I loved this book. Quiñonez does a fantastic job of painting vivid scenes full of magical realism, barrio culture, and history. 10/10 would recommend.

3/5.

Every time I see a Latinx fiction novel.... IT'S MINE!! And being it magical realism? With Latinx main characters and set in the Spanish Harlem? What more can I ask?

Well, actually a lot, but not the point! The point is: I read this book and that's what matters most out of anything. I had not heard anything about Taina, but the cover is simply beautiful, it looks like a graffiti work or just a simple art sketch and it has the bright yellow cover. It captured my attention and beautiful name also. I have not heard the name Taina hardly ever, it's a bit rare for myself. No one I follow or know has read this book before and I had no clue what it's about, which is a good thing in your reading life when not knowing ever book in the planet.

So, I had zero expectations and I just simply wanted to see what this book was about, and allow it to unfold in front of me. Which, in conclusion, I did like this book, but not entirely.

Quinonez's writing style is great, atmospheric, detailed, easy to read, and witty. Though it's the story line that did not follow and the whole center around the main story which is Taina's pregnancy. It's a simple fashion of Latinx magical realism mixed in with family, culture, love, loss, sadness, and life's ups and downs. It's all combined, but I felt it did not go accordingly. I did not really connect with the characters or some of the story plot lines that were demonstrated. I enjoyed few of the scenes and the stories that were introduced more about the adult characters that we are getting introduced and the main portion of the story, but not all of it.

Some of it felt slow, but there are symbolic touches that a reader can definitely go in depth about. But I felt some of the stories and character motives were lacking and did not really help the characters move forward. Only the adult characters, not Taina, Julio (a little), and other younger characters. However, it still was a ride with reading this story and interesting to see where the story will go.

Overall, Taina is a magical realism Latinx novel that is hardly talked about and I'm glad that I got the chance to find this book. Even though, I did not like all of the novel, I still enjoyed the reading experience and some of things that were in this novel. I think if you have not read this Latinx novel yet, give it a try, it may be different for some readers! Reading stories that are hardly talked about is an experience that is thrilling and risky all into one. I'm glad that I read it and I'm curious to read this author's others works.

Happy reading!

this is so so beautiful and vivid. i loved all of these characters so much and the magic realism was so lovely. so hopeful and beautifully written i wish this were a million pages longer, it was truly so sad to finish it and realise there was no more.

3.5 stars

A book about a pregnant virgin? This interesting premise was what pulled me in to read the book, but what impelled me to continue reading is the lyrical writing of Ernesto Quiñonez. His words are magic and are easily manifested in Julio's bizarre but chimerical thoughts.

The world is big, full of possibilities, and even if humankind is progressing rapidly, there are things that we still don't know. The accumulation of knowledge does not stop us from asking questions, but incites us to ask more. The very fabric our existence is unending so why settle for one answer when you can believe in the many answers that this deep well of a world hold in the darkness? This is what I learned and loved about the book.

The book is like a dream but like the nature of dreams, there are vague moments, meaningless scenes. The only other issue I have is how Taína was written as a manic pixie dream girl. She almost seemed like an accessory to this story despite being the central character.

This book was so inconsistent: inconsistently LOL funny and inconsistently 2019. The first chapter was hilarious, but the rest I mostly dragged through, with a few exceptions, including the scenes with BD (Bionic Dude). The book had demasiados anacronismos—like, what teenager uses iPods or the word “nylons”? What Latina mom only listens to the radio and doesn’t know who Shakira or Marc Anthony are? It doesn’t matter if you’re an immigrant/migrant, EVERYONE uses the Internet now (saying this as a Boston public school teacher of kids who are immigrants and/or have immigrant parents). I just couldn’t suspend my disbelief. Magical realism I can deal with. Anachronisms, I can’t. I know Quiñonez is old now, but he could’ve done his homework, hired a young editor, or just set the book in 1998 or something.

As a Puerto Rican, I do appreciate the cultural bits, the mentions of asopao, Juan Bobo, los espiritistas. I especially enjoyed the history lessons, including the story of Capeman, which I was not familiar with, and the forced sterilization of Puerto Rican women by the U.S. government.

Very strong 4! The ending makes it all worth it. It's a really lovely and simple coming of age novel on one level, though within that are a lot of layers about American identity vs Latin identity, how masculinity plays into that, and so on.

It's so refreshing to see a novel that's so openly about love and empathy and forgiveness in a sincere and uncalculated way. When you find a book that convincingly rings out with those emotions it can be a real spiritual balm, and Taína is certainly that.