Yo!

The sequel to How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent, Julia Alvarez continues Yolanda s journey into American culture and how she changes from Domican Yolanda to American Yo and all of the struggles to maintain a balance between the two cultures As expected this book was not as quite as good as the predecessor because I already knew the characters but still has Alvarez amazing prose so I enjoyed it all the same Highly recommended.

This is a fun read, in large part because of the format Each chapter is told by a different character, revolving around one Yolanda Garcia Yo for short , a writer whom we get to know in a delightful variety of ways from her sister, her college professor, one of her several husbands, the caretaker of her cousin s estate in the Dominican Republic, even her creepy stalker The stories jump around in place and time some take place in the U.S some in the D.R and feature characters from many walks of l [...]

Yolanda Garcia, or Yo, has just released a new book that has triggered a lot of angry reactions in her family Even though Yo claims that it is fiction, each family member can identify themselves in some character of the book They are frustrated, understandably, because their friends and acquaintances keep asking them which character represents them Yo s mother is threatening to sue her while her sisters are refusing to talk to her Yo cannot understand why her family is reacting as such and she k [...]

I enjoyed this book for all of its energy and contradicting stories but thought it kinda jumped off the rails in the final fifty pages or so There are so many characters and perspectives that I started to lose track of who was who and then there s some inspired but confusing stream of consciousness chapters at the end that lost me completely It s almost as if she is too good at writing different characters and it holds back some of the potential in a smaller cast One student, in particular, has [...]

The story of one girl s life, each chapter telling a non chronological piece of her life from a different person s perspective Sometimes a family member or another person who knew her well, sometimes someone who simply met her once I found this method of story telling really fascinating How can you really tell a story from one person s perspective and keep bias free You might as well show all sorts of biases, opinions, perspectives, whatever, and that will, perhaps, paint a fuller picture.I love [...]

Like I said, I read one Julia Alvarez book and I was hooked Yo is the hilarious tale of a Dominican writer who uses her family as fodder for her first novel As a person of hispanic descent I understand how major the issue of airing ones dirty laudry in public is Yo Yolanda in deciding to use her family s story for her first novel, must not deal with their wrath as they attempt to set the record straight I found myself connecting with all the characters at one point or another and feeling much sy [...]

Yo is the skeleton key that opened me up to planet books Even though at seventeen, I got Holden in The Catcher in the Rye his cynical, maddening thought process I truly resonated with big family, and lots of voices in Yo Thanks for opening the door.

Not as good as in the time of butterflies, but a nice continuation about yo and the garcias light and easy read, interesting second to last story about the stalker didn t see that one coming

Another great Julia Alvarez book It s kind of the literary equivalent of a concept album is that even a thing , in that all the stories revolving around Yolanda Garc a are grouped in sections and each designated by some sort of literary concept Part I is all genres, Part II plot elements, Part III abstract ideas Reading the table of contents, it looks a little overwhelming or rigid or silly, but it works out There is not much on any of the other sisters introduced in How the Garc a Girls Lost Th [...]

Loved this book about a writer from the Dominican Republic who faces the dilemma all writers of realistic fiction or family chronicles face how do you deal with the emotions of family members or friends when the stories hit too close to home, because, to be effective, a writer must be brutally honest in delving beneath the surface, often exposing truths that others would prefer to keep hidden In the words of the protagonist, What is the point of shrouding yourself in silence the grave will do th [...]

A beautifully crafted novel, Alvarez looks once again at the complexities of family relationships and the ways in which we live and are seen Like all of us, Yo is a complex character at times almost heroic, she can also be amazingly self centered Each chapter of the book is told from a different person s point of view family members, friends, employees, strangers we hear each of them tell about the ways in which they know Yo Yo herself is silent, but the reader gets a very clear picture of who s [...]

this book is simply brilliant julia alvarez created a masterpiece that is deep, at times dark, but extraordinarily engaging for me, it is the relate able aspect of the story that draw me in not to mention the splendid use of dominican culture throughout the whole booke setting spans from the luxurious and mesmerizing new england area in the 60s to the exotic, foreign and mystical land of hispaniola i would definitely recommend this to everyone this is the kinda book that i will read over and ove [...]

