L.A. Weather

by María Amparo Escandón

This is an alternate cover edition for ASIN B08QGL8XQ6, found here.

FORECAST: Storm clouds are on the horizon in this fun, fast-paced novel of an affluent Mexican-American family from the author of the #1 Los Angeles Times bestseller Esperanza’s Box of Saints.

L.A. is parched, dry as a bone, and all Oscar, the weather-obsessed patriarch of the Alvarado family, desperately wants is a little rain. He’s harboring a costly secret that distracts him from everything else. His wife, Keila, desperate for a life with a little more intimacy and a little less Weather Channel, feels she has no choice but to end their marriage. Their three daughters—Claudia, a television chef with a hard-hearted attitude; Olivia, a successful architect who suffers from gentrification guilt; and Patricia, a social media wizard who has an uncanny knack for connecting with audiences but not with her lovers—are blindsided and left questioning everything they know. Each will have to take a critical look at her own relationships and make some tough decisions along the way.

With quick wit and humor, Maria Amparo Escandón follows the Alvarado family as they wrestle with impending evacuations, secrets, deception, and betrayal, and their toughest decision yet: whether to stick together or burn it all down.

Genres: Fiction, Audiobook, Book Club, Contemporary, Family, Adult Fiction, Adult

352 pages, ebook

First published September 7, 2021

About the author

María Amparo Escandón is a Mexican born, US resident, best-selling bilingual novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, and film producer. Her award-winning work is known for addressing bicultural themes that deal with the immigration experience of Mexicans crossing over to the United States. Her stories concentrate on family relationships, loss, forgiveness, faith, and self-discovery. A linguist with a sharp ear for dialogue, she explores the dynamics of language in border sub-cultures and the evolution of Spanglish. Her innovative style of multiple voice narrations and her cleverly humorous, quirky, and compassionate stories with a feminine angle capture the magical reality of everyday life and place her among the top Latin American female writers. Her work has been translated into over 21 languages and is currently read in more than 85 countries.

Reviews

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was hard for me to rate this book. I enjoyed it while I was reading it but after I would put it aside, I was never very anxious to get back to it to see what happened next. I found myself disliking most of the characters at one time or another but then would come back to them and think maybe they weren’t so bad after all. So I guess that’s true to life? On a more positive note, I’ve always loved spending time in L.A. so reading the descriptions of different neighborhoods was entertaining.
Thank you to Goodreads Giveaways & Flatiron Books for the ARC.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one crazy soap opera story! Author Maria Amparo Escandon writes an ambitious tale of the Alvarado family. In one year, the family endured: a brain tumor, infidelity, a gender-fluid teen, kleptomania, artificial insemination, divorce, subterfuge, hidden businesses, raw sex, near drowning, rape, climate change, and gender politics as examples. My family is incredibly boring relatively speaking.

As the title suggests, the weather does figure prominently. Oh, and the fires…so many fires. Escandon made the weather the main character, as almost each chapter includes the climate, even though most East Coast people think that there is no weather there; it’s a constant temp with little rain. Escandon proves differently.

Escandon also admits in an interview with the L.A. Times that she channeled the telenovela theme while writing this story. I didn’t need to read that interview to see exactly what she did.

I listened to the audio narrated by Frankie Corzo. Corzo is great with the female voices and even one with a French accent. I wasn’t a fan of her narrations of male voices. To me, they all sounded sleezy, even the patriarch Escandon who is a good guy.

I recommend this for those who are fans of the telenovela sort of stories.

[Elyse Walters · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook….read by Frankie Corzo
….10 hours and 45 minutes

“You don’t need to come here and share with us your Jewish guilt” > ouch!!!
Not a fan of this sentence….
However …
I chose to listen to this book hours before learning that Reece Witherspoon announced “L. A. Weather” was her monthly pick.
My daughter, sister, cousins, nephews, nieces, and many friends live in Los Angeles so the title alone peaked my interest.
Given that I didn’t think Taylor Jenkins Reed addressed the Los Angeles fires, earthquakes, natural disasters with any sincerity in her book - ‘Malibu’ - I was hoping this book would.
Unfortunately, not quite….but better. The monthly weather-was accurate-following our California weather history-at least -but the weather was still more of a background distraction to the family saga at large.
In other words….
“L. A. Weather”…..is much more ‘family’ stormy-[melodrama 101], than devastating natural disaster stormy.

