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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Tenemos la historia de Claudia, una niña que vive en Cali, Colombia, donde su papá tiene un supermercado y su mamá es ama de casa. Todo cambia cuando su tía Amelia se casa con un hombre muy joven, Gonzalo, con quién la madre de Claudia comienza una aventura, y el matrimonio de sus padres, y la salud mental de su madre comienza a deteriorarse, y Claudia es testigo de esto y a pesar de que solo es una niña, entiende que algo está pasando he intenta interpretarlo.
Lo primero que destaca del libro es la escritura, como dije, no tenía expectativas para este libro, sin embargo, una que vez que lo empecé, la escritura me atrapó. Y es que está muy bien escrito, sin duda la escritura es una de las cosas que más destacan del libro.
También me encantó leer desde la perspectiva de Claudia, su papel como narradora me pareció increíblemente bien ejecutado, y nos lleva a lo que más me gustó del libro, que es la yuxtaposición entre la inocencia de Claudia que tan solo es una niña, y los temas más oscuros que toca el libro. Cómo el hecho de ser una niña no la protege de las cosas malas, de los pleitos entre sus papás, o cosas más oscuras como la muerte y la depresión que la rodean, y lo único que puede hacer es intentar entender lo que está pasando. Es un libro sobre como estos temas oscuros te cambian y te afectan a pesar de que no puedas entenderlos por completo, es como si rompieran un cristal que te protege y de repente te das cuenta de que viendo las cosas sin este cristal de protección todo es diferente y más feo, todo está lejos de ser como pensaste que lo era. Además otra cosa que me pareció muy fuerte, es que Claudia comienza a ver a sus padres ya no como estos seres invencibles y todopoderosos que es como cualquier niño ve a sus padres al principio, sino que se da cuenta de que son personas que cargan con sus abismos y están lejos de ser perfectos, y esta ruptura en la imagen que tiene de sus papás la afecta más de lo que ella misma puede comprender y vemos las consecuencias de esto en su propia mente de niña, en sus miedos y cómo interpreta lo que pasa a su alrededor.
En general este libro fue básicamente leer sobre temas serios y fuertes con los lentes de la inocencia de la infancia en un estilo de escritura maravilloso, y me gustó mucho, disfruté el libro muchísimo y sin duda lo recomiendo, para mi fue toda una sorpresa y estoy feliz de haberlo leído, y claro que pienso leer más de Pilar Quintana.
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Abyss reveals a relationship between 8-year-old Claudia and her mother of the same name. Claudia’s father is often absent because of his work, while her mother is mostly at home and reads magazines about celebrities. While Claudia is often alone with her mother, they have unusual conversations. So Claudia ponders death and suicide more than other 8-year-olds.
Although Abyss is a solid novel, and I liked it in one way, something constantly slowed me down with my reading. The story is told from the POV of a daughter, 8-year-old Claudia, and it bothered me she doesn’t always sound like a child. Overall, Abyss was a fine read, but there were quite some passages in this novel that I found slow and some even unnecessary.
Thanks to World Editions for the ARC and this opportunity! This is a voluntary review, and all opinions are my own.
Although Abyss is a solid novel, and I liked it in one way, something constantly slowed me down with my reading. The story is told from the POV of a daughter, 8-year-old Claudia, and it bothered me she doesn’t always sound like a child. Overall, Abyss was a fine read, but there were quite some passages in this novel that I found slow and some even unnecessary.
Thanks to World Editions for the ARC and this opportunity! This is a voluntary review, and all opinions are my own.
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
While many people focus on how Claudia’s experiences show how children witness and are affected by their surroundings, I would like to explore how much of an only child she is. Being an only child is a unique experience. Some people believe that it’s obvious that only children don’t have siblings to squash them or make them more responsible and that makes them more spoiled and selfish. They may not be good at sharing their personal space and are prone to becoming introverted. However, “Abyss” is the first book I’ve read in a long time that captures the inwardness and loneliness of an only child with messy parents. It’s important to note that there’s nothing inherently wrong with feeling introverted or lonely, and having another child simply to provide companionship for the first child is not a good idea. In fact, according to an article by Psychology Today, only children are just like everyone else.
In addition, the novel captures the phenomenon of hyper-fixation, which is a term that describes the intense focus that can occur in one’s mind. As an only child, this experience resonates with me, and I find it fascinating to see it portrayed in literature. At the same time, calling hyper-fixation by its name makes me feel a bit less different; a little less special but also more relieved. I’m not a crazy obsessive person; I am who I am.
That terrible heat, I felt it, like a rope around her neck.
And in this novel we see two generations of this obsession. One now a mother and the other a child, and with the tremendous loneliness, (or perhaps relief) of not being the fixation. Of course, she’s also depressed. Of course, it’s brilliant in the throws of an obsession to hover on the edge of a cliff. But it’s not for a child. It’s not for a girl who see’s but doesn’t fully understand why her parents marriage is a breath away from imploding. Why you’d want to hope someone wanted to drive themselves of a cliff, while you’d want to hope that it was and wasn’t suicide when they toppled from a balcony. I don’t want to romanticise the latter, but I can understand why we’d want the women around us to have control over their endings, especially if they had none over the rest of the story.
This is also turning into less of a review and more of a ramble.
Let’s call the book thought provoking and call it a day.
In addition, the novel captures the phenomenon of hyper-fixation, which is a term that describes the intense focus that can occur in one’s mind. As an only child, this experience resonates with me, and I find it fascinating to see it portrayed in literature. At the same time, calling hyper-fixation by its name makes me feel a bit less different; a little less special but also more relieved. I’m not a crazy obsessive person; I am who I am.
That terrible heat, I felt it, like a rope around her neck.
And in this novel we see two generations of this obsession. One now a mother and the other a child, and with the tremendous loneliness, (or perhaps relief) of not being the fixation. Of course, she’s also depressed. Of course, it’s brilliant in the throws of an obsession to hover on the edge of a cliff. But it’s not for a child. It’s not for a girl who see’s but doesn’t fully understand why her parents marriage is a breath away from imploding. Why you’d want to hope someone wanted to drive themselves of a cliff, while you’d want to hope that it was and wasn’t suicide when they toppled from a balcony. I don’t want to romanticise the latter, but I can understand why we’d want the women around us to have control over their endings, especially if they had none over the rest of the story.
This is also turning into less of a review and more of a ramble.
Let’s call the book thought provoking and call it a day.
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book was poignant and emotional. So many moments I had to pause to take in what I was reading. You rarely get a book from a child's perspective, especially with so many dark themes. Claudia witnesses so much without truly comprehending what is going on but she feels it all. As adults I think we take for granted that a child can take in the negative energy without understanding in full what is happening around them. I wanted more at the end...I wanted to know if she was going to be ok...unfortunately this book ends too abruptly for me. Maybe it was meant to leave us hanging but I wish there was more.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicide
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
fast-paced
No me esperaba la intensidad de esta obra, y creo sin duda que Pilar Quintana tiene una manera de escribir muy buena, además crear una historia tan realista y todo desde el punto de vista de una niña es simplemente sorprendente, me llamo mucho la atención, la profundidad de los pensamientos de la niña y todas las cosas que aunque no entendía del todo Claudia las notaba y las tomaba a su modo, además refleja una realidad que es la depresión vista desde los familiares que sufren la separación con la persona que lo tiene, entonces a lo largo de la obra vemos un sin fin de situaciones con las que puedes empatizar y sentirte identificado, al principio me causaba conflicto el hecho de que la autora describiera tanto pero al final termine amando las descripciones porque completaban de una manera única la novela y concuerdo con que se merecía el premio alfaguara