The Fountains of Silence

I went into this with high expectations because I've devoured and loved and sobbed at every other Sepetys book. As always, I was anxious to learn about history that I, unfortunately, knew very little about. And the book did accomplish that much. I was disappointed by this one in a few ways, though. There were so many characters and so many POVs that I kept forgetting who was who. It jumped around a lot in POV and made it a little confusing to keep up. The pacing was dreadfully slow. Like ... slooooooooow. It makes me sad because I know this book had so much potential, knowing how incredible of a writer Sepetys is. But it fell flat. There was hardly any emotion, which was odd as it dealt with SUCH heavy and heartbreaking topics. Coming out of this, I felt like I learned about history, but not read a novel.

The overall feeling I had when reading this book was a kind of sadness, I guess; a mourning for the culture that was lost during the years that Franco ruled the country. The other big feeling I had reading this was anger at the system and fascism in general. All in all, this was a great book, though the ending felt a teeny bit rushed. I also feel like there was a lot of backstory that went undiscovered and like there was just too much story for this one-off medium length novel.

I am not sure why it took me so long to read this book, but I am glad I finally prioritized it. This is a beautiful, informative story about a summer in Madrid in 1957 during which a young man from Texas falls in love with a young Spanish woman and learns the realities of life in Spain under the dictatorship of Franco.

Daniel Matheson, a budding photographer, spends the summer of his 18th year in Madrid with his mother and father. While there, he meets and forms a bond with Ana, a young maid at the hotel where his family is staying. Through his interactions with Ana and the photographs he takes around the city, Daniel learns some uncomfortable truths about life in Spain.

There is a lot to praise in this book. The pacing is perfect; the story never lags. The short chapters make it easy to continue in the story. It creates that “just one more chapter” feeling. The historical context is interesting and engaging. The story explores a topic that is not overdone in other books. The characters are well-developed and likable. Daniel and Ana are easy to embrace as protagonists. Secondary characters add richness to the narrative and help to reveal the historical context.

My only complaint is that the story does not feel resolved in the end. I do not believe that every story needs to have every aspect completed wrapped up, but in this case I was left feeling a bit cheated out a resolution.

Overall, I would recommend this book to readers of all ages, not just young adults. It is educational and entertaining and just so readable. 4.5 stars!

OUCHIE MY FEELINGS!!!!!! This is DEFINITELY a Ruta Sepetys novel because she always teaches me about some part of history that isn't talked about, in a way that makes me cry!!!!! I had never heard of the baby trafficking done by Francisco Franco before this book, and now I keep looking up more and more about it!!! This is such a Horrible topic, and yet Ruta discusses it with such Grace and Respect!!! This is why she is one of my All time FAV authors!!! While obviously the exact events of this book are not real, many similar stories Did happen, and it's good that there's some sort of light being shone on them now!!! I really REALLY loved this, and I definitely HIGHLY recommend to anyone who likes historical fiction!!!!!

This book is an absolute treasure of historical fiction. I'm disappointed that my library placed it in young adult fiction; it is a complicated story about an important issue in Spain's history. The characters are well-developed, the plot stays interesting, and the writing is incredible. I could not put this one down.

Don't be alarmed by the length: it is absolutely worth a read.

Why oh why did I let this sit on my shelf for so long?! I was captivated from start to finish. I didn't realize I knew so little about Francisco Franco's regime. Ruta Sepetys illustrated the differences between the life of an American and the life of repressed citizens of Spain marvelously. I love walking away from a historical fiction book ready to read more about a specific event or time in history. 

I'm usually wary of YA books because often I'm not too fond of the writing style or characters, but The Fountains of Silence was exceptional. I loved Ana, Daniel, Puri, Rafa... pretty much all of them. Ana and Daniel's rapport was a treat to read. I felt like I was there.