I certainly enjoyed certain parts of the book but it fell alittle flat for me. I found Ines a tad irritating but over time I found myself cheering her on. I enjoyed the exploration of themes throughout this, I just did not find it as enticing as what was presented in the synopsis.

The writing was beautiful, women go through so much, and then being punished for it was horrible, no matter what your ethnic background is. Grief, overcoming loss, and betrayal was a lot within itself. The book talked about family secrets and painful ones! This was a good read, and anyone can become easily drawn into it.

Thank you to Bindery Books and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy.

Inés Camargo is isolated by her desires, the betrayal of those around her, and a passion for art that goes against the society she must live in. Set in early twentieth-century Columbia, Orange Wine is a portrayal of the Catholic Church’s total control of women. It’s a novel that takes us through one woman’s struggle for autonomy and identity as a lover, mother, sister, and artist.

Inés tells her story to the reader the way a mother or grandmother might pass down their stories orally. The language of her tale is poetic but does not mince words. It is direct and reads like a memoir. I think that is both why it is a good book and why it was not my favorite. There is so much heartache and drama in this story but it didn’t evoke any big feelings from me. If I had gone into it knowing it would read like a memoir, I may have felt differently. If you like that style, this is a story with a fascinating setting and a character who struggles towards her own feminine identity through the trials of love, family, and motherhood!

This review will be posted on GoodReads, Fable, and Instagram.

Orange Wine had a beautiful sense of place, and the vivid descriptions of the locations were wonderful. I could picture every scene clearly. However, it fell a little short for me in terms of character development. I didn’t feel connected to the characters, which made it harder to stay invested in the story. Still, the writing itself shows Snyder’s talent for painting landscapes with words.
Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Orange Wine pulled me out of a reading slump! It was far from what I would normally read, but I found it fast paced, engaging, and deep. I was turning pages like my life depended on it.

This story is full of grief and loss, but also passion and learning how to navigate the hardships of life. It was a commentary of religion and marriage, a discussion on losing a child, and a story about picking yourself back up when your family decides to leave you in the cold.

There was some magical realism, romance, family dynamics, drama, jealousy. So much in one book!

I wanted to love this book more. The plot was set early and I kept waiting for the story to further development, halfway through I began to wonder if the author , having read none of her other work, had intentionally kept the pace slow and dry like the historical fiction of the day and certainly of Colombia. It reminded me very much of Maria by Jorge Issacs. Snyder does a great job of capturing the essence of Colombian life, A little slow paced. for me.

This book tells the story of Inés, a young Colombian woman brought up in wealth and luxury to value making art. When her family loses their fortune and her husband proves himself a rather useless cad, she learns to make her own way in life and in love, without concern or consideration for the ramifications those decisions have on her family and those around her, both for good and ill. Based on the author’s grandparents, the story is compelling. As I was reading, I found myself frequently wishing for the writing to linger more in the deep, gritty details of Inés’ world and decision making. This is a personal preference and not a knock against the writing, but I think the broad strokes over minute detail of the style made it hard for me to feel connected to her as a character. There is a lot of story in this book, and I’m sure that will resonate with many readers, but I found it challenging to nail down who Inés was as a character and how I felt about her as a reader. I’m still grappling with this, but I think it’s true to say that Orange Wine is a good story but stylistically not to my preference, which, again, is a very personal thing and not a statement on the quality of the book or writing.

Thanks to Bindery and NetGalley for this ARC.

I had high hopes for this historical novel, but was left feeling a bit flat with the story. 20th Century Columbia, family relationships, the role of the Church and traditional roles.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC.

3.5

Orange Wine tells the turbulent story of Ines, the youngest of five girls born to once wealthy parents. Rosa, the eldest, moves to Bogota and says she will take it upon herself to see that her sisters find jobs and good husbands. However, when Ines refuses to do as Rosa says she moves back home to Paipa where she meets Alessandro, a lothario of the highest order.

As Ines life begins to unravel after her marriage to Alessandro, she gets a second chance but her sisters again sabotage her happiness until Ines is left to make something of herself using her own quick wit and resources.

I enjoyed almost all of Orange Wine but, as with other books, I found the constraints of organised religion difficult to stomach. Faith is a wonderful thing but, it seems to me, when men get their hands on religion they will twist it to their own ends.

It would also be easy to find Ines quite irritating as she seems to have everything but her life is not easy and you find yourself cheering her on.

