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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
This book should have big flashing lights for trigger warnings. There were on-page scenes that I hope to never read again.
Otherwise, it's a story of how cycles of abuse (by terrible men) and cultural differences ruin generations. It wasn't the most depressing book I've ever read, but it ranks very highly up there. The language is beautiful, but I don't know who I would ever recommend this to in good conscience.
Otherwise, it's a story of how cycles of abuse (by terrible men) and cultural differences ruin generations. It wasn't the most depressing book I've ever read, but it ranks very highly up there. The language is beautiful, but I don't know who I would ever recommend this to in good conscience.
Having two Italian grandparents who grew up at the same time and place as the main character, I wanted to love this book more. I think it had an interesting storyline but many parts dragged on.
This book only got better as I read it. It is sprawling, heartbreaking, and quick witted. I loved Grames' style of writing and the whole premise of this book.
The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna follows the life of Stella Fortuna and her family through years of near-death experiences, happiness, sadness and not being able to reach your full potential. This is a book about family and hard times, what people will do to survive and how they fight to get what they need, and how sometimes the sacrifices they make are overlooked by others.
Stella is the second Stella, as her namesake died at the age of three, although this doesn’t mean that Stella is overshadowed by the original Stella. The book is told as several personal stories that recount the incidents that lead to the many deaths of Stella. The book starts in rural Italy before World War II. Stella’s family life is hard, but they are free to live life the way they want to. There are a number of superstitions around Stella and how she may be cursed. I don’t want to list the ways that she escapes death, or what happens as that would ruin the book, but each story has a hint of what could either be human negligence or supernatural hindrance.
Stella wants more out of life, she doesn’t want to get married and have babies like the other girls in her village. With the return of her father, she feels more and more threatened and removed from the life she had before his return. When her father forces her family to leave everything they know to come to America and live as a family, everything changes for Stella, her mother and sister, as there are more rules, less freedom and a language that she will need to learn if she wants to get ahead which is a massive culture shock for them all.
Stella is the second Stella, as her namesake died at the age of three, although this doesn’t mean that Stella is overshadowed by the original Stella. The book is told as several personal stories that recount the incidents that lead to the many deaths of Stella. The book starts in rural Italy before World War II. Stella’s family life is hard, but they are free to live life the way they want to. There are a number of superstitions around Stella and how she may be cursed. I don’t want to list the ways that she escapes death, or what happens as that would ruin the book, but each story has a hint of what could either be human negligence or supernatural hindrance.
Stella wants more out of life, she doesn’t want to get married and have babies like the other girls in her village. With the return of her father, she feels more and more threatened and removed from the life she had before his return. When her father forces her family to leave everything they know to come to America and live as a family, everything changes for Stella, her mother and sister, as there are more rules, less freedom and a language that she will need to learn if she wants to get ahead which is a massive culture shock for them all.
I thought this was going to be sort of a magical-realism story (an Italian-American Alice Hoffman enchantment maybe), but it's really just an icky family scandal, tediously written.
A tour de force. It's rare for me to inhale a book in one day-long sitting, but this one did not allow anything less than that.
An interesting story about the Fortuna family, who eventually find themselves in America before the Second World War. The beginning of the book started off strong for me—reading about the main character’s, Stella, near-death experiences in Italy both left me in awe and made me laugh. As the story progressed, however, I was struck with the weight of some of the situations characters were in. Overall a good read.
My go-to genre: an epic, lifelong story of struggle, survival and living. Bonus points for immigration themes. I loved this way more than I thought I would. Stella Fortuna made me cry, made me laugh, made me want to kill certain characters. This book follows 100 years of Stella’s life, a lot of it incredibly hard. While this is fiction, I totally believe there are women who have walked in Stella’s shoes. Her father was a dirtbag and if I was Stella, I would have taken a baseball bat to his head
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
⭐️: 3
Overall this book was just okay for me. I found the pacing to be agonizingly slow as the book starts before the main character’s birth and into her 90s. There is a lot of heartache in this book so not for the faint of heart of anyone looking for a lighthearted book.
Characters: 7
Overall this book was just okay for me. I found the pacing to be agonizingly slow as the book starts before the main character’s birth and into her 90s. There is a lot of heartache in this book so not for the faint of heart of anyone looking for a lighthearted book.
Characters: 7
- Good, not great
Atmosphere/setting: 10
- Interesting time and place to set
Writing style: 6
- Easy to follow
- didn’t like the granddaughter perspective all that much
Plot: 5
- Just ok
Intrigue: 5
- Not much driving the story
Logic: 3
- A lot of the theories and deaths and even that she believes her sister Tina was the root of it all made little sense
Relationships: 7
- Good, not great
Entertainment: 6
Total: 3.06
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Rape
Minor: Infertility
Stella Fortuna is born in a small Calabrese village, independent,strong minded but subject to the traditional Italian way of submitting to men. Told over a one hundred year period, social changes are slow to impact Stella’s family. From Italy to America, Stella’s story is engaging. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Recommended for readers of generational sagas.