*guitar plays*
Hello, everyone, and welcome to a new reading vlog. And this reading vlog I'm going to read...
drum roll-- where'd it go? The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba by Chanel Cleeton. I am also listening
to One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston on audiobook, but I'm mostly focusing this reading vlog centered
around The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba, which is one of the installments in the Perez family series
that Chanel is focusing on. So this historical fiction takes place during the 1800s. We follow
three different points of views, two of them are set in Cuba and one is set in America. The one set
in America follows a girl named Grace, who is an up-and-coming journalist who is tasked to write
about the Spanish colonization of Cuba during that time. Then we follow Evangelina Cisneros, who is
arrested for aiding the rebellion in Cuba against the Spanish. And then we follow Marina Perez,
who is trying to help Evangelina escape the prison that she is in. I am only about 100 pages in,
but I am loving how political and dripped in history this book is. I am learning so much
about Cuban history that I did not know about previously because I never learned about Cuban
history during the 1800s in school because we focused more on American history, obviously.
So I am learning so much from Chanel, and I am really enjoying it. We're focusing more on Grace,
who is the up-and-coming journalist in America, right now, but I think we are going to slowly
learn more about Evangelina as well as Marina. So now I'm going to clean my room because it is super
messy because I just finished filming a video, and I have to put all the books away, so while
I do that I'm going to listen to more of One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston, which is a contemporary,
adult romance novel centered around a girl named August who just moved into New York City, and she
is trying to make a name for herself, trying to explore who she is as a person when she meets a
girl named Jane on the subway. And romance blooms between these two characters and August begins
to realize that Jane is very different. She is actually from the 70s. So I'm very excited to get
deeper into that story. I'm about 20% through it, and I'm really enjoying it. It's very readable,
and I really enjoy listening to it. So I'm going to listen to that while I clean my room.
*guitar plays*
I have been sick all day, which is why my appearance looks like this, but I want to give you
an update because I am-- I'm so excited. I just finished sewing my pinafore, something that I've
been working on on the side for almost two months now. It is such a big project that has consumed my
time, and I jinxed myself when I told my friends that I thought this would be an easy project,
and it turned out to be such a complex project that I had to do so much seam ripping for. And I'm
just so happy that I finished this. I'm so giddy. That aside, I wanted to give you an update for The
Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba, as well as One Last Stop, which I am currently both 50% through. I
think I'm actually more than 50% through The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba, but for One Last Stop,
I am 50% through. One Last Stop is such an enjoyable contemporary. I am just so obsessed with
it. I love August. I think she is such a relatable character because she is still trying to navigate
her life in her 20s, and she's trying to figure out who she is as a person, what her passions are,
and I can relate so much to her uncertainty. And I just love her romance with Jane. I think it's so
fun. I love the magical dynamic that is thrown into the mix of this plotline, and I think
it's done in such a subtle way that isn't too all-consuming. I think it's so unique and so
fun to follow along with, and I'm very excited to see what's going to happen next in the latter 50%
of the book because I just want them to end up together, and I'm worried that they won't be, but
I don't know. It's a romance. I feel like they're always going to end up together, so I feel like
that's what's comforting me, but I don't know. I don't know if this is a happily ever after.
I'm very worried for August and Jane, and I'm very invested in their romance. But that aside,
I am almost done with The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba. I actually held myself back
from reading more of this book because I wanted to give you an update before I eventually finish
it. And I think I'm going to finish it tomorrow at the beach, which I'm very excited for, but I
am on page 231 of The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba. And I am really enjoying it. Like I said before,
it is so steeped in history, history that I never even knew about and wasn't taught. And
I'm just in shock about the atrocities that the Spanish has done to the Cubans during the 1800s,
and I'm learning more about Evangelina's Cisneros. It's not giving me the same vibe as Next Year in
Havana where I was just absolutely obsessed with that story, and I just felt so connected to it,
but I'm still really enjoying the story and the history that is giving me. I think this is going
to be like a 4.5 out of 5 star read, but I don't know. There could be something in the last part
of this book that makes it a five-star read or a four-star read, so we'll see which way I go.
I'm very much looking forward to reading the rest of this book on the beach tomorrow and then I’ll
give you an update afterwards and tell you all my thoughts about it. And I'm also very excited to
finish One Last Stop because that is an audiobook that I've been listening to for the past week,
and I am really enjoying it it's probably one of my new favorite reads of 2021.
*guitar plays*
I did it! I finished The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba.
I had such a good time reading this novel. I loved how Chanel Cleeton shined a light on
a part of Cuban history that I didn't know a lot about and learned so much from through this
book. I loved these three main characters and how strong they were and how they showed strength in
very different ways because they were put in very different circumstances. I wish we focused more on
Evangelina and Marina. I feel like we didn't know a lot about those characters, compared to Grace,
who is the American journalist. And I wish we focused more on the women in Cuba and learning
more about their story because I think that that would have made the book so much stronger.
And that is my only critique about this story. I do think it is a very slow moving novel, compared
to Next Year in Havana. So do keep that in mind when you go into this novel. It's not going to
be as fast-paced as that story, but I still really enjoyed the history. I loved learning so much more
about Cuban history and it made me want to learn even more about it, so if you were looking for a
historical fiction shining light on a piece of history that not a lot of people know about,
especially if you're looking for a historical fiction centered around Latine history,
I would highly recommend this one. It was phenomenal, and I'm just so appreciative
of Chanel Cleeton for continuing to write pieces of Cuban history into her novels to shed light
on those moments in the past that not a lot of people know about. And I do want to give you one
last update for One Last Stop because I did not finish it for this vlog, but I am 70% through it,
and I am still loving it. I love August and Jane and all their friends, and I think this book is
such a fun read to listen to on audiobook. And I only have about two hours left of the story,
and I just cannot wait to finish it. I think this is going to be one of my favorite reads of 2021
because I just love the romance. I love the plot. I love the magical elements woven into it,
and we are slowly but surely getting answers to those magical elements that we were introduced to
and I just think this story is so fun. So if you want to read a new adult romance, I would highly
recommend One Last Stop because it is just so good and so entertaining. So I'm going to
leave the vlog off here. I hope you enjoyed it. I think this is going to be one of my shorter vlogs
because I didn't have a lot to update because this is just so complex. There's so much happening,
and I feel like you just have to read the book in order to understand what's happening,
so I didn't want to give too many updates because I feel like it would have been confusing if you
have not read the novel. So, let me know if you have read One Last Stop or if you have
read The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba or you're planning to. I would love to hear your thoughts
and let me know if you have any other vlog ideas that you want me to do on this channel.
I would love to take your ideas into account. If you want to connect with me anywhere else,
all my social media links will be down below, and I'm very active on all those different
platforms. If you have made it this far in the vlog, let's leave a blue heart emojI to match
my dress. I think that would be really cute. Thank you so much for spending your time with me,
and I hope you all have a wonderful day or night. I'll see you very soon. bye~
*guitar plays*