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justabridge's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I also found the story quite confused - did it want to be Daniel’s story? Or did it want to be Julian Carax’s? The book was trying to be both separately instead of blending the two, and so you ended up with huge chunks of exposition (sometimes 30-50 pages (ish) at a time), and it didn’t really feel like the characters had to work for the mystery or the payoff.
What really made this hard to enjoy for me though, was the relentless violence and constant oversexualisation of women. It was all the time, in pretty much every chapter, and felt so unnecessary. I think the only woman whose breasts and general sexual allure weren’t discussed in detail was Daniel’s mother, and she was dead prior to the book starting. And the casual beatings, the sexism, the slut-shaming, and other much heavier violence sprinkled throughout...it really didn’t feel like the female characters in this were allowed to be people, and it completely alienated and exhausted me while I was reading. Perhaps to some extent the attitudes were ‘historically accurate’, but I think that parameter was hit and bulldozed through very early on.
It is a shame, because the writing style in this was beautiful, the descriptions of Barcelona were so evocative, and I loved the setting of the Cemetery or Forgotten books. These things we just overshadowed by everything else.
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Police brutality, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Body horror, and Homophobia
Minor: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, and Suicide attempt
texassizedreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Confinement
Minor: Ableism, Abortion, Sexual assault, Sexism, Pregnancy, Torture, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Murder, Homophobia, Hate crime, and Child death
sawshiwen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
i knew by the first 100 pages that i would enjoy this book, and i did, mostly. however, the way carlos writes women, and the men in this book are all dog shit, literally except Daniel, Fermin and his dad. The writing is so captivating and beautiful, so many quotes i want to remember forever. One major flaw in this book is the ending. Lol Nuria be explaining everything through a letter?? a superrrr long letter? i would rather see it myself and not be told.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Murder, Miscarriage, Incest, Grief, Emotional abuse, Child death, and Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Incest
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
alyse's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Graphic: Police brutality, Blood, Bullying, Death, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Miscarriage, and Child death
gwynsvan's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Violence
Moderate: Grief and Sexual content
Minor: Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Miscarriage, and Torture
juph's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Blood, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Infertility, Incest, Homophobia, Excrement, Domestic abuse, Death, Child death, Child abuse, and Bullying
jashanac's review against another edition
5.0
I love this book. Despite it containing several elements that I tend not to like. Primarily: the melodrama of it all.
I often find melodramatic, navel-gazing stories where the characters are all a bit morose and despairing VERY unenjoyable. And there's a decent amount of that in this story. However, there is also a particular light-heartedness and sense of humor to it all, which I think is what made me love it so much. That blend of serious, despairing, what-is-the-meaning-of-it-all-and-are-we-all-just-doomed-to-be-tragic moments and the optimism, humor, and tongue-in-cheek moments just really hit for me. Fermin de Torres is by far my favorite character, but Daniel is number two. Fermin is absolutely HILARIOUS.
Also, the prose. I wish I could read Spanish completely fluently, because I can only imagine how it is in the original language. But even in the English translation, the prose is wonderful. I was ENGROSSED in this book.
It might help that I did a summer study abroad program in Barcelona back in college, so re-reading this just made me ACHE for Barcelona. I felt like I was there again, and recognized the atmosphere of the various streets and parts of the city... it was just beautifully described, all the way around.
I also think that I enjoyed it so much because while, yes, it's quite a tragic, gothic, morose story... there's so much mystery involved and you're watching it all unfold and all of the various plot twists (which I had completely forgotten about!) made it so entertaining as well as lush and captivating.
Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Pregnancy
Minor: War