Welcome to Litsy!

Other Littens are loving this #TOBlonglist book, but it just isn‘t working for me. I don‘t like the writing. And even after setting it aside for a week and picking it back up, still no go.

Gabriel is a 16 year old American living in Chile. He has his two best friends, a new girlfriend, and no desire to ever leave Chile and return to the US. Then there is a coup… Told from three different perspectives (although I found each of them less compelling than the first) this was a really great read that managed to combine coming of age with political turmoil an engaging and moving way. Why was this not on the TOB shortlist?

Yes this is an excellent book. 16 years old Gabriel grows up in Chile with his American parents. He is ashamed of his capitalist parents and his imperialist motherland, infiltrating the world with propaganda. He is a Chilean communist and a supporter of Allende‘s socialist politics. He falls in love in the days leading up to the coup against Allende in 1973.
In 3 parts we read about this period in time and its aftermath. And about Gabriel‘s life.

5+⭐️ I always worry about overselling a book here, but this #toblonglist choice is one of the best books I‘ve ever read. Ten years of PhD research about Allende‘s and Pinochet‘s regimes in Chile culminated in a novel that perfectly captures the fates of an American boy and his Chilean girlfriend when the coup happens. The story is told in sections with three MCs that each illuminate different faces of survivors and their families. Just read it!

Good month for #bookspin. I‘ve got a #toblonglist book and my choice from #botm. If my box were here now I‘ve grab the new Lisa Genova, but it‘s still in Illinois! 👎🏻