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tashaseegmiller's review against another edition
5.0
This book has incredible emotion and tension. I had a complete adoration of the characters. Each one is developed and flawed and I felt like I knew them all intimately. Sylvester lays out the plot in a way that the reader has to keep going to discover the end result of each character. So many subplots and twists executed with incredible precision. Loved it.
charlottep0402's review against another edition
2.0
I decided to read the book with very little context other than it being set in Peru (I'm visiting soon!) and honestly I shouldn't have bothered the only thing weaker than the storyline is the description of literally everything.
I found all the characters so frustrating as no one seems to ever communicate which ultimately makes the relationships in the book feel incredibly archaic...
I found all the characters so frustrating as no one seems to ever communicate which ultimately makes the relationships in the book feel incredibly archaic...
judithdcollins's review against another edition
3.0
Natalia Sylvester’s debuts with CHASING THE SUN, a novel with a balance of suspense, and family drama, set in Lima, Peru, during the 1990s during a time of political and social turbulence.
The author’s inspiration for this novel—her grandfather's kidnapping; she conveys to readers how trauma has the power to make them stronger, as they mend the past, and uncover deep secrets and truths.
I chose to read the audiobook version, as loved Peter Berkrot,the narrator in Desperate, as he has a distinct chilling, yet evil like voice, which grabs your attention.
Combined with a troubled marriage, a kidnapping, a ransom, a past, and a city where the poor struggle and the wealthy live in gated communities to protect their families from evil—the making for a riveting novel; however, the kidnapping seemed very long and drawn out. The first half dealt with kidnapping and the second half was more of the aftermath.
I did not seem to connect with the characters, as a little of a disconnect, with more of a domestic family drama, versus an intense suspense thriller. All in all, it was not a bad book; however, it did not particularly wow me, either.
The author’s inspiration for this novel—her grandfather's kidnapping; she conveys to readers how trauma has the power to make them stronger, as they mend the past, and uncover deep secrets and truths.
I chose to read the audiobook version, as loved Peter Berkrot,the narrator in Desperate, as he has a distinct chilling, yet evil like voice, which grabs your attention.
Combined with a troubled marriage, a kidnapping, a ransom, a past, and a city where the poor struggle and the wealthy live in gated communities to protect their families from evil—the making for a riveting novel; however, the kidnapping seemed very long and drawn out. The first half dealt with kidnapping and the second half was more of the aftermath.
I did not seem to connect with the characters, as a little of a disconnect, with more of a domestic family drama, versus an intense suspense thriller. All in all, it was not a bad book; however, it did not particularly wow me, either.
tamdot's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting until the end which seemed to come from nowhere and diluted the book
kdurham2's review against another edition
2.0
Andres and Marabela don't have a history of the best relationship, so one day he comes home and she is not there and some may not agree with his non reaction, but after their history is explained the reader understands why he may not be so worried.
Set in a time and place where kidnapping wealthy relatives is common and ransoms are serious. Andres ends up hiring someone to talk him through the process and until the very end I couldn't trust this guy - let me know if you could trust him from the beginning? Without spoiling, the book is divided into two parts, the kidnapping and the days after Marabela returns home. I appreciated that the author included this time as to show how life is after the victim returns home and the family must start a new chapter after this horrific episode.
A book out of my comfort zone and sometimes it is nice to read something from left field. One of the hard things about reading this book was the quick change to the past and a story that supports the greater story, but the jump into the past was a little fast. After the back story is shared, there is then a jump to the present.
A book that reminded me of a movie and I could see it clearly on the big screen.
Set in a time and place where kidnapping wealthy relatives is common and ransoms are serious. Andres ends up hiring someone to talk him through the process and until the very end I couldn't trust this guy - let me know if you could trust him from the beginning? Without spoiling, the book is divided into two parts, the kidnapping and the days after Marabela returns home. I appreciated that the author included this time as to show how life is after the victim returns home and the family must start a new chapter after this horrific episode.
A book out of my comfort zone and sometimes it is nice to read something from left field. One of the hard things about reading this book was the quick change to the past and a story that supports the greater story, but the jump into the past was a little fast. After the back story is shared, there is then a jump to the present.
A book that reminded me of a movie and I could see it clearly on the big screen.
ajreader's review against another edition
3.0
Read my full thoughts over at Read.Write.Repeat.
Chasing the Sun is complex, but a worthy exploration of the human response to crisis. It does not have the action that you may expect from a kidnapping novel. Instead, Sylvester chooses to focus on the characters, a decision for which I can never fault an author.
Chasing the Sun is complex, but a worthy exploration of the human response to crisis. It does not have the action that you may expect from a kidnapping novel. Instead, Sylvester chooses to focus on the characters, a decision for which I can never fault an author.
notoriousagk's review against another edition
4.0
I was pleasantly surprised by this one (I've gotten some real duds off Amazon's big sales--not that it's stopped me from biting a half dozen sale books a month--and I didn't have high hopes for the Kindle First program as a result). Natalia Sylvester has talent, to be sure, though I did sense some first novel glitches.
