note prior to beginning this book, because it made some things make a lot more sense (like why the main characters have his same last name). Apparently Teresita, the Hummingbird’s daughter, was a real person and distant relative of the author, and thus a bit of a family legend. I’d never heard of her before picking up this book (and I’d never heard of the book until I got it in my @pageonebooks box). I ended up looking her up and it seems he tried to be faithful to the facts as they’ve been reported.
I have a hard time with this sort of historical fiction where the characters are real people who really lived and an author is assuming their thoughts, feelings, and opinions. It makes me, personally, feel just a bit icky.
But, Teresita’s story as being and becoming the Saint of Cabora is interesting. I loved the parts of the book that centered her, as opposed to the parts that were focused on her father. I especially loved Huila, the grumpy and unconventional medicine woman who took Teresita under her wing.
My biggest complaint about the book is that it’s at least 100 pages too long. There were long sections that just listed the events of the day (we got separate lists of each of Tomas’s daily meals in an under two page span) with no sense of purpose. But then other sections were tense and captivating. The pacing was all over the place.
The book was interesting, but I think I’d rather read a nonfiction account of Teresita’s life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Infidelity, Blood, Excrement, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual assault, Violence, and War
sherbertwells's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The (fictionalized) first twenty years in the life of Teresa Urrea, Mexican folk saint and revolutionary. Even if this book isn’t a modern classic like it wants to be, it’s probably the most well-written, exciting story I’ve read this summer.
“All these women, Huila thought: Mothers of God…These twisted ones tied to their pallets, these barren ones, these married ones, these abandoned ones, these whores, these hungry ones, these thieves, these drunks, these mestizas, these lovers of other women, these Indians, and these littlest ones who faced unknowable tomorrows. Mothers of God. If it was a sin to think so, she would face God and ask Him why” (92)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Medical content, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence
Minor: Racism