Allende' books are beautifully written, but wow does she know how to bury not just the lead, but the whole plot. Poignant prose and a sweetly haunting narrator made this audiobook worth finishing, but I wish I had just skipped it entirely.

Maya's story alternated between horrible shock factor moments, exacerbated teen drama, and idyllic scenes on a lonely island in Chile. Likely that stark disparity was intentional, but it made it a bizarre reading experience, as I could never quite remember which reading experience I was returning to.