Reviews tagging 'Classism'

The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova

5 reviews

raptorq's review

adventurous emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Blood, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Pregnancy and Child death

beldaran1224's review

emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book is Encanto for grown-ups. I mean that in the best possible way. Like Encanto, it centers around a multi-generational family, an enchanted house and the way the powerful matriarch's past has shaped the lives of everyone else. Yeah, it is for grown folk. There's some rather explicit sex in the novel.

The story is told in two timelines. The past is told through Oriquídea's perspective, beginning in her early years and progressing closer to the present. The present is told through 3 different perspectives, all Orquídea's grandchildren.

The plot is essentially a mystery. Who is Orquídea? How did the home and her power come to be? Who or what is haunting her? The present timeline uncovers this as the grandchildren finally get to know their grandmother, in ways they never could when she was alive. The timeline from the past grounds their discoveries, adds context, makes her real.

It is an altogether excellent book, with a lot to say about family and about trauma.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse, Classism, and Colonisation

madmantha's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Absolutely loved this book. I highly recommend seeing if your local library has the audiobook as well. 

I’ve now reread it multiple times and enjoy it more and more each reading. It’s such a poetic and circular story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Abandonment, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Stalking, and Body horror

Moderate: Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Sexism, and Sexual content

Minor: Animal death, Car accident, Genocide, Outing, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Ableism, Classism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Deadnaming, Deportation, Gun violence, Self harm, Stalking, Terminal illness, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Racism, Religious bigotry, Incest, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Cultural appropriation, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Child death, and Emotional abuse

leannanecdote's review

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child death, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Stalking, Violence, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Drug use, and Cursing

jessgreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• 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

4.5

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨

Title: The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina

Author: Zoraida Córdova

Genre: Fantasy / Magical Realism

Setting: Guyaquil, Ecuador & Four Rivers, Indiana

Month Read: May 2022

Book Type: Hardcover

Publication: 2021

Publisher: Atria Books  

Pages: 324

*Book of the Month Selection 

TRIGGER WARNING- 

Death / Grief / Sexual Content / Infidelity 

"But here, in her family's home, she was river and salt and that same sea found her. She was the mouth of an ancient god who would swallow the world. She was an ocean of stories, memories, thousands of little moments that made up her whole being."

No Spoiler Summary (from Goodreads):

The Montoyas are used to a life without explanations. They know better than to ask why the pantry never seems to run low or empty, or why their matriarch won’t ever leave their home in Four Rivers—even for graduations, weddings, or baptism. But when Orquídea Divina invites them to her funeral and to come and collect their inheritance, they hope to learn the secrets that she has held onto so tightly their whole lives. Instead, Orquídea is transformed, leaving them with more questions than answers. Seven years later, her gifts have manifested in different ways for Marimar, Rey, and Tatinelly’s daughter, Rhiannon, granting them unexpected blessings. But soon, a hidden figure begins to tear through their family tree, picking them off one by one as it seeks to destroy Orquídea’s line. Determined to save what’s left of their family and uncover the truth behind their inheritance, the four descendants travel to Ecuador—to the place where Orquídea buried her secrets and broken promises and never looked backed.

Alternating between Orquídea’s past and her descendants’ present, The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina is an enchanting novel about what we knowingly and unknowingly inherit from our ancestors, the ties that bind, and reclaiming your power.

(I tried to get a photo of Casita, but this was as close as I could get...)

Review:

I am so upset with myself that I got too busy last September and have let this book sit on a shelf for several months when I could have been loving it this entire time. I was unprepared for how much I would fall in love with the Montoya family, and how perfect this book was to start reading on a gorgeous spring day. I was instantly transported to their house in Four Rivers, and also transported right to Equador several decades ago. The writing was so beautiful it was hard not to see the beauty described in your head. This book is perfect for a movie or tv show.

A book filled with strong female characters is totally my jam, and I couldn't be more thrilled about how hardcore this cast was. I also loved the LGBTQIA+ rep, and how cool the family was about everything. I was expecting it to turn into a weird subplot, but everyone was just super accepting and supportive and it was really nice. 

If you're a fan of magical realism, split narratives (and time periods), and a big multi-generational tale with just the right amount of mystery- this book is for YOU. I wish I could read this again for the first time, I truly do. What a fun, enjoyable story. There is a lot of sadness woven in, but never so much that it overtakes you. 

"When she’d met Orquidea Montoya, she saw a whisper of a girl who wanted to become a scream."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Infidelity, Sexual content, Grief, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Classism, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Fire/Fire injury