I really really wanted to.love this book. But if fell just a little short. The characters and story lacked a depth that's hard for me to explain. I understand the point of the book was exploring the intersections of several veins of womanhood, but I constantly felt let down by the main character's choices. I wanted to deeply root for her but in the end I just felt disappointed in her.

This was an emotional rollercoaster of a book. My issue isn't that I didn't connect with the character it's that I was so frustrated by them.

I want to heavily underscore that I don't think this is a "bad book," but that I probably wasn't the intended audience.

"Orange Wine" is a complex familial saga of love, loss, and betrayal. The first half was compelling, but after a while, it became tedious for me. Overall, I didn’t enjoy this story as much as I’d hoped—it felt too messy for my liking.

A journey theough time and devotion. I was sold from the first sentence, for this heartbreaking story gripped me oh so fiercely. It will take you through all the emotions such as sadness, yearning, love. Could not recommend more!

The general concept of this book about the choices a woman has to make while trying to make her way in life despite relationships, religion and family getting in her way is engaging idea. Unfortunately the character development and the first person POV style of the heroine felt lacking. As the story moves through Ines’ journey, the language felt a little stunted- as if the voice of a 15 year old, not a woman, was telling the story. I did not understand a lot of the characters’ decisions and a few chapters and storylines felt like they began and ended very abruptly. That said, the descriptive visuals of Columbia and South American food and culture are beautifully written.

Really difficult to get into because of the pacing that never picked up. Desoite the family drama, the explorations of character were a bit flat for me which meant that I never really got invested. Whereever character work was attempted seemed like exposition instead.

Setting was really good and well developed though!

Thanks to Netgallery and Bindery Books for the eARC of Orange Wine by Esperanza Hope Snyder in exchange for an honest review. I have to say I was somewhat excited for this one. The premise seemed intriguing and to be completely honest, the cover was the first thing that caught my eye when I first saw it here on Netgallery, it is stunning. While I stand by the fact that the book had a great premise, and I love the idea behind Bindery books publishing, this one just didn’t quite meet my expectations, it fell short for me. Maybe it was the writing? while great at describing the environment, the story just didn't make sense to me. Characters lacked depth in my opinion and I just didn't enjoy Ines for the most part. I hope while this book was not for me others can enjoy it.

I received an ARC of this book for an honest review.

What an interesting and engaging story! The story starts with Ines finding out that her husband has ran off with her sister. From there, you travel back in time to meet (and love) many of Ines’ vibrant family members and to discover how she met her husband. It’s a rollercoaster of a ride, set in the early 1900s, and Ines has a hard time letting society determine her wants, needs, and lifestyle. She lets her emotions sweep her off her feet, which is both inspiring and a tad frustrating at times. The story continues as she navigates a her new life while trying to heal and find herself again, only to be swept away by love again, which results in yet another rollercoaster of emotions, guilt, family struggles, and navigating society’s harsh judgement. Regardless, you do end up rooting for Ines to find happiness and inspiration - she’s just the kind of person who appreciates beauty and love and you can’t not appreciate her as a character!

The writing was very descriptive when it comes to setting the scene and reveling in a location’s beauty or emotion. The story is peppered with love letters, poetry, art and other cultural references that add quite the atmospheric and historical feeling to the story. Come to find out, the writer was inspired by her grandparents’ story to write this, which makes it all the more lovely.

I loved everything about this! I loved the setting, the characters, and the writing. This book is on the shorter side, but it feels a lot longer with the way that its written. I look forward to rereading when the book comes out!

Orange Wine tells – loosely – the story of Inés and her sisters, though it feels more like it’s about Inés and the two men in her life. In and of itself that’s not a bad thing, but I definitely went into this expecting there to be a great emphasis on the complicated nature of sisterhood – and there was, in a sense, but it felt like it was overshadowed by the constant, and more intense, presence of both Inés’ troubled and unfaithful first husband and the love she meets later in her life.

The writing did not help balance out the expectations I felt were not met. The voice felt passive in a way that didn’t serve the story, and at times it was like I was reading a history book. Mind you, a history book I would have probably read and enjoyed, but that is ultimately not what I came into this wanting to read!

