Rated of 5
by Susan Lima Nights by Marie Arana Lima Nights is a story about Carlos and Maria, two people from different worlds and different generations. This book hooked me right at the beginning and held me throughout. While I didn't find either Carlos or Maria to be the most likable of characters, they were so well written that I could understand the desperation of each which led them to take the actions they took. I liked the setting as well, and the end was satisfying.
Rated of 5
by Erica Lima Nights
Although I enjoyed this book, I thought it promised more than it delivered. The author had a canvass on which she could have developed her characters, their backgrounds, the motivations for their actions much more acutely than she did. It is a story of passion, but we never understand why Carlos has the passion he does. It is a story of loss, but we never understand why the characters are willing to lose as much as they do. It was well-written and an easy story in which to become absorbed, but it left me feeling that the author didn't want to explore a depth of her characters, which made it a good book, but not a great one.
Rated of 5
by Jana Lima Nights
The reader is swiftly pulled into a deep and reckless passion difficult to put down. Desperation and desire make for strange bedfellows. A vast confusion of emotions fuels the story forward. Just as one comes to grips with the consequences of the characters hungriness, Arana unravels everything at full tilt leaving a sense of puzzlement at what was all along obvious but blatantly overlooked while devouring the book.
Rated of 5
by Karen Like a chicken and a goose
In Maria's words, the two main characters are like a chicken and a goose--too different to ever truly understand each other.
Although some readers may be drawn to the title for the promise of an exotic variation on Lolita, and for the drama inherent in this unlikely pairing, this is less a story about romance than it is a story about consequences and inevitability.
I enjoyed the first half much more than the second half. The second half wavers: the combination of voodoo, misunderstandings stopping just short of the feverish pitch reached in the film The War of the Roses, and an attempted suicide scene may strain believability. There's a sense that, for all we've read about the main characters, we haven't come to know them well enough to truly understand them. Maria's past, with its difficulties, is implied as the reason for her present-day desire for security, but it may come across as too simplistic.
Still, the book is recommended for fans of Maria Arana's previous book American Chica. Lima Nights explores similar themes from another angle, such as the duality present in the city, from the guarded streets of the wealthy to the corrugated rooftops in the shanty towns. The ability to navigate these social worlds with a clear, accomplished writing style made this a compelling enough book to read in one sitting.
Rated of 5
by Vicky Lima Nights
The book was a wonderful love story that drew you in from the very beginning. I found it to be well written, descriptive without being too wordy. The characters came alive on the pages. You could feel all the emotions, as if you were experiencing them yourself. The people in the book seemed like everyday people. Smart, strong, determined and very flawed, as all of us are. I thought it was a really good book and I could not put it down. I really enjoyed the read.
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