Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova

11 reviews

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

thedambookshelf's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Murder, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Self harm, Sexual content, and Fire/Fire injury

ericageorge91's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious reflective 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

“This book missed the mark for me.” 

Arrest me. Take me to book jail because I was clearly on one during my first read 😅 

“I thought that this ‘inheritance’ was going to be a thorough discussion of generational trauma mixed with magical realism but it felt lacking.” 

The discussion was there! The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina is a story filled with magic told in dual timelines. One follows the Montoya matriarch, Orquídea, a woman that goes to great lengths to escape a past so painful that she never speaks of it. The present timeline opens with an invitation to her remaining family to return to their home in Four Rivers to witness her death. We closely follow her grandchildren, Marimar, Rey, and Tatinelly, and her great-grandchild, Rhiannon. After tragedy strikes, they embark on a journey to uncover their family’s secrets. This would prove to be incredibly challenging because, like the ceiba tree she turned into, Orquídea was stoic and silent throughout their lives. 

The generational trauma was there! How did I not process the parallels of how Isabella’s parents treatment of her affected how she mothered Orquídea in the same way that Orquídea’s upbringing with Isabella informed how she treated her kids and grandkids? Isabella was shamed for having a child out of wedlock, which led to her projecting those insecurities onto Orquídea throughout her childhood. This ultimately pushed Orquídea to run away from home. In the same vein, Orquídea heard nasty insults growing up from her former family. This contributed to the punishing and impenetrable silence she wielded on her descendants that consequently pushed them away. 

“We didn’t get to know any of Orquídea’s children in depth, so if this was supposed to speak on generational trauma, skipping whole branches of the family tree made that theme feel disjointed and incomplete.” 

This point is still true, but Orquídea had such a big family, that readers would have been bogged down by the weight of them all. We do get to see glimpses of her children’s relationship with her: Félix’s role as peacemaker, Caleb’s unwavering acceptance, and Enrique’s explosive anger and resentment to name a few. Others were so fed up with their matriarch’s ways, that they swore to never come back home. Do I still wish we got a POV for at least one of the aunts or uncles? Yes, but the story still feels complete without it. 

If you wanted to read a book that gave Encanto vibes only for a mature audience? Definitely check this book out! It wasn’t a tear jerker for me, but it still brought me joy 😌

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[Original Review: 3.25⭐️] This book missed the mark for me. I thought that this “inheritance” was going to be a thorough discussion of generational trauma mixed with magical realism, but it felt lacking. We were introduced to so many people in the Montoya family and didn’t get to know any of them beyond a surface level save for Orquídea, three of her grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. We didn’t get to know any of Orquídea’s children in depth, so if this was supposed to speak on generational trauma, skipping whole branches of the family tree made that theme feel disjointed and incomplete. I might try a reread in the future to see if I like it more with time.

TW: Homophobia (brief), child abuse, emotional neglect, toxic relationship, sexual content, body horror, death, murder, violence, infidelity

Rep: Latinx (Ecuadorian) characters, gay main character

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, and Murder

Minor: Homophobia

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

javafenn's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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

5.0

I want to give this a score of infinite. I have never and will never read a book that delighted me as much as this one. It gave off a Silvia Moreno-Garcia vibe mixed with Encanto but only if Encanto didn’t have the jovial numbers by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The twist was stunning and sad and the final two chapters left me in tears because it was over but I immediately wanted to close the book and start it over again. I have spent my life running from my Montoya last name but, for the first time ever, I feel like embracing it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Racism, Child death, Murder, Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Infidelity

Minor: Violence and Torture

foreverinastory's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.0

I loved this!

Rep: Mainly Ecuadorian and Ecuadorian-American cast of characters. Two cishet female MCs, one gay male MC.

CWs: Abandonment, alcohol consumption, blood, child death, death, death of parent, emotional abuse, fire, grief, infidelity, pregnancy, sexism, sexual content, toxic relationship, violence, murder. Moderate: injury/injury detail, misogyny, stalking, body horror, gaslighting, child abuse, racism/colorism. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Stalking, Body horror, Gaslighting, Child abuse, and Racism

stevie's review

emotional 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Sexism, Racism, Murder, Kidnapping, and Confinement

faithe_mollett's review

adventurous dark mysterious reflective 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

5.0

If you liked Disney's Encanto, you'll like this book. 
It's generational and there's magic! A magic house, a powerful matriarch who sacrificed to keep her magic and her family safe. The family tree included in the book was good, it was helpful to have my own, simplified version though. 

Just like many of the magical realism books I have read, once the actions starts it doesn't stop until the books over. It's like a really succesful scavenger hunt, go to point A for the next clue at point B for the next clue at point C, etc etc. 

Magical realism has its roots in Latin American literature, and this novel is a wonderful addition. I forget how much I love this genre! Can't wait to read more from this author! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Gore, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Violence

There's a family tree in the front of the book, but its hard to look at on an ereader that doesn't allow you to zoom. I found the fam tree online easily enough, and made my own simplified one to reference until I got to know the family a bit better.

mamaquiereleer's review

emotional mysterious 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: Child abuse, Infidelity, Murder, Child death, Death, and Death of parent

killerpancake's review

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Child abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, Colonisation, and Blood