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jprex 's review for:
Anita de Monte Laughs Last
by Xochitl Gonzalez
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a fascinating story told from competing viewpoints, all intertwining to weave past and present together and resulting in a complicated tapestry of ideas. In 1985, we meet Anita de Monte, a rising star in the art world, and her extremely successful artist husband, Jack Martin. Their relationship is explosive, complicated, abusive, and steeped in class and competition, though neither would admit that fact. Anita dies under suspicious circumstances on the cusp of a breakthrough, and has been relegated to be a footnote in Jack's story rather than the main character in her own.
Meanwhile, in 1998, Raquel Toro is an art history student at Brown University, who is struggling to reconcile her ambivalence toward her research topic (the aforementioned Jack Martin), to stand up for her success in a world that doesn't want to accept her, to navigate her "otherness" while dating a popular art darling from a prominent family, while not losing the qualities that make her fundamentally who she is.
This book does an amazing job of weaving the disparate parts of the story together, and grounding fantastical elements to better serve the story it's telling. Having Anita tell her story from beyond death is so essential to understand each of these characters - who they are, what they believe, and what they understand. I found myself wanting to go back to Anita's life in death because it was so rich with cultural references and humanity.
Having Jack's viewpoint is both frustrating and necessary. The image of a man larger than life is punctured when you have the opportunity to experience his fear of shrinking alongside him.
In some ways I felt like Raquel's story was the weakest part, until I realized she needed to evolve and mature in the same way that Anita lost the opportunity to do. By the end, I was completely engrossed in the present day aspects of the tale, in a way that I certainly wasn't at the beginning.
This is a great book for anyone who has ever felt like the "other," or that you were on the outside looking in on a world you struggle to navigate. I'm still pondering some of the points made throughout even weeks after finishing.
Meanwhile, in 1998, Raquel Toro is an art history student at Brown University, who is struggling to reconcile her ambivalence toward her research topic (the aforementioned Jack Martin), to stand up for her success in a world that doesn't want to accept her, to navigate her "otherness" while dating a popular art darling from a prominent family, while not losing the qualities that make her fundamentally who she is.
This book does an amazing job of weaving the disparate parts of the story together, and grounding fantastical elements to better serve the story it's telling. Having Anita tell her story from beyond death is so essential to understand each of these characters - who they are, what they believe, and what they understand. I found myself wanting to go back to Anita's life in death because it was so rich with cultural references and humanity.
Having Jack's viewpoint is both frustrating and necessary. The image of a man larger than life is punctured when you have the opportunity to experience his fear of shrinking alongside him.
In some ways I felt like Raquel's story was the weakest part, until I realized she needed to evolve and mature in the same way that Anita lost the opportunity to do. By the end, I was completely engrossed in the present day aspects of the tale, in a way that I certainly wasn't at the beginning.
This is a great book for anyone who has ever felt like the "other," or that you were on the outside looking in on a world you struggle to navigate. I'm still pondering some of the points made throughout even weeks after finishing.