I'm currently clearing out all of the books that were published in 2019-20 from my title feedback view!

A multi-generational story of love, family, and loss set in the time of Castro's revolutionary Cuba of the 60's. Marisol disappeared like so many family members did without a trace but her spirit visits her nephew in New Jersey today. Ramon sets out on a journey to find out just what happened to Marisol. The story is touching yet haunting. The writing style shares Marisol's voice in a way that is touching but might be hard for some to get used to. But overall it is an amazing story that needed to be told. This book is worth a lazy Sunday on the couch kinda read.

The Book of Lost Saints is a book about a Cuban family, primarily about Ramón and the ghost of his aunt Marisol. Ramón is learning about his aunt’s past in order to put her spirit at rest. He learns that there are other’s in his family, like his mother, who may have been involved in her disappearance.

In a unique twist, the book is narrated by Marisol's spirit's voice. She has forgotten much of her own story. It ends up being about both the spirit and Ramón's efforts to uncover the truth. This book offers a perspective on pre- and post-revolutionary Cuba. This is evident as Ramón travels to the island in search of his aunt's story.

This book and how it is written will satisfy many readers as it has magical realism, Latin American/Caribbean culture, and the uncovering of a family’s past.

4 Stars – Great read!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Book of Lost Saints is the story of Ramon, a hospital security guard & DJ, as he discovers his family's experiences during the Cuban Revolution. His aunt, Marisol, who serves as narrator, was killed during the revolution & his family who fled to the US do not like to discuss what happened. Marisol's ghost begins to communicate with Ramon through haunting dreams. The premise of having a ghost as a narrator is unique & lends an otherworldly quality to the novel. However, it also clouds some of the plot & can be confusing at times. Additionally, the descriptions of Ramon's DJ beats were a bit overdone. Overall, the plot was a compelling examination post-revolution complexities & the resilience required to uncover family secrets. Thank you NetGalley & publish for providing me a copy of this novel to review.

The Book of Lost Saint and I had a roller coaster relationship. At the beginning, I was so confused and not sure at all where the book was going, and then in the middle I was beginning to catch up, and then the revelations of the ending 10-15 chapters had me captivated. Told from Marisol's perspective, I loved the way Older integrates memories of Marisol growing up and in Cuba, with Ramon's daily life. It almost felt self-reflective, and I grew to really love Marisol's perspective. While there were almost secrets she was keeping from herself, Marisol was a fascinating character. Impassioned by her sister and looking at Ramon's life, I almost began to wonder how we see ourselves. Ramon's POV, in my guess, gives The Book of Lost Saints a point of change. How much has really changed in the struggles of identity especially for those who have left Cuba. How much of our home remains with us? The warring struggles of home and homeland. How does that filter to younger generations? Remain with us, as ghosts and skeletons.

The Book of Lost Saints is one of those books that is written wonderfully because of all these touches. Marisol's POV, as a whole, and presenting this conflict between Marisol's actions and Ramon's life. While Ramon was a main character in The Book of Lost Saints, I don't really ever feel like I got a good sense of Ramon, not like Marisol. Overall, The Book of Lost Saints is full of mystery, sacrifice, revolution, and family. I basically loved all the scenes of Marisol's memories because we can see this struggle between resistance, expression, and survival. For each of us, our limits and willingness to sacrifice is different. It's also a book about journeys. And there were a few passages that have stuck with me after reading.

This is such a necessary purchase for YA collections, I don't even know where to began. Daniel Jose Older is such a gifted storyteller and is able to weave history, a ghost story, and complex family dynamics so beautifully, that the story just takes you to another level. I can't wait to share this with my teen patrons!

Wow! This novel was gorgeous. Seriously. There were twists I never saw coming-even to the very end. The level of emotion the reader begins to feel in Ramón and Marisol’s search for the end of her story was very surprising to me, but welcomed. Older writers of the Cuban-American experience have written of the horrors under Batista, but I was entranced and convinced by the love story in this novel. I was surprised by the twists and the reveals. The mystery as to what happened to Marisol kept me going; I wanted to know what happened to her. How did she die? We later learn that her disappearance is not that straight forward. This is a powerful magical realism novel about storytelling as well as what it means for a generation to grow up in an environment of oppressive silence and betrayal.

