Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

Mar 20, 2008

Tracy rated it:

Julia Alvarez wrote one of my favorite essays in "Why I'm Still Married" so I was really excited when I found a copy of this book for $0.50 at tha library book sale. I read it on my way to Tucson last week, so I already latin food and culture on my mind!

I really liked the way this book moved backwards in time, working its way from Yolanda's trip back to the Dominican Republic in the 1990's to her childhood on the island in the 1960's. For the most part, I enjoyed the book More...

1 comment like (6 people liked it)

Mar 15, 2008

Tamara rated it:

I was so intrigued by the title that I kept it on my to-read list for years, but when I finally settled down to read it, I didn't fall immediately in love. I felt the "voices" of the various sisters were too similar, and all of them seemed quite shallow.

However, it is not without its merits. The book moves backwards in time, and the younger the girls got, the more interested I became in their characters. I especially liked reading about their lives before they moved to the More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Sep 13, 2007

Kristen rated it:

Any amazing portrayal about a family from the Dominican Republic moving to New York. One great part about this book is that it isn't from only one person's perspective. It details the POV of daughters and parents, because they each had a different experience. Some wanted to quickly become as American as possible, some wanted to hold strongly to their Dominican roots. I love the way it is told via vignettes (great for my short attention span!). But my favorite aspect is how the story is told back More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 06, 2011

Travis rated it:

I enjoyed this quite a lot, but I really think it should have been marketed as a book of short stories. Instead it's a book of short stories that is called a novel, yet has none of the cohesion or overarching plot required of a novel, though the stories are all about the same four women. It's also very obvious that many of these stories were originally published separately, as there's a lot of repeated background info, introducing characters as if we've never met them before when it's the fifth More...

0 comments like

Jan 26, 2010

Connor added it

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents is a collection of stories told by Carla, Yolanda, Sandra, Sofia. Author Julia Alvarez introduces the three at their home and then takes us back in time having the girls tell us each of their own experiences. Their father had to flee the country after being suspected to be apart of a plot against the current reign of government terror. From their privileged lives being pampered at home to the life or an immigrant trying to live in New York “She was too fri More...

0 comments like

Feb 28, 2009

Sara rated it:

As the title suggests, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, is about four Dominican girls who moves to America and adjusting to the American culture, in terms of language, academics, and living standards. Back in the Dominican Republic, the four girls, Carla, Sandra, Yolanda and Sofia all lives extravagant lives with their father. All four girls can be described as extremely rebellious again their family and traditional values, where there are sex, drugs, and criminal actions were involoves, More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 02, 2008

Antof9 rated it:

Started in 2006, I finally finished my first book of 2007! What a fascinating book this was. Told in the first person by each of 4 daughters, this book tracks their transition from growing up privleged in the Dominican Republic to New York. A very interesting method of telling the story -- it starts in New York and works backward chronologically.

I often wonder about families like this, and how it feels to leave a vast extended family when you're used to being part of a crowd of co More...

0 comments like

Jan 26, 2012

Mandi rated it:

I thought I would enjoy this book since I was a Peace Corps volunteer in the DR and the second page of the novel has the line "like one of those Peace Corps girls who have let themselves go so as to do dubious good in the world." Humor, right?

But I didn't enjoy most of the book. I never felt like it captured any of the real feelings of being from one country, adjusting to another, and then returning to your home country years later and realizing that you don't feel like More...

0 comments like

Sep 14, 2011

Rachel rated it:

Stories from a childhood in the Dominican Republic and a young adulthood in the United States, told in reverse chronological order from the perspectives of four sisters. One problem I had with Garcia Girls is I couldn't tell them--the Garcia girls--apart. The second-eldest, Yolanda, who begins and ends the novel, seems to be the focus. Alvarez occasionally throws readers a bone by assigning each sister a superficial label: Carla's the tomboy, Fifi the "lucky one," etc., but the focus o More...

0 comments like

Aug 20, 2011

Tania rated it:

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents is an intriguing exploration of cultural and generational conflicts. I read it because I loved "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan. That novel made me feel intrigued by the notion of cultural clashes, and how children and parents deal with such conflicts.

