well-researched but just okay story
I was intrigued by the story and the setting. Post-Spanish Civil War, post-World War II Spain, during the dictatorship of Franco. After so many WWII books, I liked to find one discussing life after the WWII.
I don't mind character-driven stories. Both Daniel and Ana are intriguing characters and the character development, albeit a trifle slow, is well done. My main issue with this book is that there are simply too many points of view—not only Daniel and Ana, who I consider the main characters, but Rafa, Puri, and Julia. And although I could see how each of their stories interconnected, I found it a bit much, especially since the chapters are ridiculously short. A max 2 pages per chapter and each chapter is a different character's POV. So basically every 2 (or less) pages the POV switches. The author did a good job balancing the story but I think it could have been a stronger story had the chapters been longer, giving that POV more time for the reader to connect with.
My other issue is I never really connected to the characters. The plot was intriguing but slow as most character-driven stories are, which is fine . . . if I can connect to the characters. And while I liked reading their POVs as the story unfolds, I never felt anything for them. This primarily goes back to the first issue—too many POVs in overly short chapters.
The story was clearly well researched. I found the historical parts the most interesting as I knew little about Franco and Spain. I wish there had been more focus on this part instead of the romance. Every few chapters there was an excerpt from a newspaper article or U.S. official's memo/statement about Spain at that time, I also found this distracting.
The writing was okay. I see lots of reviewers calling this a YA novel. And although I hate the term YA (it seems to be the catch-all for any book where the MC(s) are between 16 to 25. I dislike this for several reasons that I won't get into here), this book does seem to be watered down to be marketed to a younger audience. This also diminished my enjoyment because I felt the writing and therefore the plot was watered down.
I also could have done without the teen, star-crossed-lovers, romance. But that's a minor issue even though I wish there would've been less focus on the romance and more on the disparity and antithesis between the American tourists and the Spanish locals.
Overall 3.5 stars.
I don't mind character-driven stories. Both Daniel and Ana are intriguing characters and the character development, albeit a trifle slow, is well done. My main issue with this book is that there are simply too many points of view—not only Daniel and Ana, who I consider the main characters, but Rafa, Puri, and Julia. And although I could see how each of their stories interconnected, I found it a bit much, especially since the chapters are ridiculously short. A max 2 pages per chapter and each chapter is a different character's POV. So basically every 2 (or less) pages the POV switches. The author did a good job balancing the story but I think it could have been a stronger story had the chapters been longer, giving that POV more time for the reader to connect with.
My other issue is I never really connected to the characters. The plot was intriguing but slow as most character-driven stories are, which is fine . . . if I can connect to the characters. And while I liked reading their POVs as the story unfolds, I never felt anything for them. This primarily goes back to the first issue—too many POVs in overly short chapters.
The story was clearly well researched. I found the historical parts the most interesting as I knew little about Franco and Spain. I wish there had been more focus on this part instead of the romance. Every few chapters there was an excerpt from a newspaper article or U.S. official's memo/statement about Spain at that time, I also found this distracting.
The writing was okay. I see lots of reviewers calling this a YA novel. And although I hate the term YA (it seems to be the catch-all for any book where the MC(s) are between 16 to 25. I dislike this for several reasons that I won't get into here), this book does seem to be watered down to be marketed to a younger audience. This also diminished my enjoyment because I felt the writing and therefore the plot was watered down.
I also could have done without the teen, star-crossed-lovers, romance. But that's a minor issue even though I wish there would've been less focus on the romance and more on the disparity and antithesis between the American tourists and the Spanish locals.
Overall 3.5 stars.