I love novels that span across generations because it feels as if the novel is bigger than the story, that it exists outside of the pages. As uplifting and evocative as it is heartbreaking and timely, The Book of Lost Saints is very deserving of accolades and recommendation. A book to buy and then pass on to other readers you know.

I included THE BOOK OF LOST SAINTS on The Young Folks list "Book Buying Recommendations for Mood Readers." Here's the link: https://www.theyoungfolks.com/review/140005/book-buying-recommendations-for-mood-readers/

Packed tight with lively dialogue, historical sensitivity and a hearty dose of magical realism, young adult and middle grade phenomenon Daniel José Older's departure from stories for young readers is an epic saga from an author at the absolute top of his game.

THE BOOK OF LOST SAINTS is told from one omniscient point of view, but centers on two main characters: Marisol, the foul-mouthed ghost of a girl who vanished during the Cuban Revolution, and her nephew, Ramon, a talented DJ who, feeling a bit restless in his personal life, leaps at the chance to find the truth behind his family’s stories and, more importantly, their silences. When the spirit of Marisol is pulled to Ramon in his messy, grungy bedroom in New Jersey, she begins imparting memories of her childhood in Cuba into his dreams, hoping that he will find himself hooked by her stories and will begin to track down the truth about her death and what it means for her family.

Older captures the attention of his readers instantly by sharing the story of the day Marisol met Gomez, the man who ultimately would lead to her family’s downfall by sending her home with a mysterious package for her older sister. Though we do not know yet what the package holds, we already can see the beginnings of political unrest and violence through Marisol’s youthful, but not at all naive, eyes.

Meanwhile, decades later and worlds apart, Ramon is himself at a bit of a crossroads. A hospital security guard by day and a DJ by night, he is preparing to have “the talk” with a non-girlfriend and is dealing with ever-increasing worry about his mother, Nilda. Marisol’s least favorite sister, Nilda is experiencing some serious agoraphobia following the September 11th attacks, but she is also guarding dark secrets that Marisol is desperate to bring to life through Ramon. As Ramon stumbles through his life, bumming cigarettes, drinking beers and crafting pitch-perfect songs for an increasingly fervent audience, Marisol watches carefully, waiting for the appropriate moments to insert herself and choosing the right memories to galvanize Ramon into action. Spurred by the glimpses into Marisol’s life, Ramon decides it is time not only to learn about his family members who did not make it to America, but to embrace his own Cuban roots.

Alternating between these two generations, Older reveals to us a family both torn and bolstered by hurt. The one thing Ramon’s elders --- Marisol aside --- seem to agree on is that there is no reason to talk about the violence and terror of the Cuba they left behind, and yet they are all tied to their pasts so tightly that moving forward seems impossible. When at last Ramon takes interest in their secrets, he crosses paths with local gangsters, experiences Cuba for the first time, and discovers the truth behind Marisol’s life under Batista’s reign. Meanwhile, in Marisol’s memories, we learn of three very different sisters, and the ways that the revolution pulled them apart, broke them down and sent them alone into the world.

Any reader who has heard about the Cuban Revolution and its impact will no doubt anticipate that this is not an easy read --- violence lurks on every page, and Older crafts a sense of unease that permeates even the lightest moments. But what makes THE BOOK OF LOST SAINTS even more interesting is its third person narrator, a spirit who can see and know all, except for her own history. This perspective can be difficult to adjust to at first, especially during Marisol’s more vulgar moments --- watching her nephew make love, for instance. Older never holds back from any detail, no matter how uncomfortable, and this can be jarring, but he is sharp and perceptive with his gaze. Never once does he give us an unwieldy or uninteresting detail --- and, perhaps even more impressively, never once does he stray from the expansive and explosive timeline of Cuba’s past, present and future.

The trauma Older writes of through Marisol and her descendants is one that lingers for decades, long past the point when others stop asking if one is okay. And what better way to illustrate a pain you feel but cannot remember the source of than through the eyes of a ghost struggling to move on? These strings of unrest and distrust tie Older’s characters together as easily as they bind them to the past, creating a web of intricate lies, hurts and betrayals.

