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moyir90's review
4.0
Though the characters were quite ungrateful and spoiled, I did enjoy the plotline. The blend of English and Spanish was beautiful, and quite accurate.
arisbookcorner's review against another edition
3.0
I'll start off with the not-so-good. A recurring problem I had with this series was the fact that almost all the Spanish was translated, unless it was one basic word (such as hola or claro. Words such as sueno were translated. For the record, sueno [tilde over the n] means dream). So that was a minor thing that continued to tick me off. Also, I don't think this series should be called the Amigas. Nor should the quince planning business because Gaz is a guy and I thought the name was rather uncreative too. My final issue was that Alica was a character of contradictions. She would go on and on about how responsible she was and then she would turn around and do something that seemed to show that she lost all common sense (i.e. thinking it's OK to practice the paso doble while at work. I'll leave it at that).
The first book in the Amigas series, Fifteen Candles, is a fun and quick read. The setting of Miami works so well with the book and I really enjoyed reading about the quinceaneara planning process. I never had one and at first, this book made me glad I hadn't! But as I read on, I found myself being able to relate to Alicia in wishing we had had a quinceaneara. When Alicia turned fifteen her parents took her to Spain (When I turned fifteen it wasn't anything that warranted special plans, I think that's mostly because quinces are encouraged and planned out by mothers and my mother is not Latina) but she begins to regret that decision as she plans Sarita's quince and sees the end result. I have to admit, I find it hard to believe that Alicia is not popular! Alicia is very rich and yet she claims that she's not popular, nor are her friends. Alicia is the richest one in the group, and in my experience, the wealthier students tend to be more popular, but I kinda like that she's not popular just because she's rich. The writing is engaging and the characters conversations are similar to ones you may have with your own friends about fashion, summer plans and boys. While not anything spectacular, the series is off to a good start.
The first book in the Amigas series, Fifteen Candles, is a fun and quick read. The setting of Miami works so well with the book and I really enjoyed reading about the quinceaneara planning process. I never had one and at first, this book made me glad I hadn't! But as I read on, I found myself being able to relate to Alicia in wishing we had had a quinceaneara. When Alicia turned fifteen her parents took her to Spain (When I turned fifteen it wasn't anything that warranted special plans, I think that's mostly because quinces are encouraged and planned out by mothers and my mother is not Latina) but she begins to regret that decision as she plans Sarita's quince and sees the end result. I have to admit, I find it hard to believe that Alicia is not popular! Alicia is very rich and yet she claims that she's not popular, nor are her friends. Alicia is the richest one in the group, and in my experience, the wealthier students tend to be more popular, but I kinda like that she's not popular just because she's rich. The writing is engaging and the characters conversations are similar to ones you may have with your own friends about fashion, summer plans and boys. While not anything spectacular, the series is off to a good start.
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