The Alvarado family—an integrated catholic, Jewish, Mexican American, family (sounding a little gimmicky to me), > proved to be as religiously insignificant as it sounds.
Their family wrestled with ‘impending’ evacuations, a scary accident involving three year old twins, deceptions, marriage strife, betrayal, fears, grief, loss, divorce, births, family standards and expectations, immigration issues, hardships, and love.

Oscar, Granddad, Father, Husband…..’Patriarch’….
was the type of man who was not good at disappearing, when he disappeared. He was a man who had to get away to gather up his thoughts:
“What you’re doing to our family, to our marriage, is cruel and uncalled for”, he said to his wife.
Oscar was worried that he and his wife might not succeed and being able to repair their marriage of 39 years. His obsession with watching the weather channel was a distraction from the personal rising surges…with all the extended family members.

This book was (yet another) readable novel…interesting ‘enough’ listening —but ‘not ‘wow-great’.
It was a little over-stacked with over-flowing cornucopia arrangements and stereotyping prose.
But…..
I definitely didn’t-hate it — it had a few redeeming qualities-
It wasn’t torture to read-
It was respectively adequate.

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t know about the rest of you, but around the holidays I am all in for family drama . . . . of the fictional variety. When I saw this book was about a family with the jumping off point being a horrible accident I was all in. That cover didn’t hurt things either. But then . . . .



I ended up spoiling myself a little bit and taking a gander at other reviews because I was just not feeling this one at all. Apparently the author was inspired by telenovelas, but sadly I think most of us weren’t in on the gag. While this does get over the top with affairs and tumors and divorce and frozen embroyos and kleptomania and secret business endeavors, unfortunately it was a total snoozefest with stilted dialogue and characters who I never connected to (because there were a shitton of them and a grand total of zero had any sort of depth or development). And at around the 65% mark boy oh boy did the title become appropriate. So. Much. Weather . . . .



The dismal 3.24 rating here does not lie, my friends. I hate to hand out 1 Stars, but my reactions are based purely on my enjoyment level and this was the literary equivalent of a root canal. Curse you Reese Witherspoon and your damn book club that I can’t seem to quit!

[Lindsey Gandhi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really, really hate rating a book 2 stars. I tried so hard to find some redeeming qualities in this book to push my rating up. There was one - the opening of this book really grabs you. It's every parents worst nightmare. And I just knew from there this was going to be a book I couldn't put down. Unfortunately the opposite happened... this was a book I had a hard time finishing. Family drama, divorce, affairs, secrets, stealing embryos, crazy weather - all the makings for a homerun book, but this one struck out for me. I honestly didn't connect, or even like, any of the characters. The story jumps between storylines too much that it gets frustrating to follow. I thought the structure of the book following the family over the course of a year was clever, just poorly executed.

Does the Alvardo family "weather" the storm of the their chaotic life? You'll have to read to find out. People either seem to really like this book or not care for it. While this is not a book I cared for, or one I'd recommend, that doesn't mean this isn't for other readers.

My thanks to the author, Flatiron Books and netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Dayna · Rating 1 out of 5]

While reading, I had 2 questions hounding me: 1) Why should I care about these characters? 2) Why am I continuing on? The 2nd is easy to answer: I'm stubborn & since I was sent an ARC by Goodreads, I felt the least I could do was finish in good faith in case it suddenly got better. As for the 1st, I have no answer; given the title, I started hoping some outrageous meteorological phenomenon would kill them off so animals could take over the city. Animals would definitely have been more interesting than the characters.

[Marilyn (not getting notifications) · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. I listened to over half (6.5 hours) of L.A. Weather by Maria Amparo Escandon and must give up. This book was not for me. I was hoping it would get better but my patience was wearing thin. I just was not enjoying this book.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn’t love it- didn’t hate it. 🤷🏼‍♀️ If I’m being honest, I just kinda didn’t care about any of the characters. 🫣 It wasn’t terrible, but I honestly wouldn’t make it a priority read- there’s just so many other great books out there!! 🤗

[Rachel L · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Read for One Book One County.

It wasn't my favorite book, contemporary adult fiction is not a genre I typically choose to read. I did like that this book was a look at a family and wasn't stereotypical or negative depictions of a Hispanic family like we tend to see in fiction. It was fun to follow along where they went in Los Angeles and surrounding areas.

Overall, I just didn't like any of the characters or really cared what happened to most of them. Most of them were incredibly selfish and wouldn't even talk to their father when they could tell he was really dealing with something awful.

