The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina by Zoraida Cordova
(Format used for this read: Audiobook)
The Montoyas are used to a life without explanations. They know better than to ask why the pantry never seems to run low, or why their matriarch won’t ever leave their home in Four Rivers – not for graduations, weddings, or baptisms. But when Orquídea Divina invites them to her funeral and to collect their inheritance, they hope to learn the secrets that she has held onto so tightly their whole lives. Instead, Orquídea is transformed into a ceiba tree, leaving them with more questions than answers.
Seven years later, her gifts have manifested in different ways for Marimar, Rey, and Rhiannon, granting them unexpected blessings and powers. But soon, a hidden figure begins to tear through their family tree, picking them off one by one as it seeks to destroy Orquídea’s line. Determined to save what’s left of their family and uncover the truth behind their inheritance, her descendants travel to Ecuador – to the place where Orquídea buried her secrets and broken promises and never looked back.
I finished this book like a week and a half ago and am *FINALLY* getting around to reviewing it.
My long ass delay has absolutely NOTHING to do with the GREATNESS of this book and absolutely EVERYTHING to do with the fact that I am lost in the chaos of my regular non reading life right now.
I am busy studying for a BIG GINORMOUS certification test that is taking place next month…..I am HORRENDOUS at teaching myself new things all by myself at home…. PLUS I am legit NOT GREAT at taking tests…. so this is consuming many of my waking (and sleeping/resting) moments.
That on top of the rest of just regular ol’ daily life is doing a NUMBER on my recreational reading (and reviewing!) time.
So…yeah.
I have mentioned this before in a couple past reviews… just in case you were wondering it’s all still swirling about my universe.
But I am STILL HERE my dear fellow book worms… and I bring to you my latest review.
This story was all about family and all about magic.
When I first started listening, I admit I was legit confused for awhile ….It was tough keeping all the people straight because this is a VERY big family and spans a VERY big timeline.
It was one of those moments when I think a print version of a book would be quite handy.
And also if I had a bigger brain to expand my comprehension…because yall KNOW this happens to me often LOL
In my defense though, I started this book while I was recovering from a mild concussion…sooooooo it probably wasn’t the best timing to up my understanding game🤣
I enjoyed this book and thought it was excellent…but yall….I took hardly ANY notes on it in my phone as per usual and am BLANKING on all the things I wanted to tell yall about.
So this will be kinda short.
🤦♀️
My bad.
Don’t be mad at me….. concussion recovery, remember?? LOL (how long can I use that for things??)
I’ll be back to my rambling reviews soon enough, don’t yall worry.
Here’s what I do remember about it:
It was a riveting story about family and magic like I mentioned…but it is also about the circus, celestial beings, supernatural powers, deep rooted secrets, ancestral heritage and generational trauma.
Big ol’ mix of all kinds of things…that combine to make a PHENOMONAL read.
I saw an Amazon reviewer call it “Charmed meets Encanto for adults” and I was like
YYYAAASSSSSSSSS. 🙌
That is a perfect metaphor.
Except I would add “….but more a little more gut wrenching, serious and R rated”
I loved that the story was told from not only a multicharacter perspective, but also a multigenerational one as well.
You hear the grandmother’s history and POV to understand the how and why of her actions in life… and you ALSO hear her grandchildren’s history and POVS to hear how those things affected them and THEIR lives.
“You can be born into a family….but you still have to choose them.”
LOVED that quote from one of the ending chapters.
Family is complicated, even when we think it isn’t.
Family history and heritage is also complicated, even when we don’t understand it.
Family secrets are deep and complex, even when we don’t know they exist.
And familial love—both from blood and from choice—is powerful, even when we don’t believe it.
This was a wonderful book and besides my initial confusion in getting all the characters straight, I really appreciated the audio version read by Latina narrator/actress Frankie Corzo.
I was able to hear correct annunciation and pronunciation of Spanish words, names and phrases that I would not have had reading it on my own.
Definitely recommend this book.