Alvarez was able to create well-rounded characters who were interesting to me as a reader. I was really engrossed in the girl's journey to adjust to the culture shock of living in America. More...

0 comments like

Aug 07, 2011

Ryan rated it:

My favorite thing about How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents is that the its chapters are arranged in reverse chronological order, an arrangement that allows for the climax of the story to take place during the girls' childhood in the Dominican Republic rather than their adulthood in America. Instead of telling the story in which inevitable assimilation is given priority or defense, Alvarez' structure effectively emphasizes the impact of the Garcia girls' "lost accents."

More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 02, 2011

Sarah rated it:

First off, the reverse chronological thing just threw me. I had a hard time understanding who was crazy when and when they were crazy, if it was really crazy or just stream of consciousness writing. And as with a lot of minority authors, I don’t see why they have to focus on only negative experiences. I’m sure the Garcia girls had a lot of good experiences which shaped them, but Alvarez chose only to focus on the negative. There was so much sexual content in this book, I’d almost feel uncomforta More...

0 comments like

Oct 06, 2010

Vivian rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Aug 09, 2010

Natha rated it:

Enjoyable young adult book (well, I don't know if it should be considered young adult...I can see a high school student enjoying it but also an adult...) - but the story is not complete and I HATE THAT! Julia Alvarez always seems to have multiple narrators and with some books I like it (for example The Help by ummm Katherine - well, I cannot remember her last name) in this book it is o.k. but not great. I think I would have liked the same narrator the whole time. I realize there would have be More...

0 comments like

Jan 27, 2010

Guy rated it:

In my class we had the choice to choose between two books to read. I chose “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents,” written by Julia Alvarez. I personally thought the book was alright. It is not something I would read again but I enjoyed for the most part.
This book is about four Dominican Republic girls growing up in America, while their parents try to keep their heritage and their old ways within the family values and rules. They landed in the U.S. to escape from the cruel dictat More...

0 comments like

Jan 26, 2010

Kristen rated it:

In the book “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents”, Julia Alvarez tells the stories of four Dominican sisters, Carla, Yolanda, Sandra, and Sofia, who move to the United States. The sisters have trouble adjusting to academics, friends, and the conflict between their traditional values and the modern ones of others.

Alvarez changes point of view throughout the stories. At first this makes it confusing for the reader, but when venturing further, it makes the story interesting. Alv More...

0 comments like

Jan 26, 2010

Ryan rated it:

“Carla turned and fled down the street, her book bag banging against her leg like a whip she was using to make herself go faster, faster.” (158)
How the Garcia girls lost their accents is a novel about a family that immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic that faces stereotypes and life’s hardships. Although I did not enjoy this book as much as others I have read this book is very influential and has a few chapters that can be exciting. The one part that I did not like More...

0 comments like

Jan 26, 2010

Steve rated it:

I had high hopes for How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez. These hopes continued to grow after reading the two short stories “The Kiss” and “The Rudy Elmenhurst Story.” These were both two very well written, expressive, and generally entertaining stories that did well in holding the reader’s attention and delivered strong, powerful endings.

However, as I read on I could not get myself to distinguish between the four Garcia girls: Carla, Sophia, Sandra, and Yolanda More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 26, 2010

Chris rated it:

Personally, I believe “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents” by Julia Alvarez is a pretty weak book. Her inspiration from the book came from real life experiences as she lived in the Dominican Republic the first ten years of her life until she had to flee due to her Father’s participation in a political rebellion. Although this book depicts her real life quite well, I don’t feel Julia does such a great job of getting her true emotions across by jumping from one story to another. Also, More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 26, 2010

George rated it:

I chose ‘How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents’ by Julia Alvarez as a school read over a different book. I had the premise of the story already in my head, which was a story of four girls who moved away from their friends and family in the Dominican Republic to start a better life in New York, but I never expected it to pull me in the way it did.
To start off, the book is not told in a normal start to finish fashion, rather, it’s told in reverse chronological order. It’s also set up as m More...

