Beautiful María of My Soul Audiobook

" 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! "

" 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. "

" A great sequel to The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" Hijuelos tries his hand (probably both of them) at pornography. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" Music, sex, Cuba, Florida. Must get around to reading Mambo Kings one of these days. "

" Hijuelos wrote a passionate and heart-breaking love story. Maria in Cuba is the inspiration for the Mambo Kings' success in America. "

" 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. "

" Just lovely. I really enjoyed this one; I think I'll have to track down some of his others now. "

" 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. "

" A little disappointing, but considering how brilliant "The Mambo Kings" was, it couldn't possibly live up to my expectations. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" Not quite in the same league as "Mambo Kings Play Songs Of Love", still its a worthy companion that tells Maria's story. "

" 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. "

" I'd give it 3.5. It was pretty good, but with lots of sex and I didn't like the ending too well. "

" A great sequel to The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love. "

" Less sexist, still written by a man who seems to have no conception of what or who women are. "

" 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. "

" Hijuelos wrote a passionate and heart-breaking love story. Maria in Cuba is the inspiration for the Mambo Kings' success in America. "

" 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. "

" 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. "