A review by mmccombs
Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine

emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

2.5

I really really wanted to love this one. As someone born and raised in Denver and a sucker for multigenerational stories, I preordered this book so fast. So to say I am disappointed actually pains me!! So much!! I think all of the elements for something great were there, but it lacked cohesion and a through-line. I think this would have been stronger had it just been told linerally or had all of the flashbacks been more related to Luz and her ability to see/connect to her family through time. Everything felt disconnected, I often felt confused about who was who, and I never quite grasped the “why” behind any specific scene. There was not a real plot, it was perhaps more of a character and setting study, but I expected to connect more with the characters because of the lack of plot. I kept waiting for a thing to happen, some kind of big fallout from a bunch of build up, but nothing ever came. There was kind of a weird love interest thing that happened at the end, which to me felt unnecessary when we could have focused more on Luz’s family. I especially wanted to know more about Maria Josefina and Desiderya Lopez, they were compelling but we only got glimpses of them. This is a long and rambly way to say, this just didn’t work. The writing was there and it shined an important light on the history of Indigenous and Latine people in Denver, it just lacked organization and focus.
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