We've got your back. With the Tough-O-Meter, you'll know whether to bring extra layers or Swiss army knives as you summit the literary mountain. (10 = Toughest)
(5) Tree Line
If you know Spanish, you're golden, but if not you might get tripped up on some of the italics in the novel. But never fear. Just look at an online dictionary if you're curious or roll with it and you'll figure it out with context clues.
The same goes for the historical context. Alvarez doesn't always stop the action and give you a social studies lesson, and you might have to do a little outside research of your own to get the full scope of Dominican history in the Trujillo era. (You can always trust your buddies at Shmoop to point you in the right direction, of course.)
But we're willing to bet that you'll be too caught up in the (historically accurate) action to get bogged down by a few rogue Spanish phrases or allusions to political events. Viva la revolución.