Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina

The Plot and Pacing: Felt very disjointed. There are two main storylines the book goes back and forth between. Just when one would get suspenseful or interesting the book would cut back to the other. The plot races by but also very little seems to actually happen. The magic isn't really explained, but also plays a very inconsistent role in the book. It comes and goes at seemingly random, chaotic intervals.

The Characters: Seemed interesting at first, but are kept at arms length and the plot moves so quickly that you never really get to know them. One strength of the book is that the familial bonds seem very established. They definitely feel like a real family, even if they aren't given enough time in the story to really react to the things that happen to them.

The Sex and Romance: There were also constant small graphically-described sex scenes tossed in that felt awkward and strangely clinical. Reading them reminded me of the discomfort of watching a sex scene with your parents. Even when they were short I was relieved when they were done, and I always felt like a little gross after reading one.

Body Horror: This is pretty minor and probably won't affect many people, but about halfway through the book 3 of the main characters end up with magical "gifts" that manifest physically on their bodies. They are described as basically becoming parts of their bodies and the characters react with pain when those parts are tugged/attached. There are also a couple of scenes where other characters attempting to touch the magical body parts is likened to sexual assault.

If you want to know what the body parts are they are

roses which are growing from the characters hand, forehead, and clavicles, respectively. They often describe touching the petals or thorns of them, and reacting in pain when others try to tug on them or touch them.

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ericageorge91's review against another edition

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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 😌

———-

[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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beldaran1224's review against another edition

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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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madmantha's review against another edition

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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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emzhay's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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now_booking's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I absolutely adored this fantastic work of magical realism meets multigenerational family saga. I love the work of Isabelle Allende and how she captures the complexity of characters in a family where heroes and villains aren’t monolithic but rather are complex with complex motivations and experiences that make them the characters they are. This is one such book. This is very much like if Isabel Allende focused more on the technicalities of the magic in her books to the point of almost approaching the fantasy genre. I’m not a huge fan of fantasy so I’m amazed how much I loved this. Indeed, perhaps that is because this is not quite fantasy, it is indeed plausible in the way it acknowledges that a pragmatic understanding of the world might find the events in this book fantastical and unrealistic, but there are phenomena we can’t quite explain and things that can be believed to be true beyond what is empirical and explainable. In a sense, when Marimar, Rey, and Rhiannon go on an epic journey to discover the truth about the origins of their matriarch Orquídea Divinia and save the rest of the family from the curse she has brought on them, it is an attempt to explain the lifetime of magic and surrealism that has surrounded their family.

For me, what I liked most about this book were the themes around family and loss and support and complex relationships and the themes of home. I think what tipped this away from fantasy as a genre and more into literary fiction is that despite having adventurous elements, this is ultimately a story about love and family and fighting more than it is one about magic or one that is about another world. It is about the extent one goes through for family, the bad decisions that have awful consequences and the struggle and sacrifices we make to make everything okay again. It also doesn’t hurt that the writing and use of language is absolutely gorgeous and even lyrical in parts yet accessible and unpretentious. The characters and their flaws are relatable and kind evocative of people you may know and situations you may have witnessed. This was a very readable book even in the moments where it was devastating or shocking. The depiction of the close relationship between cousins Rey and Marimar and their intrepid sidekick Rhiannon (who’s actually the brains of the operation), and the complex toxicity of Orquídea’s relationship with everyone- from her own mother Isabel, to her first husband, Lazaro the shooting star, her children and grandchildren, was great and really interesting to unravel. As a protagonist, perhaps she is not the most likeable, but she is interesting and complicated and there’s a lot to her as a characteristic.

I think there is justified criticism that much of the action of this book is saved till the last third or so of this book. So yes, the book is slow-ish, that said, I did really enjoy the build up and the set up in the first two-thirds of the book and thought it was essential if a little unnecessarily long with a transition that ended up telling a bit instead of showing. And I think beyond that, the past and present formulation might be annoying to some as it delayed or slowed the action somewhat, but again I understood this formulation of telling the story and felt it made sense and was enjoyable to read even though typically I don’t like past-present storytelling formats as I tend to find it kills the plot momentum. Perhaps I wanted more about Marimar’s personal life and maybe to know her more as individual beyond her identity as constructed within her complex family dynamic. Perhaps I think if Marimar and Orquídea were the main characters of this book, Orquídea by far outshines and outpersonalities Marimar and so it is perhaps a little implausible that Marimar is the Montoya family heroine because she is so minimised character development-wise in the story. Indeed, if we consider that the modern generation of Montoyas are the current-day protagonists to Orquídea’s role as the “past” protagonist, even then they are unbalanced because Orquídea benefits from much more character development and a more cohesive and complete story, even though there are patches here and there and there were places I would have loved the author to rest and dwell in a bit more to more explicitly develop the characters.

That said, despite all this, I LOVED this book. I enjoyed reading it and listening to it in audio. Frankie Corzo, the narrator did a fabulous job with it and really captured the drama and emotion and adventure on this one. Highly highly recommend for fans of Isabel Allende and fans of family sagas who love magical realism or are not fantasy-sticklers.

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lizgriffinwords's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.75

For fans of Addie Larue or All the Crooked Saints, Practical Magic or Encanto, a beautiful tale of legacy, tradition, family ties and what makes them real, stars and trees and rivers and soil that grows perfect coffee. Simultaneously lyrical and grounded writing in this magical realism novel.

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