A flash from the past. I was born after the time the book describes but every Colombian my age knows of the 80s and 90s. Guerrilla and Narcos and assassinations and car bombs and kidnappings. 
The book captures Colombians' relationship with violence. An eternal Civil war with changing factions that have left millions upon millions without a home. The narrator is a child which is by far the best way to try and explain to people how it was, how it feels the first time you turn on the news and something horrible happened near to you. 
Written from a priveledged perspective, it is nonetheless powerful and emotionally charged. The book hits very close to home, since I too left Colombia for more hopeful horizons. The protagonist's older sister acts pretty much as I have these last year's in expatriation, trying to forget, trying to excel and overcome. The feeling of smallness you have. People don't understand where you've come from. 

I am distraught. The writing is very good and I don't know if I can say anything too damning of the book. Unsure what non-colombian US/European audiences will get out of this book. Some sick sense of voyeuristic smugness? 

I found this book to be a refreshing new perspective on the oft told, dramatized story of Pablo Escobar. Layering these stories against the backdrop of his reign in Colombia was aching, heartbreaking, inspiring. I profoundly appreciated what I learned about what was suffered and lost by the Colombian people, and the events that spur the immigrant experience. This book is beautifully poetic and complex. 4.5 stars.