tammiesven's review against another edition
1.0
I could not buy into this book for a second. Well, maybe for the first few chapters and then it just got stupid.
Spoilers:
Here is where the book lost me. Gloria's husband is a homocidal, pedophile mafioso. However, very little in Gloria's or Patricio's behavior indicates that at all. So Cesar bludgeoned someone to death in the dressing room, but hey I'm gonna come over (P) and see you (G) in the middle of the night. And G is just going to say hey come on in and come up to my daughter's room and wake her and say hi and give her a book because children always keep secrets and being upstairs with me is so cool with my husband And oh here is my husband, no problem P was just delivering shoes. Ha ha no worries. Oh and Cesar likes 14 yo girls and he tried to get busy with your daughter but like she told him off and so he just backs off and hey everything is OK now. Nothing to worry about.
There was so much more. The writing wasn't great. The character development was lacking. Patricio begins the book and a fun loving charmer and then that just disappears. I honestly can't even believe i finished this book. Sorry. I wanted to like it.
Spoilers:
Here is where the book lost me. Gloria's husband is a homocidal, pedophile mafioso. However, very little in Gloria's or Patricio's behavior indicates that at all. So Cesar bludgeoned someone to death in the dressing room, but hey I'm gonna come over (P) and see you (G) in the middle of the night. And G is just going to say hey come on in and come up to my daughter's room and wake her and say hi and give her a book because children always keep secrets and being upstairs with me is so cool with my husband And oh here is my husband, no problem P was just delivering shoes. Ha ha no worries. Oh and Cesar likes 14 yo girls and he tried to get busy with your daughter but like she told him off and so he just backs off and hey everything is OK now. Nothing to worry about.
There was so much more. The writing wasn't great. The character development was lacking. Patricio begins the book and a fun loving charmer and then that just disappears. I honestly can't even believe i finished this book. Sorry. I wanted to like it.
alsudik's review
emotional
funny
inspiring
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? It's complicated
4.0
veirago's review
5.0
Captured my heart and soul
This book was incredible. I read it in three days. The setting is so rich with detail, and the characters are incredibly relatable. Gotta go wipe the tears from my eyes.
This book was incredible. I read it in three days. The setting is so rich with detail, and the characters are incredibly relatable. Gotta go wipe the tears from my eyes.
rachelmabarca's review
5.0
Still Crying
Oh. My. Goodness. This book was phenomenal. Once I got past the first half, I couldn’t read it fast enough! (The first half was incredible, too, but had a few places to take a pause.) I have been entranced by mid-century Cuba for a good while, and this book brought it to life. Hardly at all about the Revolution, so I would call it Period Fiction, if that’s a thing. I’m most impressed by the storytelling (in a translated language!) in the voices of a male and female, written and translated by females. The story is so believable, and unpredictable. A story of love, of bravery, of fortune and misfortune. This story will never leave me.
Oh. My. Goodness. This book was phenomenal. Once I got past the first half, I couldn’t read it fast enough! (The first half was incredible, too, but had a few places to take a pause.) I have been entranced by mid-century Cuba for a good while, and this book brought it to life. Hardly at all about the Revolution, so I would call it Period Fiction, if that’s a thing. I’m most impressed by the storytelling (in a translated language!) in the voices of a male and female, written and translated by females. The story is so believable, and unpredictable. A story of love, of bravery, of fortune and misfortune. This story will never leave me.
kieran317's review
3.0
I’m horrible at reading just one book at a time so this one jumped the line a bit. I am a major fan of diversifying the authors and subjects of the books in your library, so when kindle released nine international books for free I downloaded all of them! This is the fourth of them that I’ve read and I feel a bit conflicted about it! The timeline and setting were really interesting to me and of course I’m a sucker so I cried at the end- but I don’t actually think it was well written. Characters were a little undeveloped, the storyline was choppy, and the love involved wasn’t really convincing to me at all until the last page. I’m not sure I recommend this book unless anything romance is your fave!
stellarstar's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Fascinating history - This is a pretty good translation, but I suspect the original Cuban Spanish ? is much more powerful, colourful and passionate.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
claudyne's review against another edition
3.0
It was fine
I don’t usually read romance novels like this. It’s a cute story if you want a distraction from the pandemic.
I don’t usually read romance novels like this. It’s a cute story if you want a distraction from the pandemic.