A is for Adelita's Secret by Christopher Cloud

Adelita's Secret

Amazon Summery:

Lost in a superficial world of materialism and social status—and ashamed of her Latino heritage—seventeen-year-old Adelita Noé is loved by two men, two men separated by a hundred years and vastly different stations in life. One man owns little more than the shirt on his back. The other, a poet at heart, is heir to a vast fortune. Their love for Adelita serves as the backdrop for the Latino girl’s quest to better understand herself and her Mexican roots. 

My Review:

I wasn't sure about Adelita's Secret at the beginning, but I have to say that by the end Adelita's Secret won me over. 

Things I liked about this book:

I really liked the way Adelita grew throughout the book. During the beginning I wasn't sure if I really could connect to her, but as she evolved I really started to like her. By the end I really wanted to find out what was going to happen to her. 

The way she learned about her heritage as she grew was great. The author found ways to integrate Mexico's history into the story without making it feel like a history lesson. I can say I definitely learned some interesting facts without feeling like I was reading a textbook. 

I have to say the story, overall, drew me in. Based on the cover and the Amazon summery I was really expecting more of a romantic element to the book. But, even though this wasn't a romance novel, it definitely was a great read. Yes, there are romantic elements to the book, but they are secondary to the story of Adelita herself. Also, while she is the center of the story, it doesn't revolve completely around her. I have to say I became attached to quite a few of the supporting characters. I really appreciated the fact that by the end of the story the author did tie up the lose strings regarding them. It made the story that much more complete.  

Things I was a bit unsure of:

Well the first thing I was unsure of was the fact that the story was way less romantic than I thought it would be. The story itself was good, but, based on the cover and the summery, I was really expecting more romance. Fortunately because of the story itself I really didn't miss the lack thereof. However if I had purchased the book expecting romance I would have been disappointed.  

The second was Adelita at the beginning of the story.  I understand that the author was building the character to be ignorant of her own culture, but there were some things that I really think based on her back story she should have known. One particular item, in the beginning Adelita is recently transferred from an underprivileged school. The author really goes into detail about how bad the school is. While I can still understand her not knowing Spanish or anything about her cultural heritage, there are certain words that she should have been exposed to already. But a few steps into the book she has no idea what they are, one word in particular. I'm not saying that anyone that doesn't live in the region where Adelita does would know the word, but from where she comes from she should be familiar with it. (The word itself is rather derogatory, so I'm not putting it here. In the book it works, it's not gratuitous use of a negative word, but this isn't the book. )

My opinion of the book overall? 

The beginning was a bit slow, but I really liked it by the end. I definitely would recommend it. I would make a note to tell whoever I recommended it to that it isn't really a romance novel and to push through the first few chapters to give themselves a chance to get to know Adelita

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I'm giving this one 4 outta 5 stars. Mainly because by the end it had done that good a job of pulling the entire story together and really getting me to care about the characters.  

Also if you'd like to find out more about Christopher Cloud be sure to check out his authors spotlight from December by clicking here

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This post is part of the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge. 

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I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review to be included as part of the Blogging from A to Z April (2015) Challenge on my blog. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.