Becoming Marta is the absorbing and entertaining story of a wealthy Mexican family and explores ideas of individuality, class, grief, and displacement. Marta is the result of her father’s illicit relationship and was ‘bought’ by his wife as she could not have children of her own. Marti was Marta’s stability in life, and when she dies, Marta is adrift. She lashes out at her father and his new wife, but paradoxically befriends her daughter Adriana, who is everything she would secretly like to be—individualistic, strong, independent and a talented artist. Marta begins to unravel on a trip to New York—her detachment from reality and worsening mental health is well-written and believable. I found this story compulsive reading and observant of the pitfalls of wealth along with the basic desire for connection we all have. With thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Crossing for the review copy.

I wanted to like this book but I found it less than engaging. It was neither deep nor entertaining and I did not enjoy the prose.

Oh my. While this book offers some reasoning about why people behave the way the do (the reason is mostly unhappiness and/or dissatisfaction - and tradition and fate, too, seems to be portrayed as the perpetrators), this story is not a story what was advertised for me, the one about coming-of-life story of young woman. I find the storytelling being quite weak here, the plot is almost non-existent and I just do not know what kind of story the authoress is trying to tell here. Also, the characters are self-absorbed and cold, thus hard to relate to. I lost my interest soon.