Play Book Tag discussion

Teen Lila over a three month period experienced a trifecta of loss: sudden death of her beloved abuela to whom she was very close, her boyfriend breaking up with her because he needs 'space', and her BFF dropping out of all their post-high school plans and going off to Africa to volunteer for a charitable group. This has left her in a depth of despair so deep that her very close knit Cuban American family sends her to spend the summer with a cousin who runs an inn in Winchester, England, trusting that the change of scenery and removal from all the reminders of loss will allow Lila to heal and move forward. Naturally, of course, Lila being a very strong-minded, willful teen, self-absorbed as only a teenager can be, is NOT HAPPY about this, particularly since in her opinion she needs to remain in her narrow Cuban community and family in Miami, that she alone knows what she needs to heal. Things don't quite work out as Lila expects, and as the summer evolves, her family's wisdom is of course confirmed.

I liked this quite a lot as it has a great deal of charm. Lila is a gifted baker, her family owning a Cuban bakery in Miami. This means many scenes involving cuban baked goods and traditional dishes like ropa vieja and arroz con pollo, as well as an amusing stand-off between the inn's baker the British Polly, with her traditional family recipes and Lila, one I thought the author handled particularly well. There are no receipes except ones about critical life moments, just lots of mentions that have me planning delivery for dinner from my favorite cuban restaurant.

I only give this 3.5 stars rounded down rather than up because I actually found Lila's teen willfulness in the initial third or so of the book a tad irritating. I'm not the audience for this book, though it still read fine. There is a lot that is predictable, but that fit the gentle and even sweet tone of the book, though it means there are no surprises. Once Lila stops fighting being in England and starts letting others in, I found myself committed to the story.

Eventually Lila heals, makes new friends, matures, grows to appreciate England and starts looking ahead and not behind. A true coming of age story.

BWF - Letter C or N - tagged 36x

I also thought this was a pretty good YA book.

Oh .. and you have a duplicate post of this book ... in case you want to delete the other one.

BC - I don't see the duplicate.... oh wait, found it! I hate that GR does that and it doesn't always pop up immediately either.

One thing that bothered me in this novel, which was a pretty dang good YA, was the constant references to 'a boy' or 'a girl'. It just happens that the book I read immediatley after was another YA though SciFI and also centered on the late teens/early 20s. It too constantly referenced 'a boy' or 'a girl' - I'm wondering if that's an editing requirement of publishers now that they are trying to separate out a New Adult genre. I personally find it irritating - I know these are teenagers!

I'm currently reading this, Theresa. It has been on my TBR for ages, and this seemed like the perfect time to pick it up. I am quite charmed by the whole story and have enjoyed seeing Lila merge Cuba with England. I'm near the end and waiting to see what happens between her and Orion. He's quickly become one of my favorite male characters for a YA book.

Excellent time to pick it up, Hayjay! I look forward to seeing your review. I was actually quite impressed with how the author ended the story, on every level.