There were parts of it that definitely resonated! In the end, thanks to its passive voice, I flew through this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bindery Books for this eARC.

Thank you @netgalley for this gifted ARC copy. This book will be published on : September 30, 2025

Orange Wine
Author - Esperanza Hope Snyder @esperanza_hope_snyder

While I was giving birth to Lucy, my husband, Alessandro, was lying in bed with my sister, Isabel. 

And thus, Inés de la Rota—the youngest daughter of an Italian nobleman and a Colombian poet—begins to speak in a bitter, sweet voice. 

Against the backdrop of early twentieth-century Colombia, where the Catholic Church exercises total control over women, Orange Wine weaves an unforgettable story of sisterhood, love, passion, and betrayal. Isolated in a society that opposes her desires, Inés struggles with her identity as a mother, artist, sister, lover, and woman. Her choices are stark: accept her duty to her family or embark on a sensuous journey of self-discovery. Each path will cost her—or those she loves—something dear. 

Mirroring the alchemical process of turning oranges into wine, Inés must create a new life from a bitter pith, pressing sweetness from life’s agonies as she struggles toward artistic freedom and feminine awakening. 
🍊
It's an heartwrenching story of a woman's struggle for living in a catholic church dominated world where women were treated like less than a human, I feel they suggest women are born sinners. You will feel growing helpless and frustrated with every chapter of the book.

Early twentieth century and women's life is incomplete without man, all they grow up only to find the suitor, the societal norms of the time always makes me feel irritated and the fact is, it is still a fact in some broad part of the world.

One thing that I feel, however Ines was going through a lot of struggle still at some pivotal time of the novel I felt Ines was like her sisters, she is also heartless, a bit selfish and she actually never thought about being independent like her sisters rather she always looking for a man's shoulder to lean on which makes me off.

My rating 3⅐/4

The first line of the book kinda grabs you and you want to know what has transpired to make this happen. I kept waiting for the “Orange Wine” to come into play and it finally did 3/4 of the way through the book. I enjoyed the storyline of Ines and her family living in Colombia and reading about some of the customs and lifestyle. Unfortunately, the writing didn’t flow for me and I found myself fast forwarding through some of the story. Ines, her husband Alessandro and her children lead a complicated life and her three sisters weren’t supportive of her dilemma. As time went on her life seemed to take on an even keel but in the background you’re always wondering what’s going to happen next to upset this.
I persevered and finished the book, which ended abruptly.
The premise of a good plot was there but it fell short for me and I found the writing a bit immature, almost that of a young adult writing it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bindery Books for my ARC.

As much as we watched Ines struggle with decision, loss, sorrow, I do think we deserved to see more of her wins and triumphs. We hear about her art in galleries in Paris (which she never sees in the book), and she is selling soaps that sell out. But we didn’t stay with that for too long. It felt like it was cut short. I would have loved more of that

From the outset, I was very interested in reading this book. But I think I might not have been the best audience fit for this book because I really struggled to stay engaged, interested, and feel empathy for these characters. Reading the author’s acknowledgements and recognizing that this story is inspired by the author’s grandparents helps to personalize the story, but the work still struggles to be humanized for me.

The first aspect was the writing style and approach. The entirety of the book is told in the past tense, and things are narrative with the passive voice. The narration is more like a long winded diary entry stitched together to form the narrative. Huge plot events happen and are over and done with in one chapter. And it makes it incredibly difficult to feel the emotional buildup or interest in the narrative at all.

The second aspect was the characterization. The characters suffer from the writing approach, and seem two dimensional and flat. The main character is a self proclaimed feminist and yet the entirety of the novel is her in a relationship with two separate men, who are (arguably) not worthy of her. She is also someone who is incredibly vain with a great degree of internalized misogyny, leading to a lot of disillusionment in readers. The other side characters are flat and feel more like goofy caricatures to be the villains in this character’s story.

Overall, I struggled immensely to connect with this book. I think that it has merits though, as some people have found it to be a good read. I think perhaps I’m just not the right audience for this book, and that there are stylistic choices that I as a reader do not prefer.

