Publisher: Spiegel & Grau | Random House Audio
Release Date: March 7, 2017
Format: Audio MP3
Pages: Hardcover: 272 pages | Audio Length: 7 hours 51 mins
Narrator: Marisol Ramirez , Ramón de Ocampo
Source: Publisher
Genre: Literary Fiction, Historical
Rating: 4 bookmarks
Synopsis: While her parents are away for a holiday weekend in the mountains around Cali, a teenager finds herself home alone for the first time, with the household help mysteriously gone, no phone connection, and news of an insurgency on the radio—and then she hears a knock at the door. The girl’s teacher recites Shakespeare in the jungle to a class of sticks, leaves, and stones, while his captors watch his every move. Another classmate, having escaped Colombia for the clubs of New York, is unable to forget the life she left behind without the help of the little bags of powder she carries with her. Taking place over two decades, The Lucky Ones presents us with a world in which perpetrators are indistinguishable from saviors, the truth is elusive, and people you love can disappear without a trace.
A prismatic tale of a group of characters who emerge and recede throughout the novel and touch one another’s lives in ways even they cannot comprehend, The Lucky Ones captures the intensity of life in Colombia as paramilitaries, guerillas, and drug traffickers tear the country apart. Combining vivid details of life under siege with a hallucinatory feel that befits its violent world, The Lucky Ones introduces a truly original and exciting new voice in fiction.
*This audiobook was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.
Release Date: March 7, 2017
Format: Audio MP3
Pages: Hardcover: 272 pages | Audio Length: 7 hours 51 mins
Narrator: Marisol Ramirez , Ramón de Ocampo
Source: Publisher
Genre: Literary Fiction, Historical
Rating: 4 bookmarks
Synopsis: While her parents are away for a holiday weekend in the mountains around Cali, a teenager finds herself home alone for the first time, with the household help mysteriously gone, no phone connection, and news of an insurgency on the radio—and then she hears a knock at the door. The girl’s teacher recites Shakespeare in the jungle to a class of sticks, leaves, and stones, while his captors watch his every move. Another classmate, having escaped Colombia for the clubs of New York, is unable to forget the life she left behind without the help of the little bags of powder she carries with her. Taking place over two decades, The Lucky Ones presents us with a world in which perpetrators are indistinguishable from saviors, the truth is elusive, and people you love can disappear without a trace.
A prismatic tale of a group of characters who emerge and recede throughout the novel and touch one another’s lives in ways even they cannot comprehend, The Lucky Ones captures the intensity of life in Colombia as paramilitaries, guerillas, and drug traffickers tear the country apart. Combining vivid details of life under siege with a hallucinatory feel that befits its violent world, The Lucky Ones introduces a truly original and exciting new voice in fiction.
*This audiobook was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.
I’m going to just come right out and say it-nobody is lucky in The Lucky Ones. If you’re looking for a happy-go-lucky book, this isn’t it. But the language-it’s breathtaking. I couldn’t wait to figure out what was going to happen next.
The story is told from alternating viewpoints, with each chapter coming from a different character. The one similarity between them all, though, is drugs. With that being said, I felt that the main ‘character’ in the story wasn’t any one individual, but the drugs itself. All of the characters seemed to be there for one main purpose, and that was to tell the story of narcotics.
The story is told from alternating viewpoints, with each chapter coming from a different character. The one similarity between them all, though, is drugs. With that being said, I felt that the main ‘character’ in the story wasn’t any one individual, but the drugs itself. All of the characters seemed to be there for one main purpose, and that was to tell the story of narcotics.
The book starts out being told by a teenage girl, living in Colombia, who decides to stay home while her family goes away to a friend’s weekend soiree. She thinks it’s going to be a carefree weekend, hanging with her friend, going shopping and flirting with boys. When she wakes up the next morning, however, the maid is gone, the power is out, phones aren’t working, and there is a stranger at the door. Where did everybody go, and why won’t the stranger go away?
The chapters following tell of the profe’, who we find out is being held captive, has been for 5 years, and to pass the time and to keep his mind active, teaches Shakespeare to his ‘students’, a bunch of twigs and leaves; and the commandante, who is not who you would initially think he is. Behind his gruff, menacing exterior, he is hiding secrets, some of which we find out from his childhood best friend, Mariela, told through flashbacks that he is having.
The chapters following tell of the profe’, who we find out is being held captive, has been for 5 years, and to pass the time and to keep his mind active, teaches Shakespeare to his ‘students’, a bunch of twigs and leaves; and the commandante, who is not who you would initially think he is. Behind his gruff, menacing exterior, he is hiding secrets, some of which we find out from his childhood best friend, Mariela, told through flashbacks that he is having.
The story goes on, with perspectives from other childhood characters of the commandante’s, including a drug-addled New Yorker just trying to keep it together, Mariela’s father, even a rabbit addicted to cocaine. None of it seems to make sense, at first, but all of the stories start interweaving, where the main character of one story becomes a side player in another.
Marisol Ramirez is one of the most engaging audiobook narrators that I have ever heard. I was enthralled from the first few words that she spoke. Ramon de Ocampo just added to the magic. They both definitely made the book come to life.
It was definitely hard to follow at times, especially toward the beginning of the book. As I said before, the main character of the book isn’t the characters themselves, but rather the drugs that make their worlds go round. Also, there aren’t a lot of conclusions with the characters. I would have liked to know what happens with a few of them; I kind of felt like I was left hanging as a reader. But with that being said, this was an exquisite debut. Ms. Pachico can really make a world come to life.
Marisol Ramirez is one of the most engaging audiobook narrators that I have ever heard. I was enthralled from the first few words that she spoke. Ramon de Ocampo just added to the magic. They both definitely made the book come to life.
It was definitely hard to follow at times, especially toward the beginning of the book. As I said before, the main character of the book isn’t the characters themselves, but rather the drugs that make their worlds go round. Also, there aren’t a lot of conclusions with the characters. I would have liked to know what happens with a few of them; I kind of felt like I was left hanging as a reader. But with that being said, this was an exquisite debut. Ms. Pachico can really make a world come to life.
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