A plane crashes leaving two young women without a father - the same father. One daughter lives in the United States the other in the Dominican Republic: neither know of the other's existence. We hear about the impact of his death on each in turn. The story is written in a lilting free verse. This is perhaps suitable for a young adult novel as it mimics, albeit more lyrically, the shorter patterns of email and text. In the Dominican Republic, Camino faces the menace of a predatory man, poverty and the loss of her dreams. In the US , Yaha copes with her mother's grief and indications of lawsuits and wrangles over compensation. In years gone by it might have taken longer for things to come together. But even if WiFi is erratic in DR people are much easier to find and communicate with than once they were. Perhaps that diffuses too quickly some of the tension and anticipation that was so promising at the beginning of the story.
It’s hard to say why things turn out to be quite disappointing without spoilers. I think it’s fair to say that the story turns out to have less depth and more simplistic outcomes than one would’ve expected. The language is beautiful though, the switching between English and Spanish and the picture painted of the Dominican Republic in particular. As a minus ..Tidy endings for Young Adults..seems a little patronising . I received an E version of this book from readers first in return for a genuine review.
It’s hard to say why things turn out to be quite disappointing without spoilers. I think it’s fair to say that the story turns out to have less depth and more simplistic outcomes than one would’ve expected. The language is beautiful though, the switching between English and Spanish and the picture painted of the Dominican Republic in particular. As a minus ..Tidy endings for Young Adults..seems a little patronising . I received an E version of this book from readers first in return for a genuine review.