Agave Blues
Written by Ruthie Marlenée
Narrated by Stacy Gonzalez
4/5
()
About this audiobook
Mix together a little family, drama, ghosts, and tequila, and you get a hell of a cocktail!
Sometimes, la sangre atrae, "the blood calls you back," and when Maya gets the call to go back to her agave roots to claim the body of her long-missing father, her world changes forever. Set against the backdrop of her childhood in Mexico, Agave Blues is the story of ailing attorney Maya, in a broken relationship and butting heads with her teenage daughter, Lily.
Maya swore never to return, but once she sets foot on mystical grounds, she uncovers her family's turbulent history and how tequila infuses deep secrets that have altered her life, both emotionally and physically.
She realizes what's missing in her life―magic, mystery, art, unconditional love, and the stories of her past, including the myth her father used to share with her about her grandfather, Pancho Villa. The fields seem to heal her and her relationships, so she extends her stay and reconnects with her family. But when she encounters the handsome yet haunted Antonio, a childhood crush resurfaces, only to cause her more grief as she tries to master the art of tequila.
Ruthie Marlenée is the Mexican-American author of Isabela's Island and Curse of the Ninth and is currently working on the sequel, And Still Her Voice. Marlenée's work can be found in several literary publications. She was born and raised in Orange County, California, and lives in Los Angeles and the desert in the Coachella Valley with her husband.
Ruthie Marlenée
Ruthie Marlene is a published novelist, an award-winning screenwriter, ghostwriter and poet. Shes earned a Writers Certificate With Distinction from UCLA and was a nominee for the James Kirkwood Literary Award for her novel Curse of the Ninth. Some of her work can be found in Silver Birch Press, Long Story Short and Los Angeles Poet Laureates Coiled Serpent Anthology. Her novel Agave Blues is coming out soon.
Related to Agave Blues
Related audiobooks
Slip Soul: Dreams Have No Borders Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Broken Man on a Halifax Pier Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Earth Remains: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Crow Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Splendid Ticket Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rust Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond the Rice Fields Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Where Jasmine Blooms: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Orchard Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Thieves, Beasts, & Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Swim Home to the Vanished: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Existence of Pity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Native Believer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The All-American: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cornelius Sky Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Favor: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cracked Pots: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Council of Dolls: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lakewood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Visible Signs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tropicália: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dona Cleanwell Leaves Home: Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5West Virginia Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Theft Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Heart Is a Burial Ground Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bawdy Madonna Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Fire in His Wake Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anywhere the Weeds Grow Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5CELIA, MISOKA, I Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Late Summer Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Magical Realism For You
Before the Coffee Gets Cold: The cosy million-copy sensation from Japan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Before Your Memory Fades: The Japanese TikTok favourite that will break your heart Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tales from the Cafe: Book 2 in the million-copy bestselling Before the Coffee Gets cold series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Before We Forget Kindness: The most emotional book yet in the sensational Tokyo cafe series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Vita Nostra Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Tatami Galaxy: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Before We Say Goodbye: Curl up with the magical story of the cosy Tokyo cafe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bel Canto Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Midnight in Everwood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rouge Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Before the Coffee Gets Cold: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5If Cats Disappeared From The World: A moving and thought-provoking tale for fans of cosy Japanese fiction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Binding Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Bookshop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tales from the Cafe: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Under Your Spell: 'For any fans of Emily Henry, this is a romantic read supreme' - STYLIST Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Tatami Time Machine Blues: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cat Who Saved Books: The heartwarming Japanese sensation adored by book lovers everywhere Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Who Fears Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tomb of Sand: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Magic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Before Your Memory Fades: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ripe: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lantern of Lost Memories: A charming and heartwarming story for fans of cosy Japanese fiction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Devil and Miss Prym Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Land of Big Numbers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ink Blood Sister Scribe: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cartographers: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Agave Blues
52 ratings4 reviews
What our readers think
Readers find this title to be a magical and insightful book with wonderful life lessons about love and forgiveness. The characters are interesting and well-developed, and the botanical aspect centered around the agave plant adds an extra layer of interest. However, some readers found the excessive descriptions and wordiness to be a drawback, and felt that the cultural and religious references seemed forced. Overall, this book has received mixed reviews, with some readers loving it and others finding it difficult to get through.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I think it was very poorly written. You have an LA attorney in Mexico who has cancer. With cancer, she drinks tequila, and it gives her visions. Enough said. Her doctor wants her back now before the cancer spreadsvand she puts it off as an educated woman. The book is ridiculous.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5First few chapters with descriptions, descriptions and more descriptions, pathetic court scene, lengthy reliving of Papa telling why he indulges in Tequila, all of this word vomit, and yet nothing to hook the reader to want to continue to read on. What a waste of time. I am going to be very reluctant to start an audiobook labeled as a must listen and highly recommend.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I absolutely loved this book. It had the magic often inherent with literature from Mexico. It also had wonderful life lessons about love and forgiveness.
Characters were interesting and well fleshed out. The botanical interest provided by centering around the agave plant was also of great interest to me. (The agave has always been one of my favorite plants)
There were some great lines in the book that I would like to remember when encountering some of life's lessons. I wish I had written them down.
Alma Q - Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I feel terrible giving it 2 stars because writing a book is of course no easy feat. This was so over done in wording and descriptions. Verbose like when a kid is trying to make their essay longer. It was painful to get through. None of it flowed naturally. The religious, cultural and tequila-making references all seemed like “let me see where I can stick this in my book”. I’m a middle-aged Chicana, I know the culture, the country, the religion and the tequila, you’d think I’d love it for its feeling of home, but instead it was hard to get through and seemed contrived and forced. I have about 26 chapter one’s I’ve written and never continued for fear my writing would sound like this and end up for sale at the Dollar Tree. In addition, the Spanish narration of this audiobook was TERRIBLE…. “La sangré ah-try-UH” ugggghhhhh, that’s not even how atrae is pronounced. That’s just for starters on the Spanish.
1 person found this helpful