[Literary Redhead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Warm, witty and so real, L.A. WEATHER captivates with the engrossing story of the Mexican-American Alvarado family. Yes, it’s always sunny in the City of Angels, but not so with the Alvarados and their impending familial explosion. Why is weather so important to Oscar, the father, and what secret is he keeping that could have ramifications for the whole family? L.A. WEATHER will make you laugh and cry and turn the pages faster and faster until you reach the dénouement, which lingers with you long afterward. Highly recommended!

5 of 5 Stars
Pub Date 07 Sep 2021
#LAWeather #NetGalley

Thanks to the author, Flatiron Books, and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some books that you read because you can't get enough and look forward to spending time with the story and characters. Then there are books that you want to read quickly so you can move on to a book you may actually like. This book was the later for me....in simple terms I didn't like this book (but I am stubborn enough that once I begin a book I have to read it until the bitter end)
I thought the story line was idiotic and the characters unlikeable, with no redeeming qualities.
I would say don't waste your time with this one

[Tiffany · Rating 1 out of 5]

I try to give every book a fair shake, but this one annoyed me for five reasons.

1. It’s pedantic. The author has an axe to grind, and she doesn’t care if you know it. Normally, I don’t mind an agenda, but it needs to flow in the narrative, not feel forced. After awhile, it felt like she was ticking boxes of certain liberal topics she’d discussed (LGBTQ+ issues, polyamory, climate issues, check, check, check).

2. It is almost unbearably saccharine. I have sisters, and I can assure you that no one spends as much time and in each other’s faces as these women do, without some screaming involved. The book literally ends with a family hug. 🤢

3. Oh, my god, the dialogue is horrible! It’s stilted, it’s contrived, and no one talks like this in real life! Example: “I’m speechless, Dad. What did you gain from all this deception?”

4. The characters are flat. The villains are SO evil, with no redeeming qualities.

5. The extent to which I have to suspend my disbelief! One family in a single year goes through a near drowning, a separation, a brain tumor, three divorces, AND stolen embryos? C’mon.

The best quality was the setting. Otherwise, this was a hit and a miss for me.

[Elsa Carrion · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed, not with the writing and not with the plot or anything of that nature. All that was spot on. It was a good story. I gave it two stars because according to GR two stars means "it was Okay" and it was for me.

What I found disappointed was that I wanted to connect with this family and I didn't. When I discovered that the family came from money (only 10% of Latinos make more than 200k a year), I lost interest, however I kept reading and finished the story, but I knew that there would be no connection.

I wanted a story about a struggling Hispanic family that overcame real problems. Your real might be different than my real. I connected more with the three primos than with the Alvarados, they had real problems and concerns.

It's a story about a rich family and rich peoples problems. If I known that, I don't think I would have picked it up. However that is just my opinion.

[Dallas Strawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a hard review to write; because there isn't anything inherently wrong with this book...it's just not that interesting? If that makes sense.... It's a rather simple story about this family, who are all unhappy, and rather unlikable characters. Oscar and Keila have been married for a very long time, and they are struggling in their marriage, and all of their children have drama happening in their life, and Oscar is keeping a secret from the family, Oscar, who is obsessed with the ongoing weather habits in Los Angeles....

I just never got "into the book"....it never hooked me, and I found myself not caring what was going to happen at the end, but I finished it anyway. The audiobook arc I received was the publisher was well done, the narrator did a great job of performing the book, and honestly, I probably would have DNF'd the book if I didn't have the audio...

This is the September Reese's Book Club pick, and definitely one of the crappier Reese picks...I'm disappointed- the last few she's chosen have been so good.

2.5 round up.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

As broken and hurt as this family is, ultimately, they show that they are exactly what a family should be This is a very engaging story - an enjoyable read.

[Dee (in the Desert) · Rating 4 out of 5]

My pick for Hispanic Heritage Month. Loved how both the climate and culture of the City of Angels itself were almost characters in this dramatic family saga!

[Steph · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read (and finished) this book so you wouldn’t have to! 🙅🏻‍♀️ Listen, the storyline had a lot of potential but the dialogue between characters was so awkward and unrealistic it was embarrassing to read. The best thing about this book was the cover!

[Lydia Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maria I loved your book. It reminded me of my very large family. I could relate very well. So funny, real and engrossing. It is always sunny in L.A., except it is often cloudy to partly cloudy with Alvarado's family. You will have to guess why the weather is so important to Oscar, the father. He is keeping secrets that could impact the family. I laughed and cried several times while reading this great fun filled book. I love reading about the lives of families and this one hit close to home.
This book follows this family as they deal with repeated crises, business, personal, familial and related to the ongoing drought. A must read. I think everyone can relate. Maria waiting for your next great book.










