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oceanwriter's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Nearing the end of her life, Violeta recounts her story starting from her birth in a small Chilean town. We follow her and her family through pandemics, political changes, and other important shifts in history as the decades pass. With this also comes the natural milestones of life such as adolescence and starting a family. All of this is told in a letter to her grandson.
For something that appears to be so close to the author, there is a glaring lack of emotion and empathy. I didn't feel connected to Violeta at all, nor did I find myself particularly caring partway through the part of the book. Until then I was finding the narration reminiscent of The Dictionary of Lost Words. Overall, I found it just okay.
Graphic: Infidelity, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, and Addiction
Moderate: Violence, Sexual assault, and War
Minor: Abortion
miap09's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, War, Addiction, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Genocide
Minor: Abortion and Rape
kathrynclaire's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Death, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Rape, Homophobia, Dementia, Abortion, Classism, Murder, and Colonisation
martamae77's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Sexual content, Rape, and Sexism
Minor: Abortion
now_booking's review
- 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
4.5
Like many of Allende’s protagonists, Violeta is born into some privilege. This book spans Violeta’s life from her birth during the emergence of the 1920 flu pandemic, the stock market crash and the Great Depression, through the rise of Naziism, fascism, peasant uprisings, revolution and the legacy of colonialism, Western political influence and dictatorship in Latin America, to the end of her life in 2020’s coronavirus pandemic. While this work of historical fiction is not specifically about these historical events, the dramatic events of her life and her dysfunctional family are greatly influenced by these events and through her story, we get a fresh perspective of what it may have been to love through those times.
This is ultimately a book of an entire life, so there is a lot of sadness and trauma in this that linger especially when one looks back at a lifetime and has experienced the pain of regret and loss. This isn’t a maudlin read, Violeta has a good sense of self irony and is witty and humorous, and is viciously honest even with herself about her own failings, yet the overarching mood of this is sort of sad and reflective. This book addresses themes of neglect and abuse, infidelity, sexual assault, addiction, violence and genocide. If you’ve had experience living under an authoritarian regime and experienced loss through it, this might be somewhat triggering. If you haven’t, this has a lot of loss in it, so gird your loins.
That said, this book is absolutely gorgeous. The writing is fantastic… it reads authentically like an old lady wrote it as her memoir and there are so many points reading this that I stopped to reflect. There were so many points of reflection about relationships, faith, regret, wealth. The story of love and family and found family that is built through this book is so real yet so flawed and because of that compellingly human. The character development is as expected from and Allende novel, great, and even the description of the most mundane aspects of her life was compelling. This would have been a perfect 5 stars for me if not that I think it was at times a bit repetitive in parts and I think in places the story could have moved faster. I think fans of the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo will adore this, but I found this to be more encompassing, more meaningful and just… more! I highly highly recommend this!
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Abandonment, Cancer, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Sexism, Classism, Death, Addiction, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Suicide, Bullying, Drug use, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Drug abuse, Body shaming, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Mental illness
Moderate: Child abuse, Xenophobia, Infertility, Torture, War, Ableism, Confinement, Misogyny, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Eating disorder, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Abortion, Chronic illness, and Colonisation
ekmoore11's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Violence, Death, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Drug use, and Pregnancy
Minor: Sexual assault and Abortion
dreamyy_reader's review
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Rape, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Miscarriage, Abortion, Cancer, and Misogyny
jelisunlivre's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Abortion, Alcoholism, Classism, Physical abuse, Rape, Death, Drug abuse, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Murder, Police brutality, and Misogyny
sib_reads's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Murder, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Addiction, Classism, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Grief, Infidelity, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, and War
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Dementia, Gun violence, Infertility, Child abuse, Confinement, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Rape
Minor: Abortion and Eating disorder
whitedaylilies's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Racism, Addiction, Classism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexism, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Abortion and Cancer