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tansy's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
5.0
Completely unlike anything else I've read. The narrator speaks directly to the reader in a breathless, bitchy, gossipy stream-of-consciousness. The effect is like going out for lunch with the worst person you know when she has a lot of drama going on in her life. Laura is supposedly investigating the murder of her best friend, but don't expect any tidy conclusions from this book, which is more character study/satire than whodunit.
steve_urick's review against another edition
4.0
Very funny at times, in spite of subject matter. Easy to read. Some readers had trouble because they didn't like the narrator, and the book is written so that the narrator is talking to them. I have no problem reading books with characters I don't really like that much. I wouldn't want to date her, but I was fine listening to the protagonist ramble on and on. The ending is somewhat ambiguous and the protagonist has suffered a nervous breakdown, but one can made a "hypothesis" about who was behind the murder.
mhorton510's review against another edition
4.0
Very engrossing, you lose yourself in the inner- monologue of Laura. And she is the epitome of a high-class salvadoran. Great read.
steveurick's review against another edition
4.0
Very funny at times, in spite of subject matter. Easy to read. Some readers had trouble because they didn't like the narrator, and the book is written so that the narrator is talking to them. I have no problem reading books with characters I don't really like that much. I wouldn't want to date her, but I was fine listening to the protagonist ramble on and on. The ending is somewhat ambiguous and the protagonist has suffered a nervous breakdown, but one can made a "hypothesis" about who was behind the murder.
_rusalka's review against another edition
3.0
Murder mystery with a twist. Usually my thing. Set in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador, Laura's best friend Olga Maria is shot dead in her living room in front of her two daughters. All very upsetting and such, and Laura is trying to find out who has done it. And along the way she finds out more and more about her best friend who she didn't know as well as she thought.
The interesting thing about this book is that it intertwines the history and politics of El Salvador with the book. The animosity towards the socialists was rather surprising, mind you not so much once you realise how well off the families are, especially Laura's. Nor when you realise that maybe the socialists were or could be as corrupt as the capitalists. I have to admit I know very little about the socialists in El Salvador, and it would be very naive to assume all socialists regimes in South and Central America were/are the same. So, interesting.
What made me have an INCREDIBLY hard time engaging with this book is that it is told from the perspective that you are one of Laura's closest friends and the entire book is her speaking at you. I know the book was 175ish pages but that was too long. There is no way I would spend more than 2 mins talking to this woman. I have been known to jump in front of moving traffic to get away from people like her (deadly serious here). I went out of my way of 4 years of all girls high school to avoid people like her, for them to be forced upon you in your reading life is frustrating as hell. She's such a horrible, gossipy woman who just talks inane crap and jumps from one subject to the other, nattering away about some things that just don't matter. Not to mention she doesn't let you get a damn word in edgewise!!!
... You know, I think that's what bothered me the most. I am a chatty, talkative person. I am reasonably forceful, especially with my close friends, in getting my point heard. To be rendered silent was ... just ... so goddamn uncomfortable! I just felt like I was spending the experience going "Bu.... Excuse...Just...uh... yeah bu... /sigh."
The last couple of pages though were great. And if you need to praise someone for writing prattling women, this guy has it down pat.
For more reviews visit http://rusalkii.blogspot.com.au/
The interesting thing about this book is that it intertwines the history and politics of El Salvador with the book. The animosity towards the socialists was rather surprising, mind you not so much once you realise how well off the families are, especially Laura's. Nor when you realise that maybe the socialists were or could be as corrupt as the capitalists. I have to admit I know very little about the socialists in El Salvador, and it would be very naive to assume all socialists regimes in South and Central America were/are the same. So, interesting.
What made me have an INCREDIBLY hard time engaging with this book is that it is told from the perspective that you are one of Laura's closest friends and the entire book is her speaking at you. I know the book was 175ish pages but that was too long. There is no way I would spend more than 2 mins talking to this woman. I have been known to jump in front of moving traffic to get away from people like her (deadly serious here). I went out of my way of 4 years of all girls high school to avoid people like her, for them to be forced upon you in your reading life is frustrating as hell. She's such a horrible, gossipy woman who just talks inane crap and jumps from one subject to the other, nattering away about some things that just don't matter. Not to mention she doesn't let you get a damn word in edgewise!!!
... You know, I think that's what bothered me the most. I am a chatty, talkative person. I am reasonably forceful, especially with my close friends, in getting my point heard. To be rendered silent was ... just ... so goddamn uncomfortable! I just felt like I was spending the experience going "Bu.... Excuse...Just...uh... yeah bu... /sigh."
The last couple of pages though were great. And if you need to praise someone for writing prattling women, this guy has it down pat.
For more reviews visit http://rusalkii.blogspot.com.au/
hanntastic's review against another edition
4.0
Global Read Challenge 61: El Salvador
It's nice to read a novel with an innovative structure that doesn't detract from the story. I could see how the frenetic monologue style might be annoying to some, but it kept me turning the pages. Laura is also a new kind of unreliable narrator. Didn't love the end, but it is hard to neatly wrap up a murder mystery in a satisfying way.
It's nice to read a novel with an innovative structure that doesn't detract from the story. I could see how the frenetic monologue style might be annoying to some, but it kept me turning the pages. Laura is also a new kind of unreliable narrator. Didn't love the end, but it is hard to neatly wrap up a murder mystery in a satisfying way.
scottishben's review against another edition
3.0
Hard to properly review without spoiling it. I found the stream of consiousness/conversational monologue style of storytelling annoying but handled well and apt.
Lots of good bits here even if the "mystery" elements were pretty obvious.
Lots of good bits here even if the "mystery" elements were pretty obvious.
kellylynnthomas's review against another edition
5.0
I found this book really engrossing. It's written as if the main character is in constant conversation with you (she's kind of vapid and gossipy but she knows everyone else's dirt so you want to hear what she has to say). The chapters are long and there are no paragraph breaks, which might make it difficult for some people to get into, but makes it very easy to get lost in.
It's a great look into El Salvador and its political and societal unrest. If you're not too familiar with the country, I'd suggest reading Joan Didion's Salvador... a book I read years ago, but that really helped me understand this one better. Plus, Joan Didion is awesome.
I've had the pleasure of meeting Horacio (he lives in my neighborhood), and he's a really nice, down to earth guy who came to Pittsburgh to escape persecution in El Salvador through City of Asylum/Pittsburgh. So as an added bonus, by supporting Horacio you're supporting free speech (and great literature)!
It's a great look into El Salvador and its political and societal unrest. If you're not too familiar with the country, I'd suggest reading Joan Didion's Salvador... a book I read years ago, but that really helped me understand this one better. Plus, Joan Didion is awesome.
I've had the pleasure of meeting Horacio (he lives in my neighborhood), and he's a really nice, down to earth guy who came to Pittsburgh to escape persecution in El Salvador through City of Asylum/Pittsburgh. So as an added bonus, by supporting Horacio you're supporting free speech (and great literature)!