0 comments like

Jan 26, 2010

Dwoods rated it:

The story, How the García Girls Lost Their Accent, by Julia Arvares, is obviously about the fictional life of the García girls. They have to cope with the problem of leaving their native island of the Dominican Republic to live in the United States. It seems their family will be missed and also you can see the culture they live in, “Our last Saturday night on the Island, the compound folks sit on Tía Carmen’s patio, reminiscing. Periodically, family stops by to say goodbye to our parents a More...

0 comments like

Jan 26, 2010

James rated it:

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez inversely chronicles the changes one Dominican family endures on their adventures from the Republic to America during the late 60’s forwards. We first jump into the life of Yolanda during 1989 as she revisits her native island which is so dear to her, meeting up with her distant family. Through all the chaos that ensues throughout the novel, I became slowly lost at points as Alvarez jumped from one point to the next, using flashbacks, fore More...

0 comments like

Jan 26, 2010

JamesM rated it:

This book is written in many perspectives. The point of view shifts between chapters so it is hard to follow. The perspectives it shifts to be the family members of the Garcia family. Where there are four sisters who it mainly evolves around. The sisters, Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofia, are Dominican Republicans who had to leave because of their father was part of a plot to overthrow the dictator.

The many ways the story is told is very confusing because some parts have already ha More...

0 comments like

Jan 27, 2010

george rated it:

“How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents” is a fiction book written by Julia Alvarez. It’s about an upper Dominican family consists of a father Carlos and his four daughters – Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofia, the four sisters moved to the United States around the 60’s fearing the political threats to their father from the dictator forces. That family was going through a lot of challenges in the U.S.

Yolanda was the youngest sisters and the first sister to get used to the American cu More...

0 comments like

Jan 27, 2010

Dave rated it:

I had to read the book How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez for an English assignment. I figured it couldn’t have been too bad because a teacher was offering it to us, but I guess how good a book is really depends on the person. In my opinion, this book wasn’t 3 star material. I felt it limited how much you could delve into the storyline and that it felt like I was just staring at pieces of paper day after day.
The story is about 4 girls who had to flee the Dominican More...

0 comments like

Jan 26, 2010

David rated it:

I can sympathize with the Garcia girls because like them, I had to undergo a drastic change in my life which entitled me leaving my home country to go to America, just like the Garcia girls. This book touched me because I felt that a lot of their issues could happen to most immigrants.

This is a non-fiction book that uses short stories to emphasize the underlying themes of the book. Julia Alvarez is an exceptional writer that uses themes such as rebellion, honor, courage, reconcilia More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 02, 2009

Razy rated it:

I read How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents as part of an assignment for my English class. I procrastinated in starting to read it, but once I began I couldn’t put it down. It is the most fun, dynamic and enjoyable book I’ve read in a very long time. Although I was required to read it, I didn’t feel hassled or obligated-I really enjoyed reading it.
The story tells of four sisters who emigrated from the Dominican Republic to America, fleeing political threats to their father from the the More...

1 comment like

Sep 07, 2009

Tiana rated it:

“How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents” by Julia Alvarez is about the four Garcia sisters come to the United States as young girls with their immigrant parents because their father, Carlos, got in trouble with the secret police for agitating the military dictatorship. The sisters are caught up in the American culture of the 60s, 70s and 80s an they must make different choices, and go through many challenges. Yolanda's external conflict is, Yolanda feels like and American now that she lived in More...

0 comments like

Jun 16, 2009

Laurel rated it:

This was an interesting book about how an upper class Dominican family with four daughters escapes the Dominican Rebublic and a tyranical dictator only to loose their cultural heritage in America. With a regressive timeline, this book starts in present day with the four daughters who are fully Americanized and nerotic adults, and travels backwards in time to show what shaped them into the women they became. This novel was very well written, but has slightly nostalgic and sad undertones.
More...

0 comments like

Jul 15, 2010

Marie rated it:

I've heard so much about this book, I was expecting to really like it. I did like the first part fairly well -- it introduces the Garcia family, who move to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic, seeking political asylum, with their four daughters. The book is written in chronologically reverse order. I found this structure fairly confusing, especially since the passages jump from one character to another. Mostly the book is written from the perspectives of the four daughter, in turn, but th More...

0 comments like

reviews