On the whole an interesting short novel which evokes the era and the places it is set. Beautifully written and based on the life of the author's grandfather. Recommended.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Bindery Books for the advance review copy.

🍊 Orange Wine ARC Review 🍊

Ines is the youngest daughter of an Italian Nobleman and Colombian Poet. Ines is faced with countless challenges as a woman, mother, wife, and woman living in a Catholic country, throughout her life. She travels through different paths and finds herself.

Rating: 3.75 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Literary fiction is not a genre that I read often, but I wanted to try something different when I requested a copy on NetGalley.

I enjoyed this book quite a lot, so don’t let the rating fool you into thinking I didn’t. I thought the plot was interesting and the writing was good. We get to see parts of Ines’ past as well as her present which I really loved!

I found myself frustrated with Ines at times, and maybe that’s the point. I wish she wouldn’t have moved on so quickly from things. I completely understand that it was harder for her to say or do anything, but I wanted her to stick up for herself more.

The pacing of the book is quick, which I liked. There were times where I wanted more from certain scenes. Some events are just brushed over.

I recommend reading Orange Wine. There are a few triggering topics, so please be mindful.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I can appreciate what this story was trying to do, but ultimately I think it didn’t deliver what it set out to do. The story centers around Ines, who did not fit the societal/gender/Catholic expectations placed on her as a woman in 20th century Colombia. The premise drew me in as someone who has a lot of thoughts about those topics. However, this read like a very emotionally distant telling of her life, with no emotional evocation (even when dramatic events occurred). It was hard to have sympathy for this highly privileged woman whose main problems are being ousted by her sisters because they’re jealous of her, and the consequences of some poor decisions. I don’t mind complex main characters but she had no personality besides having many suitors and being artistic, which made it really hard to be invested in the story. There was a lot of potential to explore more of the themes of the socio-cultural setting in Colombia at the time, especially since it paints itself as a feminist story. I wanted more depth, exploration, and healing in the strained relationships with her sisters. It wasn’t until the very end (author’s note), that I saw this is the author’s telling of her grandparent’s story, which may explain why it felt like a telling, not showing story, but I still wish it had been emotionally captivating. Don’t get me wrong, some portions did have me more interested (starting around the halfway mark) but it lost momentum towards the end. I’m glad I got to experience a new (to me) author who is telling Latin American-focused stories - we certainly need more of those!

Thanks to the publisher (Bindery / Mareas Books) & NetGalley for an advanced reader copy - all opinions are my own!

I was very excited for this book because I love slower, more character-driven stories. However, I struggled a lot in the second half due to the story dragging and the lack of character growth. Esperanza Hope Snyder is a wonderful writer, and that was a major part of why I continued reading to the end. Her prose is descriptive, but isn't weighed down by superfluous information. The world was rich and obviously heavily researched.

The way the story is laid out is interesting, starting in medias res. I didn't mind that since the first third follows Inés' younger life, allowing the reader to understand why she thinks the way she does and her relationship with her sisters. Now, when we get into the second half of the story, Inés' life begins to slow, and thus the story also begins to slow. Of course, there are quiet moments in life where it's much more the internal struggle than anything external, but it did feel like certain points just repeated feelings and internal thoughts over and over for multiple chapters.

Inés as our narrator is a wonderful choice. She's very obviously biased towards herself, which gave a nuanced take on the story and her experiences. Her as our main character, however, was another point I struggled with. While she grew physically and aged, Inés didn't feel as if she had grown up. The way she viewed the world and rationalized her actions always came off as very immature.

It was frustrating to reach the end of this story, but I'm not discounting this author in any way. In fact, I'm very interested to see her next book!

i am only a litfic dabbler because it is very rare i find a gem that i actually like. it's nothing against the genre, but it's just usually not for me

however, something about this one intrigued me and i was lucky enough to receive an ARC via Netgalley and i am soooo glad i requested this.

it has more of a poetic memoir vibe than i am used to but it works so well with the story and how it progresses that it feels like you're being fully immersed into someone else's life.

it's dramatic without being unrealistic and overdramatic, so it reads like real life rather than telenovela.

the characters are all flawed and unlikeable and they are simply allowed to be that way as well as truly struggle with life choices and things like religious guilt and family pressure in a way that often gets oversimplified in other literature. sometimes, everyone is kind of wrong, and that's just how life goes.

unfortunately, the pacing was a bit stressful for me, and the entire end of the story felt very rushed. it also lacked a lot of 'show not tell' throughout which is fine to a point in something written more memoir than drama but you could definitely feel its absence here anyway.

i also REALLY didn't like how the MC was written to seem like a feminist hero of sorts or a person who thought of herself that way anyway while almost being the most misogynistic character of the lot.

