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asc1006's review against another edition
2.0
I'm giving this book 2.5 stars just because of the last chapter which was the only good part of the book. I think the idea behind the story was good , but both the plot and the characters should have been better developed. I think magical realism is really not my genre. Too bad.
harleyrae's review against another edition
DNF at page 108.
I wanted to love this book, especially with how stunning the cover is, unfortunately that didn’t happen. I personally am not a massive magic realism fan, and this just wasn’t my cup of tea. After 100 pages I wanted to care about the characters and the story, but I just didn’t. Maybe one day I’ll come back to this but right now I have too many books to read to force myself through one I don’t like.
I wanted to love this book, especially with how stunning the cover is, unfortunately that didn’t happen. I personally am not a massive magic realism fan, and this just wasn’t my cup of tea. After 100 pages I wanted to care about the characters and the story, but I just didn’t. Maybe one day I’ll come back to this but right now I have too many books to read to force myself through one I don’t like.
leafblade's review against another edition
3.0
Don't panic over the rating!!!! This needs a reread!!!!!!!!! It's okay!!!!!!
I had no problem whatsoever with the representation in this book. I'm latina (from Argentina) and pan, so this family of bi/pan women felt perfect for me. The way they behaved, the way they treated each other and Fel, the food they cooked and the language they used. It was really vivid and truthful and familiar. As for the bi/pan rep, perfectly done. No one made a big deal of basically the whole family liking women.
My first problems were the five main girls, Estrella and her cousins. They all had names inspired by flowers (Estrella -which means 'star', but there's a starflower so-, Calla, Dalia, Gloria and Azalea), they all looked alike and they all sounded the same. I can tell you Dalia is Bay's girlfriend, and Azalea is the one that flirts the most with other women, but I couldn't fish out of my mind a fact about Gloria and Calla even if I tried. I know it's mentioned a lot of times in the book, but I don't know who is the tallest, or the oldest, or the one that gets irritated the easiest. I spent so much time trying to learn their names that, by the time I knew them, all the facts about the girls had been stated, and I had no information whatsoever about who these girls were. And they all acted alike, sometimes my brain skipped over phrases like 'Calla said' because it would make no difference at all. I've been raised alongside my cousins, and we aren't that much alike. We are all different people, and I think this book failed to portray that.
And I can only name you one other woman from that family that isn't one of the five girls (Abuela Lila, because that's my dog's name and I love her), and that's kind of a problem too. If you have 15 women in the same house and by the end of the book your average reader can only name 6, maybe you should have either less characters, or more time spent introducing them.
This was totally a typo but it was funny: at one point it said "estafado de pollo" instead of "estofado de pollo", that's "chicken cheated" instead of "chicken stew".
I'll take half the blame on this one, because I've just finished a 650 pages book in spanish, but the writing was just so hard to grasp??? I felt lost in all the descriptions and flower names and colors, and there were times when I read like five pages and I couldn't tell you what happened. It's definitely a book to read slowly, at least if english isn't your first language. This writing style disconnected me from the characters and the world and their story a lot. By the end of the book we have some really big and dark revelations, and I felt nothing about it.
Answer me this if you can, people who have read it: in the acknowledgements, the author mentions that her husband helped her write "the genderqueer character who became a bigger part of this book with every draft"...... who???????? Were we supposed to think Bay was gq because she wore waistcoats and had to crossdress in town to not be recognized???????
Anyway like I said this book wants a reread but it won't happen anytime soon
I had no problem whatsoever with the representation in this book. I'm latina (from Argentina) and pan, so this family of bi/pan women felt perfect for me. The way they behaved, the way they treated each other and Fel, the food they cooked and the language they used. It was really vivid and truthful and familiar. As for the bi/pan rep, perfectly done. No one made a big deal of basically the whole family liking women.
My first problems were the five main girls, Estrella and her cousins. They all had names inspired by flowers (Estrella -which means 'star', but there's a starflower so-, Calla, Dalia, Gloria and Azalea), they all looked alike and they all sounded the same. I can tell you Dalia is Bay's girlfriend, and Azalea is the one that flirts the most with other women, but I couldn't fish out of my mind a fact about Gloria and Calla even if I tried. I know it's mentioned a lot of times in the book, but I don't know who is the tallest, or the oldest, or the one that gets irritated the easiest. I spent so much time trying to learn their names that, by the time I knew them, all the facts about the girls had been stated, and I had no information whatsoever about who these girls were. And they all acted alike, sometimes my brain skipped over phrases like 'Calla said' because it would make no difference at all. I've been raised alongside my cousins, and we aren't that much alike. We are all different people, and I think this book failed to portray that.
And I can only name you one other woman from that family that isn't one of the five girls (Abuela Lila, because that's my dog's name and I love her), and that's kind of a problem too. If you have 15 women in the same house and by the end of the book your average reader can only name 6, maybe you should have either less characters, or more time spent introducing them.
This was totally a typo but it was funny: at one point it said "estafado de pollo" instead of "estofado de pollo", that's "chicken cheated" instead of "chicken stew".
I'll take half the blame on this one, because I've just finished a 650 pages book in spanish, but the writing was just so hard to grasp??? I felt lost in all the descriptions and flower names and colors, and there were times when I read like five pages and I couldn't tell you what happened. It's definitely a book to read slowly, at least if english isn't your first language. This writing style disconnected me from the characters and the world and their story a lot. By the end of the book we have some really big and dark revelations, and I felt nothing about it.
Answer me this if you can, people who have read it: in the acknowledgements, the author mentions that her husband helped her write "the genderqueer character who became a bigger part of this book with every draft"...... who???????? Were we supposed to think Bay was gq because she wore waistcoats and had to crossdress in town to not be recognized???????
Anyway like I said this book wants a reread but it won't happen anytime soon
hinn_raven's review against another edition
5.0
This book has some of the most beautiful prose I've ever read, and a fascinating story and wonderful characters as well!
stashie's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
While reading this I felt as if I'm in a middle space, my life and thos world created full of flowers and women afraid of thier love but full of it.
lullibub's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
fbrady's review against another edition
4.0
suchhhh a cool metaphor. kind of a lot going on all at once (i want to know way more about all of the little minor side plots)
marieintheraw's review against another edition
4.0
The kind of book you have to experience for yourself. The writing was beautiful and holy crap the bisexual rep is just fantastic. I'm definitely looking into trying other books by this author now.
I received an ecopy of this book through Netgalley; however, my opinions are my own.
I received an ecopy of this book through Netgalley; however, my opinions are my own.