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A review by heidiliz
Colibri by Ann Cameron
3.0
3.5*
"My real name, Tzunun, was a secret I had almost forgotten"
I'm honestly surprised this is one of the first books I've read that takes place in Guatemala. But I'm happy I read this because damn were parts of it so good.
The entire premise of the book was promising. A four-year-old is kidnapped from her parents and the story takes place when she's 12. The person that tried to sell her off to an adoption agency fails because she's too old so he results in being her "caretaker" but that only means he uses her to scam people. He's a con-artist and thief that pretends to be blind in order to gain sympathy and money from people. And the only reason he actually keeps her around is because of a fortune-teller once told him that Tzunun (or Rosa as he renamed her) will lead him to treasure.
I think the reason I liked it a lot was because even though it seems like a book of fiction, it actually has historical characteristics of the country. I could only imagine how often these kidnappings occur. And for the first time in a while, I actually enjoyed reading a book about a character that is 12 years old.
While this book was great in some parts, I found that it lacked in others. And that's not to say it should be changed because it shouldn't. I just personally didn't enjoy certain aspects of it as I had wanted to. And maybe it was because I was listening to it as an audiobook. Not a great book but not a horrible book. It was a good book.
"My real name, Tzunun, was a secret I had almost forgotten"
I'm honestly surprised this is one of the first books I've read that takes place in Guatemala. But I'm happy I read this because damn were parts of it so good.
The entire premise of the book was promising. A four-year-old is kidnapped from her parents and the story takes place when she's 12. The person that tried to sell her off to an adoption agency fails because she's too old so he results in being her "caretaker" but that only means he uses her to scam people. He's a con-artist and thief that pretends to be blind in order to gain sympathy and money from people. And the only reason he actually keeps her around is because of a fortune-teller once told him that Tzunun (or Rosa as he renamed her) will lead him to treasure.
I think the reason I liked it a lot was because even though it seems like a book of fiction, it actually has historical characteristics of the country. I could only imagine how often these kidnappings occur. And for the first time in a while, I actually enjoyed reading a book about a character that is 12 years old.
While this book was great in some parts, I found that it lacked in others. And that's not to say it should be changed because it shouldn't. I just personally didn't enjoy certain aspects of it as I had wanted to. And maybe it was because I was listening to it as an audiobook. Not a great book but not a horrible book. It was a good book.