the inheritance of orquídea divina review

I was always hoping that the next page I turned would lead me back into Orquídea’s past. I didn’t hate those chapters, but they did nothing to move the book along for me. There, she spends her time building a house and sleeping with a nice but relatively uninteresting neighbor. This was particularly true during a few particularly slow chapters where Marimar has stayed in Four Rivers following the death of Orquídea.

From making deals with river monsters to running away to join a circus, Orquídea’s chapters were a treat. Her life wasn’t happy, exactly, but it was definitely a full life with a lot of adventure. The Life of OrquídeaĪlthough I was fully invested in life in the present timeline, I was always longing for the chapters about Orquídea’s childhood growing up in Ecuador. The whole scene swept me up and made me feel like I was in the room with this Ecuadorian family who seems so comfortable with the magic in the room. Instead of remarking too much on Orquídea’s transformation or maybe even calling an ambulance (which is probably what I would have done), they start cooking supper. Right away, I knew that I liked this family. The imagery of the elderly matriarch sitting in her chair slowly growing roots and limbs and leaves was both terrifying and enchanting. When Grandma Turns into a TreeĪs soon as the Divina family arrives at Orquídea’s home for her funeral I was hooked. It’s the place where Orquídea was born and the place she ran away from. Marimar, Rey, and Rhiannon travel with their families to Ecuador. What they do know is that Orquídea’s gifts have manifested differently for those that received them. Seven years later, the family doesn’t know much more than they did back then.

But when Orquídea Divina invites them to her own funeral to collect their inheritance, the whole family converges on their childhood home to learn about the woman that has kept herself so closely guarded their entire lives. They don’t know why their grandmother’s chicken can’t seem to die, or why that grandmother never leaves her house in Four Rivers. The Montoya family is used to living a life that’s just a little bit…magical. Llapingachos, an Ecuadorian potato patty, is the perfect snack to go with this book.

The inheritance of orquídea divina review