I found Chasing the Sun to be a real page-turner, with an interesting premise, and some glimpses of greatness in its use of language and insight. I actually found it quite relatable, in terms of the relationship between the two protagonists. That said, I agree with some of the critics here that the character development felt a little half baked in some places, and the ending... oy. It felt as though Sylvester couldn't quite make up her mind whether she wanted her novel driven by plot or by characterization; she made a valiant effort to emphasize both, but didn't quite have the space she needed to fully explore the fear and resentment and trauma and love and sorrow and desire for connection and guilt that she hinted at. I think this is one novel that would have benefited from an extra hundred pages or so.
I'd probably read the author's next novel, whenever it comes out. I expect great things from Natalia Sylvester, even if this wasn't quite there yet.
I found Chasing the Sun to be a real page-turner, with an interesting premise, and some glimpses of greatness in its use of language and insight. I actually found it quite relatable, in terms of the relationship between the two protagonists. That said, I agree with some of the critics here that the character development felt a little half baked in some places, and the ending... oy. It felt as though Sylvester couldn't quite make up her mind whether she wanted her novel driven by plot or by characterization; she made a valiant effort to emphasize both, but didn't quite have the space she needed to fully explore the fear and resentment and trauma and love and sorrow and desire for connection and guilt that she hinted at. I think this is one novel that would have benefited from an extra hundred pages or so.
I'd probably read the author's next novel, whenever it comes out. I expect great things from Natalia Sylvester, even if this wasn't quite there yet.
kamagates4's review against another edition
4.0
Andres thinks his wife left him-again. Until he learns that she hasn't left him but was kidnapped by the Shining Path, a militarized Communist Party. The book takes a wild ride of just how far someone will go to save the ones they love, even in a damaged marriage. The book is split into two parts, during the kidnapping and after the kidnapping. During the kidnapping, you hear the desperation and exhaustive attempts. After the kidnapping, I found especially interesting as I feel like most books end at the kidnapping. This book dives into family dynamics and how they shifted.
Sylvester's prose in the book is phenomenal and beautiful. Her vivid language and descriptors helped feel like you were in the story. There were times when she was describing food and I would literally be SO hungry for this amazing food she described. 4 stars, audio.
Sylvester's prose in the book is phenomenal and beautiful. Her vivid language and descriptors helped feel like you were in the story. There were times when she was describing food and I would literally be SO hungry for this amazing food she described. 4 stars, audio.
chelsea_not_chels's review against another edition
4.0
More reviews available at my blog, Beauty and the Bookworm.
In Lima, Peru in 1992, Andres Jimenez runs a fairly successful label-making company, though he and his family are far from rich. His wife, Marabela, is a stay-at-home mom and photographer, who once took pictures for the paper but now has been relegated to a space within the house. And lately, the two have been growing apart--though none of that seems to matter to Andres when Marabela vanishes one evening, and he gets a ransom note in the mail the next day.
This is a novel not about a kidnapping, though of course there is a kidnapping in it, but of relationships, and how we end up where we are, with the people we are with. It's a story of forced separations and growing apart and then finding each other again, in a myriad of different ways. Rounding out the cast of characters are Ignacio and Cynthia, the Jimenez children; Guillermo, a consultant hired to help get Marabela back; Lorena, Andres' estranged mother; Carla and Consuelo, the maids of the Jimenez household; and Elena, Andres' childhood best friend and the girl he was supposed to marry before he met Marabela. All of these people with, perhaps, the exception of Guillermo and Consuelo, are complete emotional messes. They're all mixed up in all sorts of ways, and Sylvester weaves what's a pretty beautiful story of them trying to find their way through their lives and the tension surrounding Marabela's disappearance.
One thing I really would have loved would have been some scenes of Marabela while she was in captivity. Having read Gabriel Garcia Marquez's News of a Kidnapping last year, I think I expected a little more "action" from this book. However, that's clearly not what this narrative was supposed to be, and I can respect that. One thing I also would have liked would have been more descriptions and interactions with Lima itself. I love reading books about places I might never get the opportunity to see, and I thought would have really enjoyed seeing more engagement with the location. That said, however, Sylvester's writing is beautiful--although it is, I must point out, in present tense. Present tense isn't my favorite and I know it can grate on the nerves of some people, so I think I should throw that out there. Whenever I read present-tense books I find myself writing in present tense, too, which really annoys me. However, once you get into the narrative, it doesn't seem as jarring as it does at first, and I did find myself thoroughly engaged with the Jimenezs' story.
3.5 stars out of 5.
