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A review by tarryncurrentlyreading
Dreams of Significant Girls by Cristina García
3.0
3.5 stars
I liked this book, I really did. But there were a couple problems, the main two being: this book needed to be at least two hundred pages longer, but any length other than what it was would have left me totally burnt out.
I thought the characters were interesting, if not a bit frustrating. However, their friendship, the whole point of this story, did not feel fleshed out enough to me. There was hardly any deep communication between the three - Shirin often never shared major and traumatic events with Ingrid and Vivien. And even though they KNEW she had had issues in the past, very big issues, they never seem overtly concerned when she's upset or acting weird. I saw events that would purportedly strengthen their bond occur but never actually saw their bond strengthen. So by the end, the message that no matter where life took them, or how far away they were from each other, that friendship would never die, just seemed totally unrealistic. And considering how weak the bond truly seemed, I found it highly unbelievable that during the eleven months they weren't together each year they didn't have friendships that were stronger with other people. They only spent like 30 days together each year for three years. It's just odd.
Out of all the characters, Shirin is who I wanted to know. There was a lot going on with that girl, things I really wanted to be explored, especially some of the things that happened during the first summer. But of course, the girls literally never discussed the madness of that first summer together. I was left with a lot of questions and frustrations.
I liked this book, I really did. But there were a couple problems, the main two being: this book needed to be at least two hundred pages longer, but any length other than what it was would have left me totally burnt out.
I thought the characters were interesting, if not a bit frustrating. However, their friendship, the whole point of this story, did not feel fleshed out enough to me. There was hardly any deep communication between the three - Shirin often never shared major and traumatic events with Ingrid and Vivien. And even though they KNEW she had had issues in the past, very big issues, they never seem overtly concerned when she's upset or acting weird. I saw events that would purportedly strengthen their bond occur but never actually saw their bond strengthen. So by the end, the message that no matter where life took them, or how far away they were from each other, that friendship would never die, just seemed totally unrealistic. And considering how weak the bond truly seemed, I found it highly unbelievable that during the eleven months they weren't together each year they didn't have friendships that were stronger with other people. They only spent like 30 days together each year for three years. It's just odd.
Out of all the characters, Shirin is who I wanted to know. There was a lot going on with that girl, things I really wanted to be explored, especially some of the things that happened during the first summer. But of course, the girls literally never discussed the madness of that first summer together. I was left with a lot of questions and frustrations.