Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

28 reviews

clarabooksit's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, Rape, Racism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Murder, Misogyny, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Gun violence, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, and Child death

Moderate: Antisemitism and Abandonment

veronicachp's review

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.75

I appreciate the author's dedication and talent and will probably try some of her other works, but this one was just not really for me. I skimmed the last 3 or 4 chapters, but didn't really properly read them because I figured if I wasn't engaged with and invested in the characters by the climax of the story I never would be. I haven't read much magical realism, but turns out I prefer my books more on the magical side, less on the realism. I definitely can see where she was inspired by Marquez' A Hundred Years of Solitude, but I found the family in this book harder to read about. 

The male lead, Esteban, is revealed to be a /bad/ man within the first 100 pages and a shallow summary of this book is him doing /bad/ things for almost 500 pages while everyone else just kind of shrugs and lets him get away with it. And I understand that it's meant to be a broad overarching story about him digging his own grave, but even in the climax, it's not Esteban who truly faces the consequences of his actions, but his poor granddaughter, Alba. His taking what happens to her so personally is just another way he assumes ownership of every single other character in the novel, particularly the female ones. They're reduced to hollow, often infantilized shells of people who float along seemingly indifferent to all the bad things he's done, silently bearing whatever punishment he chooses to award. I struggle to real stories where people could leave their abusive relatives and decaying homes but choose not to for reasons that are never really explained, and this story falls pretty solidly into those margins. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Animal death, Death, Rape, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Animal cruelty, Homophobia, and Vomit

brna's review

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Racism, Racial slurs, and Abortion

Moderate: Ableism and Homophobia

thelibraryofalexandra's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Domestic abuse, Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Sexism

Moderate: Pedophilia

amallard's review against another edition

dark funny informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I find it difficult to enjoy a book if I can't connect with a prominent character, and unfortunately that happened here - my favourite literally arrived on page 12 dead. While many of the others were mystical, funny, absurd, they weren't capitalised on. Few had agency. When Allende raised her characters so lovingly, it became frustrating to see them become instruments in a plot that ultimately followed Esteban Trueba. A scorner of magic, an epitome of toxic masculinity...I don't think most of us picked up the book to read about him.

I understand that, in a way, it had to happen. The androcentric culture of the time created natural limitations for Allende's women. Setting aside their magical influences for the ugly, political landscape was deliberate. But I wanted. I wanted strong women, even if their spheres of influence must be small. I wanted to see the magic do something.

The magic! Did nothing here! It moves the furniture, adds a charm to descriptions, but Clara never uses it. She spends half her time consulting with spirits, yet they don't affect the plot at all.

I didn't hate the book, though. The scale tips in favour of like over dislike. It was incredibly readable, the lines slipping away under the eye; I could put away a hundred pages in one sitting. It was fascinating to read such a well-informed depiction of Chilean culture and heritage. There were some really funny scenes. But I'm disappointed my affection for it couldn't grow into love, when it had such potential.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Torture, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Homophobia and Pedophilia

kdowli01's review

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Homophobia

bookishcori's review

emotional informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Homophobia, Racism, and Violence

timna's review

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book is weird, because you spend 90% of the time you're reading it hating it. It's the story of three women over three generations, and with each generation it gains a little more pace and a little more tension as the plot leads gradually to

the Chilean military coup

, which does mean that the first and part of the second generations are a little lagging--so about half the book. But by the end, the love between between people and families, and even more so, Allende's love for her country, becomes so clear that you can't help but love the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Torture

Moderate: Sexual content, Homophobia, Grief, and Racism

Minor: Vomit, Antisemitism, Animal death, and Ableism