Truthfully, I'm not entirely sure what this book was, but I really enjoyed it. The writing was beautiful, and I really loved the characters and story.

I do wish more of this was specifically about Eva Luna. The scope of the book was so wide that I frequently lost the threads we were meant to be following. I wasn't always certain what following a specific character accomplished, and after finishing the whole novel it still doesn't make sense.

Allende at times devolves into the weird and unreal, which is something I can struggle with. Sometimes it was beautiful and other times I felt my interest waning. This story was so political I did find myself wish it was a little less magical and a little more real. In general, that's just how my tastes trend, though. I would like to see how I feel about that style in a different Allende book.

But it was beautiful. It was enthralling from page one and the parts I loved I really really loved. This has made me much more interested in reading more from her.