Reviews

Slash and Burn by Claudia Hernández

Only show reviews with written explanations

lllem00n's review

challenging emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers. scarred in war, protected in ambiguity. an account of the civil war and it's aftermath in el salvador. this is a feat, if i had to muddle through a bit confused by the pronouns (characters were referred to only by their relations to eachother, not by name), but then, obscurity was the point, their relation to the collective their qualifiers. Slash and Burn by Claudia Hernández and translated by Julia Sanchez.

hkas's review

Go to review page

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.25

ranjanireviewsreads's review against another edition

Go to review page

Thank you to Edelweiss ++ for the copy in exchange for an honest review!
DISCLAIMER: I have read the English translation and my opinions are based purely on this version.

When I downloaded this book I thought, "a multi-generational war story?! sign me up!"
And you know what, this novel had that. It had a lot more, not all of which is good to have.

My biggest problem with this novel is the lack of names. Maybe in the original Spanish, this novel is easier to read (as, if I'm correct, Spanish doesn't use as many pronouns as English does) but in English, this novel is a nightmare to read.

That is after the first 8-ish% of the novel where sentences are longer than my academic ramblings. If you're looking for a novel with the most notorious run-on sentences, check this one out.

I understand that this novel wants to address the anonymity of war. War doesn't discriminate in who it hurts or kills; it still doesn't mean I was able to read it.

I'll be honest, I have no idea what the story is. I could not tell you what happened past 15%. I was just trying to keep the many female characters (all referred to as "she") straight in my head. You're going to reach a point around 13% where you're going to read 20 "shes" in a single sentence and I guarantee you, your brain is going to shut down.

There are other novels out there with the same concept but done better.