I’d be remiss not to mention Older’s dialogue at least once in this review. He effortlessly switches between Spanish and English, peppering in numerous colorful Cubanismos that are so full of meaning that anyone can understand them, regardless of how many languages you speak. In including this dose of culture, he also points out the differences in dialects and native tongues, creating a vivid and passionate tone that makes his dialogue an absolute joy to read.

Equal parts violent, pensive and magic, THE BOOK OF LOST SAINTS is a masterwork of culture, history and trauma. Depicting both pre- and post-revolutionary Cuba, as well as the perspectives of numerous Cuban emigrants, this book is a poetic and evocative rumination on the endurance of a people forced to reckon with the unforgivable. Brash and haunting, Marisol is a character you won’t soon forget, and, with any luck, Older is an author who won’t stop raising the voices of characters like her. He is a force to be reckoned with, and if this spellbinding book is any indication of his future endeavors, readers can expect to see him at the top of numerous “Best Of” and awards lists for many years to come.

Every once in a while a book comes along and just guts me. The Book of Lost Saints by Daniel Jose Older is one of them. This multigenerational story of a Cuban family is full of beautiful language exploring family, love, betrayal, belonging, culture - the human condition. Not only is the story impactful, I enjoyed the bonus history lesson. The Book of Lost Saints gave me a similar reading experience as Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. I regret not getting to a Daniel Jose Older book for this long. I plan to dive into his other titles right away.

I really enjoyed a great many things about this book. Characters were fleshed out and the plot was well spaced. Some of the secondary storylines could've used a bit more page space but all in all an enjoyable read!

Older know pacing like few authors do - keeping the narrative going through this family saga. He writes with detail and emotion, Ramon’s narrative wrapping you into its mystery.

A man is haunted by dreams of an aunt he never knew. Her spirit seems to be pouring her history and that of their native Cuba into his subconscious so that the truth of the revolution can come to light. I loved how Older drew his characters while telling a sweeping story of history.

Marisol was lost to her family in the Cuban Revolution… it pains the relatives to try to remember this time in their lives and most just choose not to. Her sister Nilda had moved to the US and is now living in New Jersey. Yet, after the the trauma of the past, she lives as a virtual recluse… Marisol’s ethereal spirit is still alive, but barely. She will use what’s left to nudge her nephew Ramon towards the truth. Ramon is a hospital security guard by day and a DJ by night. He has an on again, off again relationship with a young doctor, someone he really likes, but feels the relationship is doomed. So he pours his energy into his music… until he starts experiencing dreams of Cuba, and his lost ties to the island. Ramon starts asking questions and ones people don’t want to answer…

The Book of Lost Saints is ghost story of sorts. One that spans generations and a revolution and a bifurcation of cultures. The story is narrated by Marisol and the first few chapters definitely take a little to get used to as I figured out that I was seeing the world through the eyes of a spirit. The once-removed view is important because it enables the reader to experience the past and the present through this single eye, but the problem is that Marisol doesn’t remember some key details of her life on the island. It takes Ramon’s investigations and her own discoveries to trigger the past.

I loved Older’s writing. From the mixture of English and Spanish languages to the repetition of key words and phrases, the writing is lyrical and mesmerizing. There are dark or tough passages to read, but there is also so much love. The love of family, but a hard series of choices that has split and broken people in the midst of governmental eruption.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys stories of the American tapestry.

Thanks to partner NetGalley for the digital ARC of Daniel José Older’s The Book of Lost Saints in exchange for an honest review. The book releases Tuesday, November 5.

“They came in boats and airplanes, armed with false documents and holy terror and a grinding wariness of what they would find. . . . They came and left behind family members clutching photographs, and promises to send money and frequent letters and powdered milk or vacuum cleaners or whatever it was impossible to find that year. . . . Each brought along a cord that stretched all the way back to the island and when they slept, each prayed the cord would send along news from home until slowly, each one came to call this place home and the cords wavered beneath the weight of that present tense” (loc. 302).

Daniel José Older’s The Book of Lost Saints is a strange, brilliant, gorgeous novel filled with magic and ghosts and love. I love it so, so much and recommend that you pre-order it quickly!

