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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Rushed the ending, but loved the story!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The writing is phenomenal, the story is heartbreaking and intriguing. Just loved this book but also very very sad.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deportation
Moderate: Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Dementia, Suicide attempt
Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia
This was so much more traumatic than I remembered !!!! Quite literally a nightmare up close and in HD.
but at least the nightmare was well written, 4.25/5.
but at least the nightmare was well written, 4.25/5.
Honestly this book just kept getting worse.
Rape.
Animal abuse.
Child molestation.
It started so strong with bold female characters that had so much promise. And then she destroyed all of the characters in the worst way possible.
Also, the deaths get soooo dragged out. This book could’ve been half the pages it was and that’s shitty imo.
I’m just super disappointed because I really liked the book and all the details about Italy and the impacts of WWII and all of that part of the story until they came to America with their godawful father and things just kept getting worse.
I do NOT recommend this book. I couldn’t wait to be done bc it was just so awful at the end.
Rape.
Animal abuse.
Child molestation.
It started so strong with bold female characters that had so much promise. And then she destroyed all of the characters in the worst way possible.
Also, the deaths get soooo dragged out. This book could’ve been half the pages it was and that’s shitty imo.
I’m just super disappointed because I really liked the book and all the details about Italy and the impacts of WWII and all of that part of the story until they came to America with their godawful father and things just kept getting worse.
I do NOT recommend this book. I couldn’t wait to be done bc it was just so awful at the end.
As a granddaughter of Italian immigrants, this book ruined me. The way the author was able to capture such complex family dynamics and all the little trappings of intergenenerational trauma was astonishing. The experience of reading it was both a painful and, at times, euphoric re-immersion into Italian-American culture.
This started out strongly, but became wearying as the story went on. I largely enjoyed the parts set in Italy, and the characters were vividly drawn. However, Stella’s unceasing bad fortune (no pun intended) makes for heavy reading, and I seriously considered abandoning the book at 75%. 440~ pages of a woman being ignored, overruled, and slowly ground down is too many pages in my opinion.
Also, if I never have to read featuring incestuous paedophilia in another book it will be too soon.
Also, if I never have to read featuring incestuous paedophilia in another book it will be too soon.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated