Rating: 
Summary: Worth Your Time!
Review: How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents was an extremely enjoyable read. While being quite entertaining, it also gave an excellent insight to traditional life in the Dominican Republic. The novel thoroughly delves into the controversial matter of being raised an extremely patriarchal society, adjusting to a more liberal one later in life, and difficulties one encounters when returning to his or her homeland. The reverse chronology the author used was primarily a bit hard to grasp, but became more natural as it progressed. When one usually reads a novel, he or she is always waiting to turn to the next page to see what will happen next, but here, the urge comes from the stylistic writing and intriguing character development. Overall, this novel is a fascinating analysis of what modern-day immigrants experience upon transplanting themselves to a new place and culture. Julia Alvarez has done a wonderful job with this educational yet delightfully fun piece of literature.
Rating:
Summary: It's worth your time
Review: I read, "How the Garcia Girls lost their accents" for my " Women of Latin America" class. This book was very interesting. This book is nothing like anything that I have read before, but I was still able to gain something from reading it. This is a wonderful story of how the Garcia de la Torre girls acclimate themselves to a new way of life when they are abruptly uprooted from their home. The United States and its culture are difficult for the girls to understand. The book takes us in to their lives and tells of the trials and tribulations of starting over. The best thing about this book is how the author is able to write the girls so accurately. I have two sisters, and I felt as if the things that the Garcia girls did were things that I can remember, or picture my sisters and I doing. The book is very easy reading and it is worth your time.
Rating:
Summary: another great book
Review: i decided to read this book after reading julia alvarez's other book "in the time of the butterflies", which was really great. this book follows, or rather preceeds, since it was published earlier, in its footsteps. while at 1st the book seems to concentrate more on yolanda as opposed to the other sisters, towards the middle it begins to tell the other 3 sisters stories more. they each come into their own, with little excerpts of experiences from their childhood, coming to america, and back in the dominican republic. this book goes backwards, from the girl's adulthood to their childhood. there are some really charming and memorable parts in this book, and those alone make it a great read, however it ends rather abruptly, it seems as if there should be another chapter after the last one, but what can you expect for a book that goes backwards, it cant go on forever. theres also a sequel to this book called "yo" which i havent gotten to read yet so maybe some questions will be answered there. overall though this is a great read that sucks you in.
Rating:
Summary: Not on par with Amy Tan
Review: How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents is an intriguing exploration of cultural and generational conflicts. I read it because I loved "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan. That novel made me feel intrigued by the notion of cultural clashes, and how children and parents deal with such conflicts.Alvarez was able to create well-rounded characters who were interesting to me as a reader. I was really engrossed in the girl's journey to adjust to the culture shock of living in America. Some of the imagery in the novel was captivating. Alvarez really pulled me in; I could totally picture some of the events in the novel taking place. I also liked the device of starting in the present and working backwards to the girls' childhood. Each of the characters had a unique voice; they were all distinct and true to life. I do wish that the book were a novel rather than a collection of short stories. I think that some of the characters deserved more "airtime". The book seemed more like a string of vignettes than a real story. As well rounded as the characters were, there were some, such as the mother, that I would like to have known more about. Even the girls could have been developed more. Some of the chapters/stories were a little boring, too. Overall, if you are interested in how people adapt to new cultures, and the notion of intergenerational conflict, there will likely be something in this novel you will enjoy. It is well written and worth the time it will take to read it, even though it is slow in parts.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book of How American can change someone
Review: The book How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents was a great book about the American expierence. These 4 girls left their homeland of the Dominican Republic and went to America. They disobeyed thier old-world discipline, and went to America, and found who they truly were. America changed the four girls, into people that their parents never thought they would be. This novel compares to the "Joy Luck Club" there are many similiarities. This novel shows how *Americainizing* girls can be good and bad. There are humorous stories and some very seroius stories. This is a great book and everyone should read this book, to get a feel for what it is really like to come to America from a foreign country, and the expierences, and issues people have to deal with....Great Book:-)
Rating:
Summary: another great book
Review: i decided to read this book after reading julia alvarez's other book "in the time of the butterflies", which was really great. this book follows, or rather preceeds, since it was published earlier, in its footsteps. while at 1st the book seems to concentrate more on yolanda as opposed to the other sisters, towards the middle it begins to tell the other 3 sisters stories more. they each come into their own, with little excerpts of experiences from their childhood, coming to america, and back in the dominican republic. this book goes backwards, from the girl's adulthood to their childhood. there are some really charming and memorable parts in this book, and those alone make it a great read, however it ends rather abruptly, it seems as if there should be another chapter after the last one, but what can you expect for a book that goes backwards, it cant go on forever. theres also a sequel to this book called "yo" which i havent gotten to read yet so maybe some questions will be answered there. overall though this is a great read that sucks you in.
Rating:
Summary: A charming little book...
Review: I enjoy reading books from different cultures' viewpoints, so I picked this up in a bookstore down at the beach. The title grabbed me as I found it quite funny. I loved how the author showed the struggle of the four girls from all of their view points. There were a lot of things that I'm sure young girls, whether they're Latino or not, can relate to. The only thing with this book was how it went back in time. I'm not sure why the author chose to do the most recent first and then the days of them as children last. I thought it should have went the other way, but oh well. Some parts of the book went a bit slow but it didn't last long. I liked the whole plot line, how it didn't go "oh, my life sucks" the way a lot of books for teenage girls do. A cute and clever book, I'd recommend this to any of my friends.
Rating: 
Summary: Liked Yo! Better, but this is fun too
Review: Juia Alvarez does a good job of writing interesting characters. And as she does that, she weaves a rambling plot that keeps you turning pages. Had I read this first, I would have liked it MORE, but I still liked this book. At first glance, one might think this is a series of independent stories titled as chapters and that there is not plot. That's no accurate at all. Julia is masterful at keeping a string connecting the seemingly random events throughout the book. Makes you think about all the people YOU know and how the events in your life might somehow be affecting other people. The conclusion IS satisfying, which is always a plus. Each sister has her own unique personality and issues. There is something within each woman that appeals to you. Some nice discussion of a sister who really owns her sexuality and has no shame about it. This is certainly worth a read.
Rating:
Summary: Not giving this the effort!
Review: If I have trouble immersing myself into a book, I give it 50 pages, just 50 pages. But this one, I stopped at 34 pages. I get the impression that characters are not developed, and with an overload of characters, the need for a scorecard is to track names only. Since there isn't a "plot", just numerous stories, more effort is needed to keep focus on the array of dramas and which drama belongs to which girl. And, I repeat, I give a book 50 pages; it just didn't hold my interest. So, I'm sorry to say, but I have chucked this book, there are too many that are worth my time and effort. I won't live forever so I need to move on. Maybe the timing isn't right. What can you expect after just reading a literary classic by Melamud. .....MzRizz
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyed reading it!!
Review: I really liked this book! I first attempted to read it a couple of years ago, when I was a teenager and gave up around chapter 2 because the reversed order of the stories confused me....I do not think this is a young adult book, because it does deal with sex and with a lot of "grown-up" stuff and some of the metaphors are really deep:), especially when it comes to Yolanda. The book might seem a little bit confusing at first, but all your questions will be answered as you keep reading. I got to "know" the 4 Garcia girls pretty well by the end of the book and they are all very interesting/different characters( I even had a hard time picking a favorite out of the four). I enjoyed their childhood stories better, because Ms. Alvarez presents the reader with an incident in each girl's life that shows their personality. It was interesting to see the difference between the girls as adults and as children. I think Ms. Alvarez does a pretty good job at representing the immigrant experience, but her book mainly emphasizes the contrast between 2 cultures: Dominican and American. Plus, the author does not relate the Dominican immigrant experience in general, because most immigrants I know can not afford to move into an appartment building with a doorman as soon as they get to NY. Ms. Alvarez also does a good job portraying how the Dominican aristocracy lived during times of dictatorship. I really enjoyed reading this book and I recommend that anyone who wants to find out more about a different culture should try reading it:)
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