This was such a beautiful story that felt almost nostalgic in tone. I loved living in this book for a bit and can tell the author has such a connection this story, which enriched the reading experience immensely!

While the writing style wasn't fully for me because it did feel like we breezed through pivotal moments, I also understood WHY the writing was this way. It felt like I was listening to my grandmother tell me a wild story about her life, almost removed and casual, as she dropped crazy family lore. That removed feeling took me time to get used to, but I think it's how the story had to be written for the main character, Inés's, sake. It's that removal that kept her moving toward hope. Which is so interesting and relatable.

As I walked through Inés's life, I found myself so captured by her heart. She was faced with impossible case scenarios over and over, and yet the tone always remained so hopeful. It was a lovely read and I absolutely recommend this book to anyone looking for a story to move them deeply. This book will stick with you long after the final words and it will also remind you to SAVOR LIFE, just like a fine, orange wine.

I was really hoping to like this one but I just didn't connect with it.
I enjoyed the setting. The writing when describing the landscape of Colombia was really lovely, but I didn't enjoy the writing when it came to the characters.
It makes sense that this was inspired by the writers grandparents, because it did feel more like a retelling of events than a novel.
While it was not my cup of tea, I can see the appeal it would have to others who enjoy historical fiction.
Thank you to Netgalley and BinderyBooks for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Arc Provided through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

A story of sisterhood, familial bonds, love, passion and betrayal set in early twentieth century Columbia Ines navigates the challenges a woman of her time. An unfaithful husband, generational trauma, and unforgiving gender roles are prominent in Ines’ life.

This book has so much potential and I think that makes reading it really frustrating. We have a beautiful setting, complicated relationship dynamics and all the delicious food and wine you could ever want but it all feels two dimensional. The story is told through Ines point of view as her looking back on her life. I feel like choosing to tell the story in the past tense really stole the strife and depth from the story. There are some fabulous quotes of the frustration of being a woman with passions in a rigidly gendered society but because we are hearing the story from future Ines the story lost all of its bite. I love this story for what it could be and I want more. I just had a hard time connecting to the characters. It felt like there was a glass wall between me as the reader and the characters and their motivations/emotions.

I don’t think I would recommend this book in its current form. However, it doesn’t come out until fall of 2025 so there is still time for some revisions. This is the only book to come from bindery that I feel lukewarm about. It's not terrible but it's not great either.

This book was exceptional - I loved every part of this book. The protagonist in this book was a strong heroine who did what was expected of her in a Patriarchal society, even when she felt that something was not quite right.

This book explores the life of Ines de-la Rota, as she tries to navigate her life under the power of the Catholic Church. This book has themes of marriage, parenthood, abuse, tragedy, loss, love, misogyny, feminism, failure, success and self-exploration. It really is a book that covers practically everything while focusing on the small details so exquisitely that you feel like you are standing right beside Ines.

I loved this book with every ounce of my being and when it is published, I will be nipping into my nearest Waterstones to purchase my very own physical copy.

This book has a certain "vibe" and it seems like it relies on the reader loving the "vibe". And I unfortunately didn't love it. The main character goes through a devastating situation that basically turns her whole life around. She's also quite perfect. And there's no way you can somehow connect to her because of the style it's written in. It all feels very distant and given the importance of what she goes through the story reads in a very bland way. Also I'm not a huge fan of books written in first person, this to me feels very fanfic-like.

The first 2/3 of this book had me ready to give it an instant five stars. It was easy to read, the plot moved along, the characters were interesting and well developed. Then at about the 2/3 mark I almost decided to not finish the book because I was so upset with a character's decision. I decided to push through and ended up being okay with the decision, but the rest of the book was somehow both filler and rushed. The writing is beautiful as is the story and the characters but the ending did not live up to the first two thirds. I would definitely recommend this book for people who like lyrical, historical, diverse writing. It was a good book, and well written, and I would give the first two thirds five stars and the last one third three stars so we will land at four stars!

The writing and descriptions are beautiful, but this book feels one step removed from engaging story-telling. It reads a bit like a script or a pitch for a story, without the depth and connection that come along with executing the story. I had a hard time connecting with the characters or the plot.