I ve read Alvarez s In the Time of the Butterflies numerous times and teach it in one of my courses, so I bought the buzz that it was by far her best and only excellent novel Was I ever wrong While Butterflies has its incredible lens of historical fiction in its focus on the inspirational Mariposa sisters, Yo is something altogether different and altogether marvelous.Focusing on the character of Yolanda Yo , a Dominican born author who immigrates to the U.S with her family during Trujillo s dict [...]

This is another book that I didn t realize up front was a collection of short stories They re all connected, all different peoples stories and impressions of Yolanda Garcia, aka Yo A couple of them I really liked The teacher romance The caretakers revelation , a few I really hated The best friend motivation The wedding guests point of view The stalker tone , but most of them I felt completely indifferent to One of my problems with this collection is that, despite the fact that each story is told [...]

Absolutely brilliant.I was so impressed by the authors use of outside perspective to depict such a fascinating main character I feel like the picture of Yo was painted so vivdly by means of so many people that come and go from one s life I was very sad upon finishing, especially after the chapter from the dad s point of view It rounded itself out with Yo being a child crying, and Yo as a middle age woman crying Dunno why but something about that was pretty powerful Definitely a good read The wed [...]

A fun, likable book, large autobiographical, about going back home to the Dominican Republic after growing up in the U.S from the age of 10 or so on Alvarez is an engaging writer No particularly deep thoughts, but a lot of resonant experiences, combined with a nicely developed sympathy for the characters I heard her read some of this several years ago and got this book autographed, one of the few signed copies I have She was very pleasant to talk to.

I generally enjoy all of Julia Alvarez s books, and I certainly enjoyed this one It was like a book of short stories rather than a novel with an extended narrative, which is why I only gave it four stars as I am not a huge fan of short stories However since the title character runs through all the stories, there was at least a central focus for the book.

The fun premise weaving together of many different voices and points of view almost offhand bits of social political historical commentary and of what is life about melancholy that almost sneak up on the reader all added up to a vacation read that drew me in right away.

The different perspectives in the book made it very interesting to read

Another great book by an amazing author Julia Alvarez is one of the best authors of our time

My first Alvarez, and in the wrong order But a very interesting exercise in character driven and writerly exercises, circling around Yolanda s life with those who have known her in very different ways As a writer, it was kind of awesome to watch Alvarez work toward this one person while considering touches such as point of view and inspiration Yo, though, was still as much of a mystery at the end as she was at the beginning, which I hope was the point At times I found her character to be a littl [...]

A friend sent this to me as part of a book exchange It was a wonderful read The story of Yolanda Garcia as told through the various people in her life It starts with her family in uproar over Yo publishing a novel that is very close to their own lives and progresses from there.

Love the stories but not the execution

I liked that the narrator changed with each chapter, all referring to the main character, Yolanda and developing all aspects of her throughout the story.

I ve liked all of julia Alvarez s book Yo is so good and so silly The aunts, oh my god, the aunts

I really liked the concept of this book each chapter represents an individual s view of the protagonist The content felt too slow moving for me though so I can t go higher than 3 stars.

Alvarez has a way of tapping into the heart and soul of families and their interactions, embarrassing and painful as they sometimes are.

I ll admit, in the beginning, it took some time to get into, and I especially didn t like that the whole book was centered around Yo strange, because isn t that the title of the book I suppose it didn t really impact me that this whole book was to be all about Yo oops.However, as I read, I grew to like the book a lot The author employs a chronological storytelling, starting from the present and going deep into the past, back to where it all started, just like in How the Garcia Girls Lost Their A [...]

Yo isn t so much a sequel as it is a sort of retrospective look at Yolanda s or Yo s life through the eyes of the people around her, from family members to the help to colleagues to strangers to love interests and even a stalker I certainly got an interesting, oftentimes infuriating but usually humorous take on the character Yo from childhood to I d say mid thirties, from amateur storyteller to struggling writer I d go from story to story and this very much felt like a short story collection to [...]

I am reviewing a book called Yo by Julia Alvarez She is also the author of How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents and In The Time of The Butterflies, I have not read either of them but after reading this book I think I might check into the them YO is a fiction book and it s about a writer Yolanda and the point of views of everyone around her, kind of like everyone s side of the story, and in different points in time.The book YO A girl that grows into a woman named Yolanda, Each chapter person i [...]