Magical Realism has been one of my favorite genres for quite some time, perhaps ever since I stumbled upon Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude in a thrift store (and, yes, you can stumble upon it. I practically lived under a rock). So, when I saw Anika Fajardo's title of her memoir, I thought it would be right up my alley. Unfortunately, it did not meet my expectations.

Fajardo's memoir focuses on her journey to meet her estranged father in Columbia, a place where she knew she was born but otherwise had no memories of. Instead, she and her mother lived in Minnesota, very far from Columbia, both geographically and culturally.

Her journey calls to question her identity and the definition of family. She recalls at a point in elementary school that a teacher once told her that "every family has a father" after she drew only her mother and herself in a crayon-portrait of her family for an assignment. This stung, as I remember having a teacher do something so ignorant and hurtful as this to me around that age as well after my father passed.

There are no doubt touching moments. The writing can at times be extremely beautiful and poignant. However, it was also at times stilted and forced, and while the story was quite relate-able (likely even more so for those who struggle with cultural identity), unfortunately it just didn't grab my interest. Finally, if there was any connection to magical realism other than the complicated family ties and setting that may be similar to Marquez's novel, it was too weak for me to perceive.

Thank you to Anika Fajardo, University of Minnesota Press, and Netgalley for allowing me to access this book to review. As always, all opinions are my own.