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High Spirits by Camille Gomera-Tavarez

Title: High Spirits

Author: Camille Gomera-Tavarez

Publisher: Levine Querido 2022

Genre: YA Short Stories

Pages: 224

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

High Spirits is a collection of eleven interconnected short stories from the Dominican diaspora, from debut author Camille Gomera-Tavarez.

It is a book centered on one extended family – the Beléns – across multiple generations.

It is set in the fictional small town of Hidalpa – and Santo Domingo and Paterson and San Juan and Washington Heights too.

It is told in a style both utterly real and distinctly magical – and its stories explore machismo, mental health, family, and identity.

Surprise surprise, I ended up giving a short story collection 3 stars. This seems to be very much a given rating for me. I just don’t really enjoy short story collections. I much prefer to immerse myself completely into a book and really dive in. This collection’s premise of interconnected stories focused on on Dominican family though generations intrigued me. I had also heard a plug for this one on my favorite reading podcast, so I grabbed it from the library. Unfortunately, the collection didn’t completely draw me in. We get snippets or vignettes of lives throughout the Belen family, but enough enough of any of them. I wanted to read an big family saga and instead I only get to catch glimpses of these characters. And so many of the stories ended so incredibly abruptly that I was very much not wanted to keep reading. This may be a good collection for someone else, but I did not love it at all.

Next up on the TBR pile:

say you'll remember.jpg jujutsu13.jpg jujutsu14.jpg jujutsu15.jpg jujutsu16.jpg seoulmates.jpg black butler.jpg drop of corruption.jpg grace year.jpg jujutsu 17.jpg jujutsu21.jpg jujutsu 18.jpg jujutsu22.jpg jujutsu 19.jpg jujutsu23.jpg jujutsu 20.jpg jujutsu24.jpg jujutsu25.jpg jujutsu26.jpg jujutsu27.jpg maybe you should.jpg mayor of maxwell.jpg wedding people.jpg ne'er duke.jpg wicked things.jpg river has roots.jpg someone you can build.jpg somewhere beyond.jpg tales accursed.jpg
tags: short stories, young adult, 3 stars, Camille Gomera-Tavarez
categories: Book Reviews
Friday 06.17.22
Posted by Tobe Buffenbarger
 

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