Set throughout the year 2016, this novel follows one family as they deal with repeated crises, business, personal, familial and related to the ongoing drought. Patriarch Oscar has become a zombie spouse, according to his wife Keila, who announces she wants a divorce. Grown daughters Claudia, Olivia and Patricia each are dealing with strife i their own marriages and hiding to from each other. Oscar has a secret he has kept from them all that worsens each day without rain. Through it all, they come together and strive to be better parents, siblings, daughters, spouses and people. Well developed characters and quick pace make this a good read.
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Ann
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June 10, 2021
There are some books that you read because you can't get enough and look forward to spending time with the story and characters. Then there are books that you want to read quickly so you can move on to a book you may actually like. This book was the later for me....in simple terms I didn't like this book (but I am stubborn enough that once I begin a book I have to read it until the bitter




end)I thought the story line was idiotic and the characters unlikeable, with no redeeming qualities.
I would say don't waste your time with this one

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A family drama saga for sure with divorces, secret business ventures, and a little weather.

The beginning of this book was confusing to me since there are so many characters and it took me awhile to sort them out. This book really jumps from persostoryline. In short fashion. Overall I liked

[CZD · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reads like a telenovela - every imaginable crisis occurs and every possible subject is discussed.
Depression
child drowning
kleptomania/shoplifting
Infidelity
Spousal abuse
Divorce / estrangement
Indigenous people's land/CA land grants
gentrification
IVF
Frozen embryo destruction
miscarriage
Mexican jewishness
Catholicism
Holocaust
Drought
Water rationing
Wildfires & evacuation
Floods
Rape
Horse Therapy
Consumer Abuse
lying/deception
Immigration - legal and illegal
Trump won - boo hoo hoo
Brain Tumor
NAFTA
LGBTQ+
Gender Fluidity
Theft
Harassment
Wildland- Urban interface
Anosmia
Loan Default
Waterwise Crops
Saving the world through no straws, ride sharing, toilet flushing, march participation, being vegan.

Sheesh!

[Abi · Rating 1 out of 5]

why did i read this it was so stupid

[Julie Foeltz Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hidden agenda

[Book Concierge · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*** (rounded up)

The Alvarado family has always been close-knit. But now the patriarch, Oscar, has retreated and seems to have lost all desire, content to obsessively watch the Weather Channel. His wife, Keila, has had it with Oscar’s moods and has instituted a “Crossed-Legs Strike,” and now at the weekly family dinner, she’s announced to their three adult daughters that their marriage is kaput.

This is a funny, engaging, endearing novel that looks at a year in the life of one affluent Mexican-American family. It starts with a near tragedy and the characters (and reader) hardly have time to recover from that event when yet another crisis looms. The girls have their own issues, and before long everyone in the family is spinning and bouncing from issue to issue, like balls in an out-of-balance pinball machine.

Unlike many popular BIPOC novels (and, I love them, too), this one does NOT focus on an immigrant story. No, the Alvarados have been in California since the King of Spain still ruled, and their family was given a land grant to help settle what was then a distant and mostly uninhabited land. And they’ve prospered over many generations.

It’s not really a novel about climate change, but the winds, drought and fires add more tension to the family’s internal strife, and ultimately help them focus on the things they CAN change, rather that what they have no control over. They still make bad decisions, and there is no HEA ending, but I was completely invested in these characters by the end, and I want more!

[Brittany · Rating 1 out of 5]

1/2 a star. I do not say this lightly….that was probably the worst book I have ever read. I don’t even know why I finished it. Dreadful characters. Dreadful story. Really awful.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Goodreads and Flatiron for this ARC. Rounding up to 3.5 stars.

I really like books about families and this one was no exception. L.A. Weather was not just about the weather but about a family of a Mexican/Jewish family who's choices in marriages were all wrong with almost the parents Keila and Oscar but definitely with Claudia (the oldest) and Gabriel, Felix and Olivia (who were the only ones who had kids), and Patricia (Pats) who had the most unconventional marriage for sure. The weather played a part in in with a secret that noone in the family knew about and now I know why Oscar was so obsessed with the weather. I can relate since I love weather-related things too.

I've never read a book where all three women got divorced in a matter of months or so it seems. One sister thought she was doing it to upstage the other (kiddingly of course). They all ended up living together in their parents house which to me worked out since it seems that they all were close. Then there was Lola, who was the girls nanny when they were growing up, who lived alone but then ended up in the house also taking care of Olivia's girls. There was a chapter or so that related to her and I think it was unnecessary but that's just my opinion.

