Sometimes I’m faced with a dilemma when reviewing and rating books: It’s not that the book is bad, it’s just that the book isn’t my thing. It’s just missing something, usually an unidentifiable ingredient, that would bring it right into my orbit of interest, but the book as it exists is just right outside of what I might consider a good book. Instead it’s relegated to being just another average book. 

That’s what happened with My Name is Emilia del Valle. At face value it has just about everything I love in a historical fiction novel; indeed, while reading it I just kept ruminating on what this book was missing, because Isabel Allende isn’t lacking in writing talent or research skills and her characters are strong. Could it be something was lost in translation? I don’t think I’ll ever know. I just needed something more from this book and didn’t get it. 

I was provided a copy of this title by the author and the publisher via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. All reviews rated three stars and below will not appear on my social media. Thank you.

File Under: Coming of Age/Historical Fiction