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chiara_dose's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Animal death, Abortion, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Car accident, and Excrement
notallbooks_mp's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Colonisation, Death, Animal death, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Ableism, Classism, Drug abuse, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Incest, Mass/school shootings, Abortion, Infidelity, and Gaslighting
karydiazc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This is the first book I've read of Isabel Allende and I think these words will stay with me for a long time.
The book starts comically, with fun stories about the family, with sad and almos cruel things woven in between. To be honest I had a really hard time reading the book because those first chapters seemed to go really slow and nothing seemed to be really happening, however things started to move ahead and it started to get interesting.
I must say I loved almos every character (with obvious exceptions) and found the family history and generations to be quite interesting.
I've never really been interested in politics so when that part of the books started I wasn't sure what to expect, but characters such as Clara, Blanca and Alba made it worth reading along.
Now, the last few chapters were so hard to read. Not because they were boring or anything like that, but because of how crude and realistic they were. It's so hard to think that Latin America has been going through that for many many years and along several countries. Even now, it feels kind of close, even though nothing like that is happening apenly in my country (and hopefully won't happen, at least any time soon)
As I said on the beginning, this book was wonderful to read despite everything, however I would recommend anyone who wants to get into it to first read the trigger warnings, since there are a lot and some are very graphic, specially towards those final chapters.
Graphic: Abortion, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Misogyny, Violence, War, Grief, Police brutality, and Sexism
Moderate: Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual violence, Blood, Classism, Death, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Violence, Sexism, Abandonment, Abortion, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Animal death, Excrement, Gun violence, War, Classism, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, and Police brutality
chaoticnostalgia's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Classism, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, Blood, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Sexism, Sexual assault, Animal death, Grief, Sexual content, Death, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Racism, Rape, Abortion, Alcohol, Car accident, Chronic illness, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Excrement, and War
Minor: Drug use and Pregnancy
ryann_400's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Torture, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Blood, War, Violence, Rape, Police brutality, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Gun violence, Incest, Blood, Car accident, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Miscarriage, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship
williamsdebbied's review
3.0
Moderate: Rape and Torture
Minor: Excrement
mirireads'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
4.75
Graphic: Torture and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Physical abuse, Misogyny, Death, Alcohol, Animal death, Sexual content, Rape, Racism, Confinement, Murder, Abortion, Car accident, Classism, Violence, Racial slurs, and Police brutality
Minor: Animal cruelty, Blood, Drug use, Excrement, Death of parent, Medical content, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Pedophilia
cozylifewithabby's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Car accident, Death, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Gore, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Abandonment, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, War, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Police brutality, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Medical content, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, and Homophobia
chlorentine's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
That history is going on in the background of a simple family dynamic, but the writing and the rich imagery throughout keeps you engaged until the politics come into play in the final act. I think the Del Valle/Trueba family is best summarized in the moment Clara tells Alba that all families have at least one member infected with madness, meanwhile their family has the madness spread out evenly amongst them all. Every striking image from the first chapter returns by the end, and so much has happened between the first and last chapter that you feel nostalgia for kinder times alongside the characters. Truly haunting.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Excrement, Death, Confinement, Colonisation, Classism, Torture, Violence, War, Child abuse, and Abortion
Moderate: Car accident, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Police brutality
Minor: Ableism
perseffable's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, War, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death of parent, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Kidnapping, and Murder