Many thanks to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster/Simon Element/Mary Sue Rucci Books for gifting me a digital ARC of this wonderful debut book by Tita Ramirez. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars rounded up!
Monica is pregnant with her first child when her mom, moments before having emergency heart surgery, confesses that Monica's father is not the man who raised her. When her mom wakes up, her mother begins having delusions and Monica isn't sure if the confession is real or not. It sounds more like the plot of the telenovela they watch together. But Monica's life is sort of like a soap opera as well. The first person she wanted to talk to about her mom's confession was her ex-boyfriend, Manny, and not her fiancé and father of her child.
This is a wonderful generational saga, with alternating chapters of her mother's life as a younger Cuban American. The story is very atmospheric, taking place in Miami, Cuba, and Costa Rico, and full of that cultural experience. The writing is rich and beautiful and while the subject matter felt like a telenovela, it explored such topics as what constitutes family, those hard decisions we must face, and family secrets. But it's joyful too, and the characters feel completely fleshed out. What I loved is that I didn't hate any of the characters; they all had good and bad parts, just like we all do. This did not feel like a debut book and I'm anxiously awaiting more from this author!
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