One Year of Ugly

A Novel

By: Caroline Mackenzie

Narrated by: Inés del Castillo

A “sparkling account” (Publishers Weekly) of the uproarious adventures that befall the Palacio family during their disastrous illegal residence in Trinidad that poignantly captures the complexities of dysfunctional families and passionate (but sometimes messy) romance.

After fleeing crumbling, volatile Venezuela, Yola Palacio wants nothing more than to settle into a peaceful new life in Trinidad with her family. And who cares if they’re there illegally—aren’t most of the people on the island? But life for the Palacios is far from quiet—and when Yola’s Aunt Celia dies, the family once again finds their lives turned upside down. For Celia had been keeping a very big secret—she owed a LOT of money to a local criminal named Ugly. And without the funds to pay him off, Ugly has the entire family do his bidding until Celia’s debt is settled. What Ugly says, the Palacios do, otherwise the consequences are too dreadful to imagine.

To say that the year that follows is tumultuous for the Palacios is an understatement. But in the midst of the turmoil appears Roman—Ugly’s distractingly gorgeous right-hand man. And although she knows it’s terrible and quite possibly dangerous, Yola just can’t help but give in to the attraction. Where, though, do Roman’s loyalties lie? And could this wildly inappropriate romance just be the antidote to a terrible year of Ugly?

Combining the spark of Imbolo Mbue with the irresistible wit of Maria Semple, One Year of Ugly is “a delightfully fun, enormously fresh debut” (Bookreporter) that brilliantly explores cross-cultural struggles and assimilation from a unique immigrant perspective and introduces us to an extraordinary new voice in contemporary fiction.

Critic reviews

"Inés del Castillo gives spirited voice to absolutely everyone in this packed first novel about a flamboyant Venezuelan family living illegally in Trinidad. Everything is fine until a gangster named Mr. Ugly forces the family to pay off their late aunt's debt by working in his strip club. Del Castillo gives our protagonist, the feisty 20-something daughter named Yola, a nice mix of sarcasm, drama, and sweetness. She also handles with flair Yola's love of swearing and over-the-top descriptions. The rest, from Yola's in-your-face mother to the menacing Mr. Ugly, are rendered just as believably. With some discussion of the plight of refugees intertwined with the story's wackiness, the audiobook is as timely as it is eye-rollingly amusing."

Serious topic with a light touch.

As the author stated “Hope through Humor”. Humor provides a means to relate serious topics without being disrespectful. The narrator was wonderful and struck the tone of the characters really well.

Enligtening

This book opened me up to the plight of Venezuelans fleeing their country to Trinidad and Tobago. Though fictionalized, it presents the burdens of prejudice, sexploutatoon and fear these people encountered. very interesting. if you are prudish, this is not the book for you. Excellent performance by Ms. Castillo. the reader. she brought every word to life.

inauthentic narrator accent

narrator accent was neither Trinidadian nor Venezuelan , distracting from the story.
resolution of some of the story's conflicts was also implausible .