In Lima, Peru in 1992, Andres Jimenez runs a fairly successful label-making company, though he and his family are far from rich. His wife, Marabela, is a stay-at-home mom and photographer, who once took pictures for the paper but now has been relegated to a space within the house. And lately, the two have been growing apart--though none of that seems to matter to Andres when Marabela vanishes one evening, and he gets a ransom note in the mail the next day.
This is a novel not about a kidnapping, though of course there is a kidnapping in it, but of relationships, and how we end up where we are, with the people we are with. It's a story of forced separations and growing apart and then finding each other again, in a myriad of different ways. Rounding out the cast of characters are Ignacio and Cynthia, the Jimenez children; Guillermo, a consultant hired to help get Marabela back; Lorena, Andres' estranged mother; Carla and Consuelo, the maids of the Jimenez household; and Elena, Andres' childhood best friend and the girl he was supposed to marry before he met Marabela. All of these people with, perhaps, the exception of Guillermo and Consuelo, are complete emotional messes. They're all mixed up in all sorts of ways, and Sylvester weaves what's a pretty beautiful story of them trying to find their way through their lives and the tension surrounding Marabela's disappearance.
One thing I really would have loved would have been some scenes of Marabela while she was in captivity. Having read Gabriel Garcia Marquez's News of a Kidnapping last year, I think I expected a little more "action" from this book. However, that's clearly not what this narrative was supposed to be, and I can respect that. One thing I also would have liked would have been more descriptions and interactions with Lima itself. I love reading books about places I might never get the opportunity to see, and I thought would have really enjoyed seeing more engagement with the location. That said, however, Sylvester's writing is beautiful--although it is, I must point out, in present tense. Present tense isn't my favorite and I know it can grate on the nerves of some people, so I think I should throw that out there. Whenever I read present-tense books I find myself writing in present tense, too, which really annoys me. However, once you get into the narrative, it doesn't seem as jarring as it does at first, and I did find myself thoroughly engaged with the Jimenezs' story.
3.5 stars out of 5.
cmcgowan76's review against another edition
I didn't star the review because I didn't finish this book and I don't believe it's fair to do that to an author. This book was not for me. The language and force of culture was too overt and not organic. For me, it became more about "hey - we speak Spanish" than about the characters or the plot. Marabela was to narcissistic for my taste to become a character I cared about and the hero, Andres, was dull.
I'm not alone here though. Other reviewers have said similar thoughts to this - a reviewer on Amazon notes:
"The backdrop of the situation in Peru was nothing more than a gimmick with no real purpose...a kidnapping of two women and the only reason was to make the characters realize that they were wrong for each other. I kept expecting the story to lead somewhere. It didn't."
But, a quick summary of the novel might be what snags your interest. (This summary is not my original work; it is a reproduction of text ):
Andres suspects his wife has left him—again. Then he learns that the unthinkable has happened: she’s been kidnapped. Too much time and too many secrets have come between Andres and Marabela, but now that she’s gone, he’ll do anything to get her back. Or will he?
As Marabela slips farther away, Andres must decide whether they still have something worth fighting for, and exactly what he’ll give up to bring her home. And unfortunately, the decision isn’t entirely up to him, or up to the private mediator who moves into the family home to negotiate with the terrorists holding Marabela. Andres struggles to maintain the illusion of control while simultaneously scrambling to collect his wife’s ransom, tending to the needs of his two young children, and reconnecting with an old friend who may hold the key to his past and his wife’s future.
Set in Lima, Peru, in a time of civil and political unrest, this evocative page-turner is a perfect marriage of domestic drama and suspense.
I'm not alone here though. Other reviewers have said similar thoughts to this - a reviewer on Amazon notes:
"The backdrop of the situation in Peru was nothing more than a gimmick with no real purpose...a kidnapping of two women and the only reason was to make the characters realize that they were wrong for each other. I kept expecting the story to lead somewhere. It didn't."
But, a quick summary of the novel might be what snags your interest. (This summary is not my original work; it is a reproduction of text ):
Andres suspects his wife has left him—again. Then he learns that the unthinkable has happened: she’s been kidnapped. Too much time and too many secrets have come between Andres and Marabela, but now that she’s gone, he’ll do anything to get her back. Or will he?
As Marabela slips farther away, Andres must decide whether they still have something worth fighting for, and exactly what he’ll give up to bring her home. And unfortunately, the decision isn’t entirely up to him, or up to the private mediator who moves into the family home to negotiate with the terrorists holding Marabela. Andres struggles to maintain the illusion of control while simultaneously scrambling to collect his wife’s ransom, tending to the needs of his two young children, and reconnecting with an old friend who may hold the key to his past and his wife’s future.
Set in Lima, Peru, in a time of civil and political unrest, this evocative page-turner is a perfect marriage of domestic drama and suspense.