Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - Familia

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Familia by Lauren E. Rico

4 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional lighthearted mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.5

I’m reluctant to give this a four because I’m still kinda angry about the way the story unfolded. I want all the secrets revealed so that everyone can move on with a clear conscience, but there were still so many secrets held at the end of the book, and it felt like the story was never going to end with every new secret being revealed. It was a good book, and I would’ve given it a four if there had been even one less secret.

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leslie_overbookedsocialworker's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious fast-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

4.5

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alexutzu's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author and narrators for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

This was an unexpectedly nice book to listen to. The plot and hooked me and the pace of the story was not too slow either. I really liked the different narrators, they had great storytelling abilities. The alternating plans and the multitude of characters made the plot a bit confusing to listen to at some points, though.

I also enjoyed the cultural elements of the book and its overall positive vibe towards life, family and relationships. The characters didn't seem very lovable at first, but they grew in my eyes through the story due to their development and interesting humour. The plot twists kept happening and making me wonder about what's next! Not the most realistic plot, but exciting, emotional and somewhat deep.

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theliteraryteapot's review

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dark mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

Thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Familia is a contemporary novel focusing on, as the title says it all, family and past tragedies through following two protagonists solving a mystery after a DNA test and matching.

I found the premise intriguing as I never really thought much about DNA testing. The different perspectives are interesting and made me curious about this thing: what happens when you actually get your results and find out something, like a relative, a new family, or that your whole life is a lie? What do you make of it? Do you shrug and forget about it, or do you try to learn a bit about this part of yourself? You may start questioning your entire existence, have an identity crisis, etc. It can for sure be a life changing event. And I think it's nice to have a book about this topic.

I enjoyed Familia. It wasn't too long nor too short. I thought the story was told well through the structure of the book and its narration. I liked the author's prose was well; simple, not poetic but not too much dialogue. The mystery part of the novel was good, obviously you want to know. Because of the first chapter, I don't think the mystery is about the DNA test result, but clearly more about what went wrong to lead to this. I think the main theme remains family, with the classic questions: what it means, does blood only make family, are you willing to start bonding with a newly found family member, and so on.

There were a lot of different points of vue and I have to say I sometimes got lost, in particular regarding the recurrent characters and the chapters in the past but it's fine. I personally think that Isabella's pov was the most interesting. She could be annoying at times, being a little naive and not taking into account Gabby's feelings about this whole situation they were both in. Obviously, her way of seeing things is understandable. Nevertheless, the author gives Isabella a well appreciated character development.

This book takes place for the most part in Puerto Rico. I can't really say anything about the representation of Puerto Rico and the Latino/hispanic culture as it is not my place. The only thing I will say though is how I wasn't too sure about the constant reminders that certain places were far from being safe, and the whole "drugs, crime, child traffic" thing because in my opinion it lacked nuance. I feel like I didn't get to see another side of Puerto Rico? From my small experience, Latinos and their culture are often represented as that old 'criminals' cliché. Then again, I don't know how valid my opinion is. But is there enough of a balanced, or enough of a positive, latino representation in general so these themes can still take so much space in one book? It is noted in the preface of the book that the author has origins from Puerto Rico through her grandparents and she clearly stated she wanted to give justice to the Puerto Rico of her grandparents, that she meant well. So maybe this lack of nuance comes more from her own unconscious American and western vision of Puerto Rico and Latin America in general.

If you want to read about family, DNA testing consequences in a Puerto Rico setting with a touch of mystery novel, then go for it. Be very careful with the trigger warnings.

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