Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Violeta by Isabel Allende

17 reviews

internationalreads's review

medium-paced

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Classism, Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Child death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infertility, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, War, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Violence

paulaortuno's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Classism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Gore

sib_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Murder, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Addiction, Classism, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Grief, Infidelity, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, and War

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Dementia, Gun violence, Infertility, Child abuse, Confinement, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Rape

Minor: Abortion and Eating disorder

lizclark81's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

Disappointed there wasn't more character development. The writing was good but it felt more like a synopsis of the events of a novel than a finished novel itself. I don't feel like I really knew any of the characters to be moved by what happened to them, least of all Violeta herself. Mostly archetypes, the people in her life all seemed to have a very unoriginal role to fill: the captivating scoundrel lover; the trainwreck addict daughter; the spoiled grandson. I don't feel like this book really broke any new ground, which it could have if it had fleshed out its characters more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Moderate: Classism, Violence, Physical abuse, and Colonisation

Minor: War, Drug abuse, Addiction, Sexual content, and Death

kiandrareadsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide, and Classism

Moderate: Dementia, Addiction, Cancer, Drug abuse, Genocide, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

whitedaylilies's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

Violeta is definitely my favourite of Allende’s books I’ve read so far. There beautiful and sad symmetry to being born at the height of the Spanish Flu Pandemic and dying during the Corona virus pandemic. Violeta’s 100 year life was one of family and turmoils and tragedy and love! I was hooked from the start and ended with tears in my eyes. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Addiction, Classism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexism, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Abortion and Cancer

booksonadventures's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

 
Violeta follows the 100-year life of the titular woman through a letter she is writing to her grandson, Camilo. From the heels of the Spanish Flu to the beginning stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Violeta's life spans a period of extraordinary historical events and upheaval.

There's no denying that Allende is a storyteller, and reading her work conjures the exact feeling of listening to my grandmother share her life story, down to the dry humor and matter-of-fact approach to historical events. While I can respect this style, much of this book fell flat in its execution. Overall, Violeta lacked emotional depth and left me grasping for any sort of connection to her character or her life.

Violeta dryly recounts everything from her father's death to her sexual escapades throughout the course of the novel, but never gives me a reason to care about her story. The novel struggled to grab my attention until nearly Chapter 20, when she began to outline the events leading up to the 1973 military coup and following Pinochet dictatorship. Even here, these events primarily hooked me due to my prior reading in the time period, because Allende moves quickly through details and declines the opportunity to expand on topics like Operation Condor and Colonia Dignidad (that could truthfully be entire books on their own).

Ultimately, Violeta does both too much and not enough, with a 100-year storyline that lacks the central themes and magical realism that make Allende's other works memorable. There are a few notable ways Allende has grown as a writer (with more respectful references to difference issues of class and race), but in the end, this book lacks heart. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Murder, Police brutality, Child death, Classism, Drug use, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Sexual assault