Reviews for The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien

The average rating for The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-12-08 00:00:00 Craig Johnson I originally read Oscar Hijuelos' The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien when it first came out. I was in twelfth grade and enjoyed reading books about Hispanic culture at the time. The Montez O'Brien family was the type of family I was captivated by- a melting pot of Cuban, Irish, and Spanish cultures. Combining the different ethnicities was Hijuelos' tale about fourteen sisters with distinct personalities all in one family. The story looks back on the last hundred years of their family's history in an epic saga. Containing the magical realism that I adore although not quite at Allende's level, the Montez O'Brien's story was a fun read and one I would not mind revisiting.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-10-19 00:00:00 Kev Black I kept wanting this book to have the magical writing of Toni Morrison, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabel Allende. But it felt as if I were reading a book made up entirely of exposition, which is, perhaps, why I never attached to the book, never felt anxious to return to it, but instead plodded from section to section. It is a traditional family saga, and there are some lovely moments, but the rapid lift from character to character never let me sink into any of the individuals, never developing beyond the rote list of characteristics Hijuelos assigned them. I do look forward to the novel I've heard more about, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love--I like the reviews, saying the writing is "lyric and literary." This one, literary, sure, but not so very lyric.