The author writes beautiful prose to really draw you in to the story however the characters themselves were frustrating- especially Alessandro who is giving major red flags at the start of the novel. Whilst beautifully written the book also tells us what’s happening in parts rather than showing us. Overall an enjoyable book.

DNF @ 64%. Have you ever had an elderly family member tell you a story that is EXTREMELY dramatic, and they seem to not care about it that much? And you're kind of sitting there like, "Why are you not freaking out about this? We should be freaking out about this." That is what this book is like. The family drama here should be PEAK but the narrator seems to really not care that much, aside from reiterating periodically how much hotter she is than her sisters (and therefore, presumably, deserving of hooking up with the guy that her sister liked, even though she was understandably pissed that another sister ran off with her own husband). There is some really lovely writing of settings here, and this is a place and time period that we don't frequently see explored in English-language literature, but I'm almost 2/3 of the way through the book and honestly could not care less about any of the characters because the writing has done nothing to make them or their circumstances compelling.

The Beautiful Ones but with more viciousness and devastation. I guess the book does a good job of challenging my current views of motherhood, sisterhood, and travel. I found it difficult to connect with Inés, making it difficult to forgive her choices.

This book is for those who enjoy complicated family relationships. The grittiness of life and love. And for those who wonder what it is like to see a land change through the eyes of investors and artist.

Thank you NetGalley and Bindery for this ARC.

The synopsis of this book drew me in, but ultimately the execution fell flat for me. I think this author’s writing style is not for me. It had the potential to be a juicy story that kept you hooked but ended up being dry and boring.

3.5 stars rounded up <3

-TW: child death
-betrayal and red flags
-strained family dynamics
-literary fiction
-3rd person POV
-early 20th-century Colombia
-lush prose
-religion, societal expectations and sensuality
-emotional journey
-summer read

Orange Wine reads like a family story shared by an old grandmother in a verandah surrounded by fruit trees during a summer afternoon. (This, upon reading the author's acknowledgments makes such complete sense as they were inspired by their grandparents' tale to pen this) We follow Ines in a conservative societal backdrop where her sisters, red flag men, and the Catholic church constantly stand in her way of living her life on her own terms, and in her way of building a life expressing her artistry. We follow her through broken marriages and motherhood and we almost understand her selfishness & her decision-making process as she grapples with the hardships of life. The section about her winnings in life and artistic prowess is quite a short one and comes quite later in the story, which I find an intersting writing choice that I interpret as the reality of how brief victories for women felt in those days, and still feel in today's sociopolitical environment. It is indeed a tragedy to think that even though this book is penned in a world based a century ago; women still share so many of Ines' struggles.

Thank you so much Netgalley and Bindery Books for the Advance Review Copy -- I will never come acoss a Bindery Book I regret picking =3

It would have been an added candied orange peel on the cake if, towards the end, we had a more concluding overview of what happens to the sisters and side characters, but I guess you can't have your wine and also drink it (I will stop now idk what I am doing)

I loved the writing of the food, culture, atmosphere, and location. Everything else fell flat and made it hard to care for Ines or anyone else

This was a quick, fast paced read with so much packed into it! Based on the Author's grandparent's love story, this was a family saga about love, loss, betrayal, grief, forgiveness, and homecoming. This is a bittersweet tale - much like how I assume orange wine tastes...

What a slow, delicious unravelling of a novel! I loved the journey of personal discovery and celebrating both the joy and sorrows of life!

This one just wasn't for me. I couldn't get into it. I'm sure it's target audience is out there, but I wasn't the right reader for it so sadly it was a DNF for me.

I was excited to be gifted a copy of this book by the publisher, but it fell quite short.
There was more time spent describing Spanish cities in great detail than there was time spent on large pieces of the plot. Ines is supposedly this perfect goddess of a woman but everyone in her life treats her poorly except for her love that she can’t be with.
The writing is pretty but the plot was annoying, honestly really wish the last 12% was the main plot for the book and more time was spent on them building their business and getting into orange wine making.

Inés lives under the weight of expectations—from her family, her husband, and the Catholic Church. In the end, each betrays her. The youngest of four sisters, she’s considered the sweetest and most beautiful by her mother—perhaps the very reasons her sisters envy her.

Orange Wine by Esperanza Hope Snyder opens with Inés in labor with her second child, a daughter, while her husband, Alessandro, is in bed with one of her sisters. The betrayal isn’t entirely shocking: her sister's reaction to Inés’s engagement, a questionable “rendezvous” on the wedding day, and Alessandro’s frequent absences all hinted at it.

While her first child, a son and heir to Alessandro’s name, meets traditional expectations, the birth of her daughter forces Inés to reflect on the life she wants for this girl—one who will grow into a woman like herself. Soon after, Alessandro abandons them fully.

When Inés meets Régulo, she is swept up by feelings of love and longing. His tenderness toward her and her children offers a sense of renewal—free from judgment or constraint. But when Alessandro returns and her brother considers the priesthood, the Church's hold over marriage and legitimacy resurfaces

Orange Wine is the debut novel by Esperanza Hope Snyder, whose background in poetry and drama informs her lyrical prose. Inspired by her own family history, the novel earns its somewhat fairy tale ending—one that might seem improbable to some, but forgivable in light of its personal roots.

Fans of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet—especially My Brilliant Friend—will likely be captivated by Orange Wine as well.

hmmmm. how do i say this. despite on sounding like fiction, it sounds more like memoir. I dont mind the main characters is not very likeable ( me me me concept) bcs who does?, but I wish her perspective is explained thoroughly .

