A review by cassidee_omnilegent
Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton

4.0

This was such a quick listen for me! Next Year in Havana was free in Audible’s new “plus” program and I had to grab this one when I saw it. I’ve been wanting to read it, and the author and narrator painted a lush picture of Cuba. This focuses on the daughter of a sugar baron and her granddaughter, separated by two timelines. It focused on the overthrow of Batista and the comparison of his rule to Castro’s regime. It shows the beautiful, romanticized version of Cuba in contrast to the harsh, volatile Cuba. One thing I loved about this book is that I learned a lot more about Cuban history, as we didn’t learn a lot about it in US History courses I’ve taken. It also focused on the fact that usually our hopes and dreams for our countries aren’t as easily attained as er believe. There’s often someone that becomes the scapegoat, people that are forgotten. Good intentions don’t always garner good results. The storytelling was vivid, historical events pretty factual, the prose was gorgeous, the romance didn’t overpower the issues that this story presented. I can’t wait to read more from this author.