By Sandra Ramos O’Briant
Publisher: La Gente Press
This book is beautifully written and tells the story of sisters and their life journey in the mid 1800s. The author uses great skill in interweaving lots of history of the United States and Mexico into the story, which makes it even more exciting.
The author’s purpose in writing the book appeared to be autobiographical in nature (the story could have partly come from family history). The combination of this possible family history, the characters, the structure, and the plot made the story come together very nicely. The author’s use of history throughout the story enhanced the story and added substance to the overall plot. The shifting of character stories from one chapter to another made me want to keep reading the story because I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next. This was an excellent page turner technique.
In addition, the first person point of view really helped to get the reader into the minds of each of the characters. This was another great choice by the author as she had more than one protagonist.
The author’s informal style of writing made the book easy to read and would be suitable for both adult and young adult audiences. The story contained just the right amount of action, romance, and suspense to make the story believable. The historical points used throughout the book came in at just the right timeframes to keep everything moving splendidly.
This book made me smile, laugh, and sometimes sad as I followed the characters through their life stories. Also, it was so refreshing to see this level of historical context captured in a book, but yet it was not intrusive. In a time when the Latino population is growing in the United States, it’s a perfect time that the history of this culture be captured and brought to the forefront for the mainstream population. This was a job beautifully done by Ms. Ramos O’Briant! If you haven’t already picked up a copy, I would highly recommend you do so. Not only is the story wonderful, but the way it is written will draw you in immediately. I am so looking forward to the next book.
Source: Book was provided by author for review and reviewed by Corina Martinez Chaudhry.
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