3.5⭐️⭐️⭐️✨✖️

Inés de la Rota, youngest daughter of a Columbian poet mother and an Italian nobleman father, narrates this lyrical novel about family, survival, artistic freedom, passion, self-discovery, and a little bit of mysticism.

Set mostly in Paipa and Bogota, Colombia, with some parts in Europe, the story unfolds slowly, from Inés’s youth to her disastrous first marriage and the birth of her first two children, to her strained relationship with her sisters, her star-crossed relationship with the love of her life, the birth of another daughter, becoming an artist of note, tragedies and triumphs, every detail leading me into a world I could almost see and taste and hear and feel. I hated putting the book down to sleep at night because the story took me so far outside myself in the best way.

Emotionally weighty, beautifully rendered, the story continues to linger with me the day after. Four and a half stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bindery Books for the opportunity to read this ARC. Due to be released on September 30, 2025.

This novel was quite a journey, meandering between love, heart ache, self-discovery, and loss. You follow the story of Inés as she navigates through adolescence, marriage, motherhood, grief, and love. She grew up in a small town in Colombia with her mother, father, four sisters, and beautiful rose gardens in a historic mansion. She meets and marries Alessandro, who seemed otherworldly but is just a scoundrel. The love of her life, Régulo, she meets in Bogotá, but fate is determined to keep them apart. Destiny, however, had a different idea. Colombia in the early 20th century serves as its primary backdrop but you also travel to Italy and Spain with Inés, Alessandro, and Régulo, and Paris through the words of an American author they meet in Madrid. Inés is an artist and a creative, weaving her heart ache, joy, and experience into all that she does. The characters and their stories, as told by Inés with her melodic storytelling, will draw you in. I am glad I selected this book, as it brought me into a world that was very different from my typical reads.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bindery Books | Mareas for providing me with the ARC.

In Orange Wine, we follow the story of Ines a Colombian woman in early twentieth-century Columbia, and who lives on love, poetry and misfortune. It's a story of betrayal, sisterhood, feminism and self-discovery.

Through this story, Esperanza Hope Snyde embarks us in a Colombia where the Catholic Church has a strong presence in the lives of Colombians, but where legends also have their importance. The author shows us the feminine condition of yesteryear. Especially the cruelty of this world towards women abandoned by their husbands, becoming a pariah of society.

I enjoyed discovering Columbia from another era, through the eyes of a woman to whom everything was promised, but who discovers the harshness of life and never gives up on life. I also enjoyed the fact that the authors introduced us to some myths of the country - it might make you want to know more about Colombian folklore.

It's a story about moving on, women hope, with well written prose and character development. I recommend this novel for those who like feminist stories, strong and complex characters, and want to discover early twentieth-century Columbia culture.

If your sisters steals your man but he’s an asshole is it forgivable? This book has messy, and unlikable characters which I al all for. I really wanted to like it more than I did but the narration was distance. Not as deep of a character study as I would have liked, although the story is told from the POV of the MC it is still seemed to superficially connected to her emotions.

It was a fast read with a slow story, chapters going by quickly which I like in a lit fic book but more meat would have been appreciated.

I really enjoyed Orange Wine! The story is both heartbreaking and captivating, and Inés is such a compelling narrator. I loved how the book explored her struggles with family, love, and society while still showing her fierce desire to live on her own terms. The setting in early twentieth-century Colombia feels vivid, and the way the author weaves passion, betrayal, and sisterhood together kept me completely engaged. It’s a story that lingers with you long after you finish, and I can’t stop thinking about Inés and the choices she had to make.

Orange Wine shines when it leans into language. Scenes linger with a strong visual detail. I admired the books interest in memory and how our private lives impact our choices that could be ridiculed by families and communities.
What didn't work for me was the momentum. The narrator often favors contemplation over propulsion, and I found myself drifting during sections that circled the same emotional territory. I appreciated the restraint, but I wanted a clearer thought line and a deeper sense of urgency to keep me invested.
Still, there's a real craft in the writing, and readers who enjoy meditative fiction that prioritize atmosphere and style, may have a richer experience than I did.
For me, this lands in the 'admired more than loved' category: a thoughtful book with standout lines, even if the whole didn't completely cohere.

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an ok read it was kind of slow but good I enjoyed this read I’m sure others will enjoy it thank you