There was of course the question of Olivia's frozen embryos left from after having her twins via IVF. I won't spoil it but I was sort of surprised!

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel was not one of Reese Witherspoon’s better picks. The Alvarados, Mexican immigrants, seem to have found the American dream, living in a nice house in California with plenty of money. The parents, Keila and Oscar, have three grown daughters. The story begins with a life or death crisis involving one of the daughter’s twin girls, and the tragedies go on from there. They include multiple divorces, affairs, life-threatening emergency surgery, one daughter’s son’s struggle with gender identity, Santa Ana winds, California wildfires, and so on. It was a real downer of a story. One bad thing after another happened.

And don’t get me started on the characters. They were all just awful. I didn’t connect with a single one. I didn’t like a single one. I get good characters have flaws, but they also have redeeming characteristics—are heros in some way. It was difficult to empathize with any of them due to their wealth, the lying, the stealing, the secrets, and the affairs among other things.

The endearing part of the book is how the family all comes together after going their separate ways, working together to rebuild what they end up losing. But for me it wasn’t enough to make up for all the awful things that happened in the book. I suppose the author’s message was that families need to stick together, but due to the number of divorces and affairs the message didn’t ring true.

[Nora Martinez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Es la historia de una familia latina, mexicana 🇲🇽. Los papás, Oscar 👨🏻‍🦳 y Kelia👩🏻‍🦳, papás de tres mujeres: Claudia 👩🏻, Olivia 👩🏼 y Patricia 👱🏼‍♀️, ya todas adultas y casada y algunas con sus propios hijos. En Los Ángeles ha sido un año sin lluvia 🌧, y eso tiene estresado a Oscar y de mucho drama familiar, accidentes y divorcios y operaciones y problemas económicos y vas viendo como casa quien lo trata de resolver a su manera.
Le traía muchas ganas y la verdad no me encantó. Se me hizo tedioso, los personajes sosos y sin profundidad, tanto que batallé para acordarme de quien era quien. Está corto pero se me hizo eterno 🙈, siento que la autora trató de usar sus raíces omexicanas 🇲🇽 y frases típicas y muuuuchas menciones de comidas para ganchar a cierta audiencia y para mi, no funcionó. Habla mucho del tema del clima en Los Ángeles, si ese es un tema que te resulta interesante.

[C · Rating 1 out of 5]

Do not recommend

I finished this book today. Zero stars. Saying that is a big deal for me. I like so many authors, all the genres, anything that takes me into a story. I've only DNF one book in my life. I considered making this the second but I'm too stubborn (and I paid full price). The author put in so many unnecessary lists of anything like she was researching and wanted to make sure she didn't leave out a single synonym or food or whatever the topic was that she was describing. Over explanations, long lists of foods that made me feel like I was reading a Mexican themed my fitness pal entry for a week, and bringing political views into the story in a small but backhanded way, made for some pretty boring writing. Also the characters suck.

[Sherri · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried multiple times to read this, but just could not finish it. I didn't care for the storyline, all of the characters just felt shallow and unlikeable, and I couldn't get invested in anyone's storyline because of that. It may just be a matter of tastes and this book just didn't mesh with my tastes.

[Katie Gehrand · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall, storyline was fine, I just think there were wayyy too many themes here. Climate change was a given based on the title and I liked that this was a theme throughout, but it felt like other events that were big were announced and then disappeared - Daniel/Dani wanting to be gender fluid, the stolen embryos implanted into Patricia, Keila cheating on her husband, Claudia’s tumor, and all 3 sisters getting divorced at once?? Like, what? All of these things happened so fast without much depth. Issue arises and the family all moves on together great. I need a little more drama here. I think it was the format of having something written for each day (or a few days). At first I thought this was interesting, but after some thought I would have preferred some of the unimportant content to be edited out and delve deeper into the actual issues surrounding the family.

[Kristen Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

LA is a character in and of itself in this family drama about three generations of Mexican-Americans who are all feeling isolated as they try to deal with their struggles secret from one another. Each person in the family knows that someone else is going through something more serious, so they all try to keep their struggles to themselves. When secrets start to come to light, they must decide if they will stay together as a family or go their separate ways. LA Weather is a beautiful story of resilience and the love between family members. Highly recommended for fellow lovers of family dramas and books with lots of topics to discuss!