Mision olvido (The Heart Has Its Reasons Spanish Edition): Una novela Kindle Edition

It's almost impossible to review this book without comparing it to María Dueñas' first novel, El tiempo entre costuras. But while the main character in both is a woman who has been left by her significant other, the similarities pretty much end there. The setting of Misión Olvido, a small university town in California, is quite different from Morocco and Spain during the Spanish Civil War. While I enjoyed her descriptions of American culture and of university life, and experts in hispanic literature will probably enjoy her references to historical Spanish writers of the 20th century, the plot did not have, until the last few chapters, the riveting dramatic turns that characterized El tiempo entre costuras. While the two main characters are well developed, others are less so. As a native of Pittsburgh, I was quite surprised to find my hometown to be the setting for a few scenes in the book, and I was impressed with Dueñas' ability to capture a town so foreign for her. As in the case of El tiempo entre costuras, the author's attention to historical detail is impressive.I very much enjoyed the book, especially how Dueñas brings everything together in the end, and I would recommend it to others as long as they are not expecting another Tiempo entre costuras. That being said, I can't quite bring myself to give it four stars, and since Amazon doesn't allow 3 1/2 stars, I'm going with 3, though that seems a bit harsh.

After I read "El tiempo entre costuras" I read the bonus chapters of this one, and I was totally misled by the tittle, because it sounded like a predictable chick-flick novel, which I wasn't looking for. I don't like to abandon books unfinished so I later decided to give it a go, and I was rather happily impressed.Once again Maria Duenas manages to link various moments of history of Spain plus Spaniards in America, giving a picture that even when it talks about some rather difficult and still heated controversial moments of Spain's history, doesn't make you feel like listening to any kind of evangelizing about one side or the other of the conflicted parties.

I read the first novel and definitely it helped to buy other book from Maria Dueñas, I really like her style, very descriptive and you get engaged since the very beginning, and as you read you cannot stop reading.Lei la primer novela de El tiempo entre costuras, definitivamente eso ayudo a conseguir otro libro de esta autora, me encanta su estilo, muy descriptiva y te atrapa desde el principio con su historia. No puedes parar de leerla.

This book is nothing compared with " Entre Costuras " by the same writer, that I consider one of the best books I have read, but the storyis intersting and quite realistic, and it gives you advises as to how to treat and handle some happenings in our lives which are quite logical.In short, a nice readable book.

Una historia un poco sencilla que entrelaza personajes muy agradables. Trama perfectamente de esperarse, pero entretiene. Me gusta el estilo de la escritora. Disfruto sus libros

This is a long read, a detailed and at times plodding novel but given my background as an Hispanophile, I hung with it. It is not for the faint of heart as dialogue is minimal and vocabulary is dense and learned. It is not the best novel I have ever read but I liked the bicultural nature of Spain and the U.S. as key to the plot forces. A second novel after a very successful first novel is always difficult and this one proves that fact.

I'm ready to give this a read. It's in Spanish, so it'll take me a bit longer since I am still not fluent in Spanish...but working on this, obviously.

It wasOK, but not a kpatch on her previous book, "El Tiempo Entre Costuras". It seems to be a story of the author's own experiences, which were no doubt important to her, but not really of any great interest to anyone else. She writes beautifully, however.

Un maravilloso relato, lleno de historia, amor y perdón ....

The book is captivating at times. The characters are believable. I learned some history, which is always a plus! However, there is a lack of unity in the plot that disturbed me.

Un libri ameno y muy bien escrito, su lectura seduce y enreiquece

Estupendo, justo lo que esperaba de esta escritora que nunca defrauda. Perfecto en narrativa y en engancharse hasta el final.

An excellent book, easy to read!

Muy bien

very good !!!!

Great novel, She becomes one of my favorite writers, she keeps you all time hooked on the book at the point that it is difficult to put it on the side.

not very interesting

too small print for my wife