​I'm sure that many of you have already watched the sequence of videos that Emmanuel Acho came up with right after the death of George Floyd, but if you haven't watched yet, you have to! Go to his instagram account and watch all the IGTV videos. 
Those videos are what moved me to pre-order this book as soon as he announced it was being released. I got it at the end of last year, but didn't actually start reading it until a couple of weeks ago.... you know I'm behind with my reading goal, but that's for another blog post... 

I think this book is a great resource and I like how easy it is to read. If you are far along in your journey of becoming anti-racist, a lot of the information in this text will be something that you are probably already familiar with. However, I still think it's worth getting the book just for the sake of accessing the long list of resources that the author provides in each chapter and summarizes at the end of the book. It's a very thorough list of books, videos, podcast, articles, etc. that will help you learn even more. 

But... let's begin with the format of the book...​

First book of the year!!! Yay!!! 
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I don't remember why I picked this book... I think I saw it on "Hello Sunshine" book club, and I have to say I am surprised about Reese's Witherspoon choice... I made a story on my Instagram account recently about thinking this book was amazing and then finding some little things that made me stop loving it as much.. and I will talk about those, hopefully not spoiling it for you if you want to read it... if there is are any spoilers in this post I will warn you ahead of time so you can stop reading!

I have to say I do love historical fiction and I am a sucker for a good romance story / feel good story intertwined with the intrigues and suspense that a war setting provides.... So definitely this was an easy read for me. The most powerful thing about this novel is that it's centered around strong women and their essential role in the First World War. The books presents Eve's story, the main character, during WWI and after the Second World War and how her story is connected to the other main character (also a woman) Charlie. Both of these women are affected in a way or another by war, and they go on a chase to find the profiteer who Eve worked for in order to get information about the war. This chase for information happens in 1947 and parallel to that we get the story of Eve, how she became a spy and her important role as part of the "Alice Network". We also meet other strong heroines, Alice and Violette. 

I started 2020 with a trip to Los Angeles... it was a long weekend and I decided I just needed to get away by myself and visit my best friends from high school - I have three best friends from HS, but two of them live in LA and one lives here in SF, so I see her more often. 
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I get anxious when I don't feel prepared, so I usually arrive very early at the airport. I'm also TSA Pre approved so I skipped the security check line. I thought I would be bored for the next hour and a half until my plane departed, so I decided to visit the bookstore. 

I don't think I had ever bought a book at an airport bookstore before... remember, I always like to be prepared... this time, I obviously wasn't. 

My love for books had diminished in a way. I went from getting a B.A. in Spanish Lit straight to the master's program at the same university. I read countless pages of literary theory and many novels that were assigned. I am a nerd and, once again, I love to be prepared... so I read everything, discussed the texts, took notes and... I got bored... I was exhausted from reading that much and reading things that I wasn't choosing... these readings were not bringing me joy. 

Esta novela me dejó super confundida con respecto a todo lo que he observado en nuestra sociedad con relación a los movimientos feministas y/o ideas machistas que aún se propagan. 
Siempre me he considerado una persona feminista, aunque creo que con el tiempo y al ver a ciertos grupos extremistas inconscientemente he comenzado a no catalogarme como tal. Mi mentalidad en general siempre es de mediadora, busco entender las dos partes e intento juzgar por igual. 

En la sociedad en la que vivimos, donde todos hemos sido catalogados por un sistema binomial, es necesario empoderar a las mujeres, pero también es necesario entender que la igualdad no es lo mismo que la equidad. Y aquí está el gran conflicto de los grupos feministas extremos.
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​Esta novela fue reveladora en muchos aspectos, para comenzar el nivel del conflicto social que existe mundialmente con respecto al poder político. La manipulación que existe detrás de las personalidades de poder para alcanzar lo que ellos creen que es correcto está constantemente presente en el libro y definitivamente refleja a nuestros líderes mundiales de hoy en día. Asimismo, el abuso por parte de las mujeres empoderadas (físicamente) hacia los hombres y el deseo de venganza se ve hoy presente en muchas mujeres. Y no estoy diciendo que aquellas víctimas de abuso no tengan derecho a sentirse de 

​Sentada en la sala de mi casa, después de minutos de haber terminado de leer este libro, volteo a ver el inmenso librero que almacena los libros que he guardado de mi mamá y mi abuela desde que tengo uso de razón. Al verlos, me pregunto ¿qué tanto estoy cargando en mi presente que no me pertenece a mí, sino a generaciones pasadas?

Esta novela es definitivamente un "wake up call" para que todos hagamos introspección y nos permitamos entender y reconocer los lados más oscuros de nuestro ser. Ese lado sombrío que muchas veces nos rehusamos a creer que existe y que permitimos que controle parte de nuestras vidas. ​

​La narración de la novela me pareció impresionante, la hilación de la historia a través de las perspectivas de cada personaje es increíble. Nos provee un acercamiento a las tres hermanas, que son el punto esencial de la novela, y nos permite conectarnos con cada una de sus historias. El trasfondo de sus vidas y cómo están entrelazadas, nos permite entender desde el presente narrativo el desarrollo de cada una como consecuencia de su pasado. Al escribir de manera paralela estas tres historias que conjuntamente forman una sola historia, la autora ha conseguido un nivel de desarrollo de los personajes a nivel psicológico que es muy difícil de conseguir. ​