The book’s narrator is Marisol. A ghost. She is one of three Cuban sisters, two of whom were lost during the Cuban Revolution. Marisol, the youngest, has returned in spirit form to seek vengeance and to discover the truth of her disappearance before her spirit also disappears. She haunts her nephew, Ramón, son of Nilda, planting her memories in his dreams in hopes both of being remembered and of spurring him on to investigate the truth of what happened to her.

Older’s novel is gritty and real, and Marisol is the perfect narrator for such a book. She doesn’t shy away from sex or nudity or violence. Instead, she embraces all that is life, hungry for vitality and eager to anchor herself to the world in all its beauty and ugliness. She is also inherently curious, eager to take in everything about the people around her, about the home she lost, about the world as it is now.

As we—alongside Ramón—learn Marisol’s story, we begin to see the shape of her life. She and her eldest sister Isabel are drawn in to the Revolution and to the repercussions of the new regime. Ramón, born in the United States, has never been to Cuba but nevertheless deals with the fallout that has followed his community even as they tried to leave war behind.

This is a rich, rich story, full of romance and love, violence and revolution, loyalty and spite. There are friendships and betrayals, old ties and new alliances. It’s a master work of discovery as we watch Marisol learn the truth of her own life and Ramón understand the history that haunts his family and, therefore, himself. Daniel José Older’s beautiful writing, brilliant imagination, and keen sense of history have produced a brilliant novel in The Book of Lost Saints.

Beautifully written in searing, elegiac prose. I had trouble figuring out what was happening in the first 1/4 of this book, but I began to feel invested in Marisol and Ramon about halfway through. It was an exciting read, at times very suspenseful, and full of magic and historical intrigue.

This book, The Book of Lost Saints, covers many topics, although it was quite tough to follow in the beginning, it leads you to; the Cuban Revolution, ghosts, spirits looking for answers, Ramon > his Aunt Marisol and lots of curiosity. Read when you have time to concentrate and can take it all in. It's quite a curious fantasy. Thank you #netgalley #thebookoflostsaints #imprintbooks

Ramon is a hospital security guard by day and a DJ by night in post-9/11 New Jersey. He never met his aunt Marisol, as she disappeared during the Cuban Revolution before he was born. But once her spirit starts following him around and rediscovering her own story through his dreams, he must uncover what happened to her in order to set her free.

Told through the eyes of Marisol's spirit, this is a haunting, lyrical tale of family history lost and found. I love the narrative choice of using Marisol's perspective; it makes the flipping back and forth between timelines feel really fresh and engaging. I'm not sure why this book is categorized as YA. There's a lot of dark, violent, and sexual content, but it definitely has a purpose in the story. Overall, it's a profound tale told in an inventive way. I was happy to get lost in Marisol's history.

"The Book of Lost Saints" by Daniel Jose Older was absolutely beautiful and gave me a new perspective on Cuban history and heritage (I knew very little about it beforehand, honestly). I particularly loved the theme of how we're connected to our ancestors and how their lives affect us and how important it is to remember them. The only other Older book I've read is "Shadowshaper" and this was much more literary, adult, and more magical realism/fabulism than pure fantasy. I loved the writing, I love how Older infused the Cuban culture in it, the intense amount of research he must have done about the country, and the vivid scenes in the hospital, in the prison, in the revolution, etc. The love story was also gorgeous and captured me almost immediately.
The story did go a pretty different direction than I was expecting about halfway through, and lost some of its momentum at that point because I wasn't sure where it was going...but it was still amazing and eye-opening and I learned a lot from this book, so it still earned its five stars. I highly recommend!

Betrayal and forgiveness, ghosts of the past, and family
Older’s latest is firmly set in the real, in contemporary New York City and in flashbacks to the Cuban Revolution--despite the obvious touch of magic—it’s narrated by an angry and confused spirit trying to figure out what happened to her and her family during the Revolution by manipulating her adult nephew. Feeding him stories through his dreams in the hopes that he will start ask questions and investigate his family’s dark heritage. The structure of this book is amazing, the story is enthralling, and it gave me a feel for a period in recent history that I have not fully explored in Battista’s and Castro’s Cuba. It’s a tough read for the remembered violence and deep sense of betrayal, but it is also a beautiful meditation on freedom, family and forgiveness. Fans of The Water Dancer by Coates or The World that We Knew by Hoffman should give this a try.