Thank you NetGalley and to the publishers for this ARC. I ADORE the cover for this book. I was originally drawn in because of that. I think the story was good. Felt like the second half of the book was rushed, but this was an easy read.

Orange Wine was a bit of a mixed experience for me. I found myself enjoying the act of reading it more than the actual content and the book did not stay with me.

What I really loved and why I rate the book three stars is the writing style. It's lyrical and gentle, with a calm, reflective quality that made the book flow easily from page to page. Snyder’s prose often felt like sitting down with an older relative as they unfold a story from their past—quiet, personal, almost like a memoir told over a glass of (orange) wine.

That said, while the writing itself was beautiful and elegant, the plot didn’t leave much of an impact on me. It felt quite thin and a little aimless. I kept expecting more to happen or for the characters to reveal greater emotional depth, but that moment never quite arrived. The characters seemed to drift through the story, and although I wanted to connect with them, they often felt distant. (And sometimes I wanted to scream at Inés.) I was left with the strange sensation of having read a whole book, yet struggling to hold on to anything meaningful from it.

Still, Orange Wine is an easy, pleasant read, and there is something soothing in its quietness. It’s not a book that tries to shock or twist—it simply exists in its own soft rhythm. While I wouldn’t call it a favourite, I see the appeal for I tend to enjoy prose more than plot and love well written reflective, slower narratives.

All in all Orange Wine is beautifully written but emotionally muted, like a story told from far away. Which one does need at times.

I didn’t end up loving this one as much as anticipated, but still found the book relatively enjoyable.
It was not entirely what I expected it would be, but that’s a me problem and not the book. I don’t really have much to say about this book or in my review as I didn’t connect with the characters or books much.
I feel like I will still recommend this book to people I know as the premise is interesting and others may enjoy it more than me.

Thank you NetGalley and Bindery Books for this eARC!

I went into this book expecting it to focus more on Inés and her sisters but found the story felt more centred on the main character’s relationships with the men in her life, which wasn’t quite what I anticipated.

Overall, I didn’t end up loving this one as much as I’d hoped. While I appreciate what the book aimed to explore and found some of its themes interesting, it didn’t fully resonate with me. I wished the story had been more gripping emotionally.

That said, it was still an easy and enjoyable read in many ways.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bindery for an eARC of "Orange Wine" in exchange for my honest thoughts, but I am DNF-ing this book at 38%.

The crux of the issues with this story lie in the writing style, the characterization of the main character and all side characters, and the weak execution of the intent of the plot. On it's own, none of these elements would have been a substantial enough weakness to completely derail a story, but in tandem, the problems cascade into an avalanche of problems.

First, the writing is incredibly simplistic, nearly veering on juvenile. The prose seems to make an attempt to be poetic or lyrical, but instead leaves gaps littered throughout the text that disjointedly pushes characters from point A to point B in a type of rigidity that lacks any sort of structural flow. Pivotal event points are constantly glazed over and scenes are flat and dimensionless in a way that immensely detaches readers from the events of the story. I don't mind a non-linear plot structure, but Inés' story severely lacked introspection on how her upbringing and family dynamic shaped her character, and the choice to tell the story in passive tense adds a dense layer of telling over showing in her narration.

In terms of characterization, Inés lacked dimension, not only in regards to the way in which she narrated the story, but also in her portrayal of her personhood. She felt like a character who was a constant passive element in the story of her own life, jerked around by the others around her. There were small emotional notes of bitterness in her recounting of her story which are in line with the direction her life takes, but these were few and far between, popping up only in telling the events surrounding her husband and sister's treacherous betrayal. And in that vein, both Alessandro and Isabel felt like complete caricatures, also lacking in dimension and defined solely by their action of betrayal. Alessandro's entire characterization could be defined by the word "scoundrel", and one would have an apt idea of how the author has portrayed him within the story. For a story that seemed to promise an exploration of self discovery and new life paths, the characters sorely lacked the nuances, both big and small, needed to craft together the premise.

Finally, in regards to the premise, the exploration of the Christianity was incredibly flimsy, as well as being rooted in a strange flavors of ignorant writing. The description of the Protestant pastor was egregious fatphobic, seeming wax on about the pastor's size in an attempt to be a contrast to the stick-thin Catholic bishop. The paltry attempts at analysis on womanhood in a patriarchal society subsisted solely on ideas of gender essentialism, speaking to how women are secretly superior to men based purely on their higher tolerance for pain during childbirth. To a degree, this narrative is marred by a character who has recently been the victim of infidelity, but this was also the first moment where Inés shows any degree of introspection. Ergo, this was the moment in which I decided to DNF; between the weak writing, flimsy characters, and lack of story depth, this is definitely not the story for me.

2.5 stars rounded up to three. i really enjoyed the first half of this book, but the second half had so many large time skips and felt quite rushed -- and so many irrelevant plot points!

[i received a free copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review. all opinions are my own.]

Orange Wine by Esperanza Snyder is a beautifully written, poetic exploration journey of identity and connection. The characters are compelling, and the vivid descriptions bring the story to life especially when things were different back then. While the pacing slows in some parts, it’s a deeply engaging read that stays with you long after you’ve finished. A great pick for fans of reflective, character-driven stories.

I didn't end up loving this one as much as I was hoping for unfortunately.

Overall it was just fine, I understand and respect what the book was trying to do and enjoyed the exploration of its themes somewhat but it just feel lacking to me. And more often than I would've liked to, I can't help but question our main character and some of her choices throughout. I wished it was more gripping than what was presented in text.