Kensington Publishing, December 29, 2015.
Three Stars
When Kate’s husband dies
suddenly, her world is shaken in more ways than one. She discovers that he has
left a posthumous letter to her daughter Sofia, explaining the truth about her
adoption. Sofia was always told that she was legally adopted from an orphanage
in Mexico before moving to New England with Kate. However, Kate has been
keeping a dangerous secret from everyone about the real origins of her daughter.
Rescued from civil unrest and bloodshed in Guatemala, the only way to keep
Sofia safe was to lie to everyone.
The first section of the novel,
set in present day New England, set the scene at a slow pace. It felt very
ChickLit and uninteresting. However, the second part picked up, and brought
much more depth to the story. As the novel flashes back to Kate’s time in
Guatemala as a grad student, we discover the necessity of her deceptions. Not only
did she witness the massacre of Mayan villagers in a civil conflict, she also
knew too much about the American collusion with the Guatemalan government. There
is also a romantic element that created more intrigue without being overly
predictable.
At some points, I felt that the
author was purposely manipulating my emotions, making the story more dramatic
than it needed to be, when it could have stood on its own. From the
melodramatic beginning, the story really developed with Kate’s experiences in
Guatemala. The final section tied everything up a bit too neatly, although
there was a lot more depth (emotionally and politically) than I initially
expected. Overall, the novel had a great flow with an intense plot and some
strong characters – a very enjoyable read.
I received this book for free from Kensington Publishing and NetGalley
in exchange for an honest review.
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