From Goodreads:
Mercedes Moreno is an artist. At least, she thinks she could be, even though she hasn't been able to paint anything worthwhile since her award-winning piece Food Poisoning #1 last year.
Her lack of inspiration might be because her abuela is lying comatose in faraway Puerto Rico after suffering a stroke. Or the fact that Mercedes is in love with her best friend, Victoria, but is too afraid to admit her true feelings.
Despite Mercedes's creative block, art starts to show up in unexpected ways. A piano appears on her front lawn one morning, and a mysterious new neighbor invites Mercedes to paint with her at the Red Mangrove Estate.
At the Estate, Mercedes can create in ways she never has before. She can share her deepest secrets and feel safe. But Mercedes can't take anything out of the Estate, including her new-found clarity. As her life continues to crumble around her, the Estate offers more solace than she could hope for. But Mercedes can't live both lives forever, and ultimately she must choose between this perfect world of art and truth and a much messier reality.
My Review:
Ok, I enjoyed this book, but it was a bit weird, and all the struggling artist stuff, well, I couldn't connect to, I just don't really get art, and while I feel bad that she was having trouble, well, I just don't know what I'm supposed to do about that, as a reader. It felt awkward and I didn't like that. But that's just a me thing.
This book is a magical realism, and it was a pretty slow build. There's the set up, why she decides to go to the Estate, and everything that she's worried about, from her grandmother, to her relationship with her best friend. And it was pretty quiet, at least in the beginning, it was hard to grasp.
While she's in the Estate, she can create art, and she can kinda get away from her problems. But that all goes away once she leaves. So like the synopsis says, she does have to decide what she wants. And it'd be easier, to pick art, it's not as complicated. Does't mean it's easy, but it's not messy.
I enjoyed her different relationships, with her sister, with her best friend. They sometimes did things that confounded me, like when she was messing around with the innards of the piano, but they were close, and I enjoyed reading that!
This book was strange and weird and it was a pretty decent read, but not really for me.
Author: Lauren Karcz
Read: October 14th, 2019
Source: Edelweiss
Reason Why: Sounded really good, and it's a DAC Book and a SAC 2019 Book!
Publisher: Harper Teen
Published: July 25th 2017
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| 4/5 Hearts |
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| 2/5 Books |
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| 2/5 Stars |
