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A review by akallabeth
The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
3.5ish.
there's plenty to like about this multi-gen magical realism tale (some lovely weird imagery, and the titular orquídea most of all) but the reason i'm not rating this higher is that i simply did not care even a little bit about any of orquídea's descendants.
the novel goes back and forth between orquídea's backstory, told in a fairytalesque tone (fun! enjoyable!), and her descendants in the modern day, trying to deal with her legacy and unravel her secrets. the montoya clan is large and most of them only get a line or two, and that's fine. but you clearly <i>are</i> meant to care about the main three - Precocious Child TM rhiannon, Gay Millennial rey, and most of all marimar, who i can't even pick a pithy title for, because she was so unconvincing.
none of this was bad enough to make me actively mad but i was effectively only reading for the orquídea content & backstory, which to be fair - i was pretty happy with once the reveals all shook out.although i thought the reveal re: marimar's father was corny, lol.
i have some other minor complaints (the tone definitely felt more ya than i expected, Shut Up About New York it's literally just a city) but i could've let these go if the kids were more compelling. alas.
there's plenty to like about this multi-gen magical realism tale (some lovely weird imagery, and the titular orquídea most of all) but the reason i'm not rating this higher is that i simply did not care even a little bit about any of orquídea's descendants.
the novel goes back and forth between orquídea's backstory, told in a fairytalesque tone (fun! enjoyable!), and her descendants in the modern day, trying to deal with her legacy and unravel her secrets. the montoya clan is large and most of them only get a line or two, and that's fine. but you clearly <i>are</i> meant to care about the main three - Precocious Child TM rhiannon, Gay Millennial rey, and most of all marimar, who i can't even pick a pithy title for, because she was so unconvincing.
none of this was bad enough to make me actively mad but i was effectively only reading for the orquídea content & backstory, which to be fair - i was pretty happy with once the reveals all shook out.
i have some other minor complaints (the tone definitely felt more ya than i expected, Shut Up About New York it's literally just a city) but i could've let these go if the kids were more compelling. alas.