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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
*3.75 stars
This is the story of artist Remedios Varo and her time during WWII and after. This story includes the use of tarot and mysticism - it's about finding Remedios herself, learning new things/life lessons, and relationships.
I greatly enjoyed this book. I LOVE a good historical fiction that has me googling characters to see what they looked like and to learn more about them in general. I went down a Remedios Varo (and characters) rabbit hole that lead to hours of googling.
This book was very unique in the way the story was told. Each chapter featured a tarot card that compared with a person in Remedio's life. Which also leads me to some of my issues with the book...
The first part of each chapter was 3rd person and about Remedios. Then the tarot card was shown, introducing the character in the next part of the chapter, which was then in first person. I was not a fan of the switch between 3rd and 1st person over and over.
The book also had odd pacing. The first half took place over the span of WWII. The second half took place after and till the end of Remedios' life. I found I would get lost when it felt like no time had passed and the next sentence mentioned it was 10 years later. And then even later after that.
Overall, I loved the tarot included within the book and the mysticism. It has me wanting to pull my own tarot deck back out. I would definitely recommend this read to anyone with a love of WWII.
Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for an advance e-copy of this book.
This is the story of artist Remedios Varo and her time during WWII and after. This story includes the use of tarot and mysticism - it's about finding Remedios herself, learning new things/life lessons, and relationships.
I greatly enjoyed this book. I LOVE a good historical fiction that has me googling characters to see what they looked like and to learn more about them in general. I went down a Remedios Varo (and characters) rabbit hole that lead to hours of googling.
This book was very unique in the way the story was told. Each chapter featured a tarot card that compared with a person in Remedio's life. Which also leads me to some of my issues with the book...
The first part of each chapter was 3rd person and about Remedios. Then the tarot card was shown, introducing the character in the next part of the chapter, which was then in first person. I was not a fan of the switch between 3rd and 1st person over and over.
The book also had odd pacing. The first half took place over the span of WWII. The second half took place after and till the end of Remedios' life. I found I would get lost when it felt like no time had passed and the next sentence mentioned it was 10 years later. And then even later after that.
Overall, I loved the tarot included within the book and the mysticism. It has me wanting to pull my own tarot deck back out. I would definitely recommend this read to anyone with a love of WWII.
Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for an advance e-copy of this book.
Audiobook-I liked that it was a fictional telling of a real story and I liked the tarot theme that structured the book, but the different voices in the audiobook were too much and made it confusing.
This book is so aligned with my interests- Tarot, Surrealist artists, historical fiction, Mexico City, feminism. It centers a female friendship rather than marriages. I wish I could read it again for the first time!
I received an ARC but that does not reflect my views.
I am not going to give this book a star rating, because it is a DNF for me.
That said, it is a beautiful story and based on that I would give it a 3.75 star rating.
For me it was too hard to follow the storyline. I took me until half of the book to figure out the pattern of who was telling their story or who they were telling the story of and I found myself often lost and rereading to catch up. For that reason alone, I was unable to finish the book. I do plan to pass my copy along to a friend who I know will just love it.
I am not going to give this book a star rating, because it is a DNF for me.
That said, it is a beautiful story and based on that I would give it a 3.75 star rating.
For me it was too hard to follow the storyline. I took me until half of the book to figure out the pattern of who was telling their story or who they were telling the story of and I found myself often lost and rereading to catch up. For that reason alone, I was unable to finish the book. I do plan to pass my copy along to a friend who I know will just love it.
Just not my thing I guess.
I enjoyed reading more about this artist on Google then reading this book. I guess it gave me that though
I enjoyed reading more about this artist on Google then reading this book. I guess it gave me that though
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Oh boy. Five stars for sure.
As a lifelong Tarot practitioner and professional, I loved this book.
As a supporter of women in the arts, I loved this book.
As someone who has been fascinated by (and yet remains rather ignorant about) Surrealism, I loved this book.
And as a fan of historically grounded fiction, I loved this book .
So yeah, this ticked SOOO many boxes. I was not only impressed that Ms. McMillan treated the Tarot (as well as other kinds of mysticism and magical practices) with honor and proficiency, but my bigger take-away was her overarching encouragement for embracing one's own creativity and independence. Plus the importance of women's support and encouragement for each other.
Left me thinking a LOT about how important our visions and voices are and how much the world needs us.
Also very much relished the cameos from Pablo Casals, Peggy Guggenheim, and Frida Kahlo.
Highly recommended.
As a lifelong Tarot practitioner and professional, I loved this book.
As a supporter of women in the arts, I loved this book.
As someone who has been fascinated by (and yet remains rather ignorant about) Surrealism, I loved this book.
And as a fan of historically grounded fiction, I loved this book .
So yeah, this ticked SOOO many boxes. I was not only impressed that Ms. McMillan treated the Tarot (as well as other kinds of mysticism and magical practices) with honor and proficiency, but my bigger take-away was her overarching encouragement for embracing one's own creativity and independence. Plus the importance of women's support and encouragement for each other.
Left me thinking a LOT about how important our visions and voices are and how much the world needs us.
Also very much relished the cameos from Pablo Casals, Peggy Guggenheim, and Frida Kahlo.
Highly recommended.
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
As an artist with a love for tarot/crystals, this was the easiest and best historical fiction to read. When a new character was introduced with just a partial name, I was excited already knowing who they were and picturing their body of work. The differing POVs were extremely unique and offered greater insight to the time, the art, and their associated tarot card.