A review by bookmindedmag
Taína by Ernesto Quiñonez

4.0

I really enjoyed this book, even though I still feel like some things were unresolved. To be honest, I was more intrigued by the mothers’ backstories than the main one. Reading about what their lives were like as young women and best friends, the good and the bad, was way more interesting. But what really stood out was Spanish Harlem and what it’s like to live there. Gentrification is changing it rapidly, making it as boring as the suburbs. But for the Latino families who still live there, it is a vibrant and very close-knit area full of people who are holding on to their homes with a death grip (as they should). For good or ill, Spanish Harlem is a special place and the author basically writes a love letter to it. I loved the ending because it reminded me of the times my family had parties in the Bronx, dancing and singing to Hector Lavoe, Willie Colon and the other Latin greats of that time.