Luis Jaramillo

I am still not sure if I want to call this book a disappointment or if the good in it actually redeems it enough. I like the author's style but I did not like the way the book flowed.

Jaramillo chose to write a series of short vignettes, short glimpses into the life of a woman (and her family). And as someone that loves short stories, this style usually works for me. But something here was off. The length of all those pieces did not allow any of the characters to grow and become fully fleshed... and the change of narrator which should have added a layer of familiarity was almost invisible - you realized it happened because the people were different... but the voice remained the same. And that's part of the problem.

I never connected with any of the characters - and if in some books this will not be a problem, the style and the format of the book called for such a connection. And it could not happen - they were just there, in outlines. Even when the family went through problems and grief... I did not really care what will happen to them.

At the end of the day, the book did not work for me. I will check the next book the author writes - because the style worked. But I hope that the next one will choose a different format - it almost looked like the author lacked the subtlety you need to make this kind of format work properly - by fleshing characters without really fleshing them out.… (mer)