valencia Writes

My review of Ben and Beatriz: A Novel by Katalina Gamarra

This book cannot be described with one single word. I have to use several so one can understand my true feelings about Ben and Beatriz. This book is: emotionally riveting, unexpected, sexy, romantic, relevant, important, insightful, enemies to lovers, angsty perfection of a novel. My biggest regret is that it took me so long to pick it up and read this treasure.
The story follows Ben and Beatriz, to Harvard University students in their senior year of college. Beatriz is a brilliant, passionate, hard-working young woman who is entering adulthood still wondering what she will do after graduation. Ben is a spoiled, but troubled young man who is being crushed under the weight of his own trauma. On the surface, it would seem that all these two people have in common is their education. It turns out that they both have demons they have to vanquish and self discovery that needs to happen before they move on to the next phase of their lives.
Their romance takes place in a very realistic way. They begin with sparring, which is their way of expressing their chemistry, they learn about each other and briefly become friends, until finally their mutual attraction is undeniable even to each other.
They do not have an easy path though, and I really like that. So many things are revealed about each of them. Topics are discussed that are timely and relevant to pretty much any reader who picks up this book. It’s well written that I had a hard time putting it down – and that usually only happens with a novel with action scenes. The narrative as well as the sharp dialogue is what drives this novel. Their backgrounds are complicated. Things don’t go as planned. Each person says things that are unexpected and sometimes hateful. The conversations are real, but not so real that they are boring. In fact, the discussions make it even more interesting because I never anticipated what each person would say.
All of these characters have layers,; including the supporting characters, and I loved that. It is such a strong narrative about a time in one’s life where a person decides who they want to be, who they were raised to be, and who they are choosing to be. I really enjoyed it.