3 out of 4 stars
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Arturo Riojas’ Heaven and Earth is an enlightening and original work. Throughout the novel, it reveals the harsh truth of cadmium poisoning with an entertaining twist. The story focuses on a NASA researcher, Olga Ramos, and her friend, Gavilán. The duo teams up with an advanced alien, Nivla, to save Earth.
Heaven and Earth is a thought-provoking read, full of Hispanic heritage and vital information. Riojas incorporates the Spanish language into the dialogue. Since Olga and Gavilán are Hispanic Americans, they frequently interchange between Spanish and English. The language of this work offers a natural and realistic element. Fortunately for non-Spanish speakers, the Spanish dialogue is translated into English. Though some of the simple Spanish words are unnecessarily translated, it is a comfort not to rely on Google Translate for a majority of the work.
Heaven and Earth provides the realistic terrors of the real world. Cadmium poisoning is plaguing our society. It’s not science fiction; it’s happening right now. Before reading this novel, I was ignorant to what cadmium is, let alone that it is poisoning our resources. The work provides a fictional plot that centers on this epidemic that’s destroying our health. After each chapter, Riojas presents cadmium facts to further inform the audience. The facts increase comprehension on the matter and provides a realistic insight to the plight of the novel. Despite the intensity of the information, the facts are long and repetitive. The facts should be edited and apply to the previous chapter.
The dialogue’s plot form and over-all stiffness created a giant bump in this otherwise exquisite novel. The characters’ back and forth seemed unnatural with long explanations. These extensive conversations add to the plot but add nothing to the characters’ emotions or personalities. Instead of showing a character’s personality, the dialogue is just a character explaining another character’s actions and their consequences. For example, when Dr. Welch says to Olga “you’ve just set yourself up for a tough ride on this bronco…they will make it very difficult for you to continue” (52), it seems like another man explaining (or mansplaining) what Olga did on purpose. Also, the phone conversations only reveal one side of the conversation, which is unnecessary and confusing.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. Heaven and Earth provides a relatable issue and social problem and throws in plenty of (corny) humor. Though the novel lacks characterization, every page is full of interesting information and it even has aliens.
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Heaven and Earth
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