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cass_lit's review against another edition
4.0
For all of my complaints, however, I was still impressed by this. I loved the writing style, the discussions on books and what they mean to each person, and the stories within stories within stories. After the first few chapters, I wondered how everything would come together without it feeling almost too fantastical. But it did. And the last ~10% or so when everything came out / came together? I literally gasped at 👀that👀 reveal.
Also — the audiobook is great! There are fun little interludes.
Graphic: Violence and Police brutality
Moderate: Incest, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Rape, Abortion, Bullying, and Hate crime
Minor: Transphobia, Death of parent, and Homophobia
mariegatou's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Moderate: Pregnancy, Police brutality, War, Misogyny, Sexism, Transphobia, Violence, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Sexual violence, Excrement, Death, Lesbophobia, Vomit, Confinement, Homophobia, Incest, and Death of parent
frenandjen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Biphobia, Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Stalking, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Transphobia, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Torture, Body shaming, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Police brutality, and Pregnancy
kcbbooks0125's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Physical abuse, Chronic illness, War, Violence, Transphobia, Torture, Police brutality, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Gun violence, Death of parent, Sexism, Murder, Lesbophobia, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Excrement, and Cursing
annahelle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Physical abuse
Moderate: Incest, Transphobia, and Homophobia
Minor: Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Police brutality, Pedophilia, and Sexual violence
kinga1204's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Gun violence, Incest, Murder, Police brutality, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Transphobia
panatheart's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Child death, Transphobia, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, and Incest
half_bloodreader's review against another edition
🇬🇧 Written in the 1st person, past tense. Set in the 1st half of the 20th century, Franco's regime
Intrigue, mystery, books, Barcelona. What's there not to like? Or so I thought, but I ended with mixed feelings.
It's historical fiction. There are scenes that reflect the chauvinist times, things that happen to women that are part of plot points.
Except, there's language & violence used against women that doesn't add anything to the story, so it seems the author is taking pleasure out of tormenting women.
A male character is physically & s exually assaulted, yet it's told in a ridiculous tone. I was intrigued, which is why I kept reading, but I can't ignore these recurring themes.
Mc instantly falls in love with the women he's attracted to, no importance given to knowing them. These are all enigmatic, inscrutable, meaning they are as deep as a leaf.
Otherwise, they are a reason for ridicule.
Beware of Stereotype: blind person asks to touch strangers' faces 🙄
Mystery is almost entirely revealed in a letter conveniently left to the mc.
Writing plays with the frontier between beautiful & pretentious to the point of eyeroll.
🇵🇹 Escrito na 1ª pessoa, passado. Situado na 1ª metade do Séc. XX, Espanha Franquista
Intriga, mistério, livros, Barcelona. O que há para não gostar? Pensei eu, mas no fim fiquei dividida.
É ficção histórica. Há cenas que refletem os tempos machistas, coisas que acontecem a mulheres que fazem parte da trama.
Excepto que há linguagem e violência usadas contra mulheres que não acrescentam nada à história, parece que o autor tirou prazer de atormentar mulheres.
Um personagem masculino é agredido física & sexualmente, sendo tal contado em tom jocoso. Estava intrigada, por isso persisti, mas não posso simplesmente ignorar estes tópicos recorrentes.
Cuidado com Estereótipo: pessoa cega pede para tocar na cara de estranhos 🙄
Protagonista apaixona-se instantaneamente pelas mulheres que lhe são atraentes, e pouca importa conhecê-las. Essas são todas enigmáticas, imperscrutáveis, ou seja têm a profundidade de uma folha.
De contrário, são motivo de ridículo.
Mistério é revelado quase todo numa carta convenientemente deixada ao protagonista.
A escrita brinca com a fronteira entre bela e pretensiosa a ponto de rolar os olhos.
Graphic: Homophobia and Transphobia
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Torture
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual violence
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