Take a photo of a barcode or cover
ellemnope 's review for:
The Witches of El Paso
by Luis Jaramillo
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The idea behind this novel is an interesting one and bits and pieces of brilliance shine through in the narrative. The love for El Paso is strong and there are interesting pieces of history sprinkled in throughout. For a debut novel, there was a lot of rich presence in the prose and some good protagonist development. I particularly enjoyed the character of Nena (Elena) and her evolution through the different time periods. Ultimately, I wanted to like this one more than I did, but the organization and flow left me feeling dizzy and there were too many things unfinished or not fully fleshed out. I feel like the author really has a good sense of storytelling, but this just needed a little more time and exploration.
The POV vacillates between characters and time...a difficult feat for any author to achieve and one that unfortunately did this book a disservice. It was hard to keep track of where I was in the story and I sometimes got confused, knocking myself from the narrative to try to piece things back together, reorienting myself to the time period and the protagonist at hand. This approach also left the narrative chopped up into small pieces, making things feeling disjointed and halting. Because of these small pieces, it also felt like the full story of each character was not explored. The story of Marta's case was left unfinished and the conclusion really left my understanding of the magic (La Vista) in question.
I very much enjoyed the magical aspects of the tale and the superstition which surrounded them. This was much more developed in the Nena storyline and I enjoyed the dark witchy atmosphere quite a bit. With Marta's story, I think the feeling was somewhat hampered because of her own lack of understanding of the magical powers.
Bottom line: A talented writer who will likely create some great novels down the line. This debut has some serious shining points and gives off good atmospheric vibes. The organization of the story did the narrative dirty and, eventually, left it feeling unfulfilling. This one lands solidly at a 3-star read.
The POV vacillates between characters and time...a difficult feat for any author to achieve and one that unfortunately did this book a disservice. It was hard to keep track of where I was in the story and I sometimes got confused, knocking myself from the narrative to try to piece things back together, reorienting myself to the time period and the protagonist at hand. This approach also left the narrative chopped up into small pieces, making things feeling disjointed and halting. Because of these small pieces, it also felt like the full story of each character was not explored. The story of Marta's case was left unfinished and the conclusion really left my understanding of the magic (La Vista) in question.
I very much enjoyed the magical aspects of the tale and the superstition which surrounded them. This was much more developed in the Nena storyline and I enjoyed the dark witchy atmosphere quite a bit. With Marta's story, I think the feeling was somewhat hampered because of her own lack of understanding of the magical powers.
Bottom line: A talented writer who will likely create some great novels down the line. This debut has some serious shining points and gives off good atmospheric vibes. The organization of the story did the narrative dirty and, eventually, left it feeling unfulfilling. This one lands solidly at a 3-star read.