Reina Castillo, born in Columbia, living in Miami. Her brother, Carlito ends up on death row and Reina feels responsible. So much so that she visits him every weekend, not that she had anything else to do.

Personally I couldn't get on with the book, I didn't understand Reina's dedication to her brother, even given the guilt. Her character is numb, she connects with no-one and is really hard to relate to or like. I felt the story wandered too much and seemed rather aimlessly, so I struggled to engage with it in any way. ( )

Beautiful and painful and thoughtful. A sister's life during and after her brother lives and dies on death row in Florida. The hardships, generation trauma, broken relationships, and forgiveness that are found in dark and beautiful places. A bit meandering, but still hooks you in until the end. ( )

This book has left a hole in my heart.

So good.

It is so sad. The language is so lovely. The sense of place blows my mind. The spirituality is a living, breathing thing (it is so beautiful to read about Santeria in an everyday context and not just associated with fantasy).

I'm not sure I've ever loved an audiobook this much before. I can feel a book hangover coming on. ( )

Different paths in life, but same internal struggles draw Reina and Nesto together. Their tale isn’t a love story and I wouldn’t call this a romance novel. Rather, more of a tale of two survivors learning to carve their own way in life.
I found myself immersed in the story with them and hoping for their redemption from themselves. ( )

Reina's brother Carlito has just committed suicide in a south Florida prison, and her mother is moving in with her boyfriend. With no one left who needs her any longer in her hometown of Miami, Reina quits her job as a manicurist and heads down Hwy. 1 to the Keys in search of a new beginning. She finds a new job and a rental cottage on serene Crescent Key, intending to start over, and runs into Nesto, a Cuban refugee whose past (and present) is nearly as painful as hers.

Though it wasn't 100% my writing style, I loved reading this #ownvoices novel because it gave me a new and welcome perspective on what it's like to be an immigrant, particularly one with Latin American origins. The situations people are escaping and the risks they take in doing so are almost unfathomable to those of us who have never had to deal with that level of adversity and pain. I have to say the book gave me momentary pause when Reina and Nesto engaged in an act that was illegal but morally admirable -- I guess their alignments are chaotic good! ( )