jessikaw's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
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
4.25
kadecrash's review against another edition
5.0
This novel has left me in an emotional daze. To start off with, I picked this book up as a reccomended authentic voice as opposed to American Dirt. The novel has a steady pace with a nuanced voice from our main character, Chula. I truly believed in the young girl's narrative that I was hearing. This book broke my heart in a lot of different ways. I definitely reccomend reading it if you are looking for a story that does not exploit a culture for shock value, but tells a genuine experience and that is not overly embellished traumaporn.
sandras's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-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? Yes
4.25
emmajs15's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
nerdyrev's review against another edition
4.0
Wow! I came across this book during the whole American Dirt controversy. I started looking for more own voices books and found this one. Told back and forth between a wealthy family and a young girl who lives in deep poverty, it takes place during Pablo Escobar’s reign.
The young girl finds herself working for the family and befriends their young daughter. The family is trying to survive as the world around them falls into warfare with young men who are guerrillas in Escobar’s world.
The young girl has her own life to lead as well as she has lost her brothers to guerrillas and lives deep within that world. Her family is always on the brink of being invaded and taken over in their literal shack.
The issue is the young girl begins to fall for a guerrilla. Will she bring her reality into the rich family’s world?
Great storytelling with snippets of the families’ lives as they inch closer and closer together. There is always tension as you begin to guess what the young girl will do.
The young girl finds herself working for the family and befriends their young daughter. The family is trying to survive as the world around them falls into warfare with young men who are guerrillas in Escobar’s world.
The young girl has her own life to lead as well as she has lost her brothers to guerrillas and lives deep within that world. Her family is always on the brink of being invaded and taken over in their literal shack.
The issue is the young girl begins to fall for a guerrilla. Will she bring her reality into the rich family’s world?
Great storytelling with snippets of the families’ lives as they inch closer and closer together. There is always tension as you begin to guess what the young girl will do.
safsaf118's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
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? Yes
4.25
I was so invested in this story and just on the edge of my seat the whole time. It was so interesting to see the story through the perspective of someone who is a little bit lost on what's actually happening, and then try to piece together from between the lines. This is such a genuinely gripping read, and I recommend it so often.
king_rune's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
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
4.0
laviskrg's review against another edition
5.0
Man, where do I begin?
This is one of the best and most heartbreaking books I've read in recent times. It is a harrowing, real, accurate and important depiction of the Pablo Escobar years in Colombia, written as a child of a middle-class family would experience it all. It is the story of trauma affecting so-called "rich" children, bridging class and race and culture and proving that pain is something felt across social spectrums, diverse in its manifestation but real and visceral nonetheless.
Comparison with the works of my favourite author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez is unjust and based solely on geographical location. This book is not magical realism (my favourite genre) and that is more than okay because it does not need to be. It is gloriously descriptive, intimate, familiar and foreign at the same time. It is a story of a normal family living abnormal times, closer to the present than is comfortable.
It is also the story of another representative of a class even more victimised by narco war and paramilitary corruption and abuse, Petrona, a poor girl from the favela, whose life is constructed on horrendous pain and unstoppable loss. Petrona was not the strong point of the novel, however, I much preferred the more personal viewpoints of Chula and Cassandra. But Petrona opens the readers' eyes on a Bogota which is both thoroughly neglected and perversely fetishized, though a sadder reality than is comfortable for tourists and series watchers.
This book is tremendous and difficult to swallow but infinitely readable.
This is one of the best and most heartbreaking books I've read in recent times. It is a harrowing, real, accurate and important depiction of the Pablo Escobar years in Colombia, written as a child of a middle-class family would experience it all. It is the story of trauma affecting so-called "rich" children, bridging class and race and culture and proving that pain is something felt across social spectrums, diverse in its manifestation but real and visceral nonetheless.
Comparison with the works of my favourite author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez is unjust and based solely on geographical location. This book is not magical realism (my favourite genre) and that is more than okay because it does not need to be. It is gloriously descriptive, intimate, familiar and foreign at the same time. It is a story of a normal family living abnormal times, closer to the present than is comfortable.
It is also the story of another representative of a class even more victimised by narco war and paramilitary corruption and abuse, Petrona, a poor girl from the favela, whose life is constructed on horrendous pain and unstoppable loss. Petrona was not the strong point of the novel, however, I much preferred the more personal viewpoints of Chula and Cassandra. But Petrona opens the readers' eyes on a Bogota which is both thoroughly neglected and perversely fetishized, though a sadder reality than is comfortable for tourists and series watchers.
This book is tremendous and difficult to swallow but infinitely readable.
karimorton33's review against another edition
3.0
I liked that this book was about something I don’t know much about, and that it was from the perspective of children experiencing it. I did find myself confused at times though, and wish more of the story had been from Petrona’s perspective. (Read for Central Book Club)