-
Overall Performance:




Narration Rating:




Story Rating:




" I read The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love years ago and enjoyed it very much. This novel about "beautiful Maria", a character in the first novel, tells her story in detail. I liked the book, but found it less compelling than the first. It is a highly sexualized tale, and it almost got a little boring in it's repetitive telling. I found it interesting how the author inserted himself in the last part of the book. He really feels close to his characters! "
- Alecia, 2/20/2014
-
Overall Performance:




Narration Rating:




Story Rating:




" Hijuelos' prose is great. But for a good part of this book he used that prose to lamely tie together extremely graphic sex scenes. It got old fast. "
- Jody, 2/9/2014
-
Overall Performance:




Narration Rating:




Story Rating:




" A great sequel to The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love. "
- Leslie, 2/6/2014
-
Overall Performance:




Narration Rating:




Story Rating:




" Almost finished. Love it and recommend it. I love the character Maria and her complexity and Hijuelos' honesty in writing. I love the honesty of the romance, the dirtyness of the sex scenes, the corruption, the sexism, everything and not trying to gloss it over. Also love the use of Spanish words throughout the dialogues that give you a more authentic look into the characters understanding them in thier native tongue. "
- Denise, 1/28/2014
-
Overall Performance:




Narration Rating:




Story Rating:




" The book is a sequel to Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love. I haven't read that. I found this one on closeout so I thought I would try it and read the first if I was lost. It does fine as a stand alone book. The story is sections. The entire last section when the family is in Miami should have been cut. It's not very interesting at all. "
- Suzanne, 1/24/2014
-
Overall Performance:




Narration Rating:




Story Rating:




" I didn't find this book as compelling as its predecessor, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love. Somehow, I never found Maria to be a likable character. The author also overemphasized her beauty, such that it made her seem a characiture. I did enjoy how he tied this book to the previous one. He also did a very postmodern bit in the last section, putting himself in the book. Definitely a comment on the boundary between fact and fiction. "
- Julie, 1/18/2014
-
Overall Performance:




Narration Rating:




Story Rating:




" Hijuelos tries his hand (probably both of them) at pornography. "
- Vince, 12/28/2013
-
Overall Performance:




Narration Rating:




Story Rating:




" This is a wonderful book full of passion and life and sadness. I have never read "Mambo Kings...." This is the story told from Maria's point of view and begins in pre-Castro Cuba and ends in post-Castro Miami. "
- Cara, 12/25/2013
-
Overall Performance:




Narration Rating:




Story Rating:




" This is a good novel. I enjoyed reading it. It is well written and the prose is of high quality. The ending is well done. I would recommend it to someone interested in a literary read. "
- JoAnn, 12/19/2013
-
Overall Performance:




Narration Rating:




Story Rating:




" Music, sex, Cuba, Florida. Must get around to reading Mambo Kings one of these days. "
- Denise, 12/8/2013
-
Overall Performance:




Narration Rating:




Story Rating:




" Hijuelos wrote a passionate and heart-breaking love story. Maria in Cuba is the inspiration for the Mambo Kings' success in America. "
- Irma, 11/11/2013
-
Overall Performance:




Narration Rating:




Story Rating:




" This is the first book in a long time that I haven't finished. I usually really love Hijuelos' book but I just couldn't take one more description of Maria and her beautiful breasts or Nestor's wonderfully large penis. "
- Polly, 10/16/2013
-
Overall Performance:




Narration Rating:




Story Rating:




" Just lovely. I really enjoyed this one; I think I'll have to track down some of his others now. "
- Melissa, 7/24/2013
-
Overall Performance:




Narration Rating:




Story Rating:




" Not as good as The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, but an interesting look at the story through the character of Maria. But be prepared . . . it get's a little lame at the end. "
- Andrea, 4/2/2013
-
Overall Performance:




Narration Rating:




Story Rating:




" A little disappointing, but considering how brilliant "The Mambo Kings" was, it couldn't possibly live up to my expectations. "
- Terry, 1/22/2013
-
Overall Performance:




Narration Rating:




Story Rating:




" I couldn't even make it through the book. I will admit I never read the first book only saw the movie, so I had no clue what his writing style would be like. I thought it was completely sexist & overly sexually graphic. So I had to put it down. I prefer to remember the mambo kings through the movie. "
- Arcelia, 7/11/2012
-
Overall Performance:




Narration Rating:




Story Rating:




" My mother was born 100 years ago in Cuba of Scottish parents so I'm starved for interesting stories of life on that beleaguered island. Maria not necessarily a sympathetic character but a intriguing story nonetheless. "
- Bruce, 3/2/2012
-
Overall Performance:




Narration Rating:




Story Rating:




" Interesting sequel to "The Mambo Kings"; Lyrical story of the Cuban experience in Cuba before Castro and in Miami, through the eyes of the woman who inspired the song, Beautiful Maria of My Soul. A little too graphic for my taste, but enjoyable as a love story with a surprising ending. "
- Rachel, 11/26/2011
-
Overall Performance:




Narration Rating:




Story Rating:




" Not quite in the same league as "Mambo Kings Play Songs Of Love", still its a worthy companion that tells Maria's story. "
- Robert, 10/19/2011
-
Overall Performance:




Narration Rating:




Story Rating:




" This is a wonderful book full of passion and life and sadness. I have never read "Mambo Kings...." This is the story told from Maria's point of view and begins in pre-Castro Cuba and ends in post-Castro Miami.
"
- Cara, 4/30/2011
-
Overall Performance:




Narration Rating:




Story Rating:




" I'd give it 3.5. It was pretty good, but with lots of sex and I didn't like the ending too well.
"
- Claire, 3/18/2011
-
Overall Performance:




Narration Rating:




Story Rating:




" A great sequel to The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love.
"
- Leslie, 2/8/2011
-
Overall Performance:




Narration Rating:




Story Rating:




" Less sexist, still written by a man who seems to have no conception of what or who women are.
"
- Danielle, 2/3/2011
-
Overall Performance:




Narration Rating:




Story Rating:




" Beautiful Maria of My Soul is just as tedious as the first book. Starts off pretty good but too many sexual references and it dragged on a bit too long.
"
- Yarel, 1/16/2011
-
Overall Performance:




Narration Rating:




Story Rating:




" Hijuelos wrote a passionate and heart-breaking love story. Maria in Cuba is the inspiration for the Mambo Kings' success in America.
"
- Irma, 11/29/2010
-
Overall Performance:




Narration Rating:




Story Rating:




" This story was disappointing. I had read and loved The Mambo Kings Sing Songs of Love. I have a longer review that I'll post here when and if I find it.
"
- Elizabeth, 11/24/2010
-
Overall Performance:




Narration Rating:




Story Rating:




" Interesting sequel to "The Mambo Kings"; Lyrical story of the Cuban experience in Cuba before Castro and in Miami, through the eyes of the woman who inspired the song, Beautiful Maria of My Soul. A little too graphic for my taste, but enjoyable as a love story with a surprising ending.
"
- Rachel, 8/25/2010
> Hide All