Tropicalia by Harold Rogers (Review by Bruna Looby)

“If my fate was to be just like my mother, there was nothing I could do. We were all sick trees planted in a sick soil, everyone in my whole family from the very beginning, all we did was hurt each other. It’s these entanglements that sink us.” This is one of the toughest reviews I’ve written to this day. This book is heartbreaking. And being a Brazilian, reading about my own country, and thinking about all the people that probably have lives as tough as the characters in this book, made this book even more touching. It made me think of social injustices and, above all, my privilege. This book is about families, and how unhealed wounds are passed from generation to generation, until someone, someday, breaks this cycle, and decides to break free. We have several POVs, and we can see the side of the story of each character, and why they did what they did, and became what they are. I love this kind of book. The author touches the point of the “American Dream”, and what a person goes through as an immigrant. This part touched very close to home. It made me think of how different my whole experience was, compared to these characters, and again, made me think of how privileged I am. As a person who’s been to Rio, reading this book was an incredible experience. I could basically see myself there. I was completely absorbed by this story from page one. I could smell the beach, and I could feel the heat of 100 degree weather in Rio. The one thing I struggled with is, even though the writing is beautiful, sometimes it gets a little confusing. But part of me thinks it was the author’s goal, since the characters have pretty unsettling and tumultuous thoughts.