Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova

39 reviews

mels_reading_log's review

adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

I’m in love with the Montoya family this book filled with secrets, mystical happenings and one huge crazy family!! The story follows the offspring of Orquidea Divina Montoya after her death, as they try to figure out the truth behind her secretive past and how it is still out to get them.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Child death, Confinement, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Grief, Infidelity, and Pregnancy

Minor: Racism and Sexual content

ailiscr32's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Child death, Pregnancy, Racism, Violence, Abandonment, Homophobia, Death, and Death of parent

marissasa's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

This book is a wonder of a generational family story filled with magic and love. I really enjoyed the alternating timelines and perspectives which built the story up from present day and slowly revealed more about Orquidea's past and why her family is the way it is now. The writing was stunning especially when it highlighted the magical realism of miracles like

flowers blooming from skin, vines rising from the earth, a skeleton smoking a cigarette, and a door at the bottom of a lake.

I was immersed in this book and its main characters, although I do wish the book was a bit longer to give more attention and development to some of its side characters as well. The themes of generational trauma and the ties that run deeper than blood that bind us to our families were really well explored and I loved seeing the cousins protect each other without a second thought.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Infidelity, Abandonment, Child death, Confinement, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Death, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

issamay's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Death of parent, Body horror, Pregnancy, and Grief

Moderate: Bullying, Violence, Sexual content, and Xenophobia

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

moniipeters's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Blood, Abandonment, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, and Sexual content

nozycozy's review

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

RTC

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Child death, Confinement, Death, Cursing, and Grief

literatebird's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Death, Grief, and Infidelity

chasingpages1's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Abandonment

Moderate: Confinement and Infidelity

Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Racism, Self harm, and Stalking

yliana's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.5

I loved this book. it felt like a warm hug. the way you can see how much love the author has for her birthplace of Guayaquil through her descriptions of it is one of the best things I've read all year.
I wasn't expecting the story to be told by jumping from past and present, character to character. the different perspectives we see don't have consistently throughout the whole story and some characters only have their pov one time, which I actually really loved.

when tatinelly passed away and we got to see her final thoughts was so impactful. her realization that she didn't need to be extraordinary to be loved and she didn't need to leave a mark on the world as long as she positively influenced the people she loves was just T-T. I also loved how we got to see thoughts from bolívar even though he's a stupid son of a bitch. I fucking hated him and even though I was so mad at orquídea for not leaving him, I still felt for her.

something that I love about latine stories is that they always center family. it feels so familiar, the way that there is just so much love and prioritization of family, despite me not really identifying with the love-hate relationships since my mom was the one who broke the cycle with us.
I'm really excited to look up the Pinterest board that the author made for this book haha. it's going to be so beautiful and vibrant. ugh I just loved everything about this book, except

the reveal about marimar's dad. I think it ties everything together perfectly, obviously, but I was just underwhelmed with their reunion. at the same time though, I understand it because at the end of the day he was a fucking star and she had already lived her life without him and the family that she was surrounded with was fulfilling enough. still, I thought she would've just had more emotion towards him in general, whether that be anger, sadness, or whatever. but again, I get it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Death of parent