Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Murmur of Bees by Sofía Segovia

8 reviews

stephyrm's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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idk_indigo's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective 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

4.75

This book was just so beautiful; a story about love & loss & grief. The first 1/3 of the book was, as other reviewers describe, very confusing. We don't figure out exactly who the narrator is until quite a ways through, though there are little hints here & there. We know he has some connection to the characters, and also that he is telling the first part of the story from a point in time where he is not yet born. I thought the reveal of him as the narrator was perfect. It was like a lightbulb moment. Very nice. 

The prose was beautiful, if a little bit disjointed; but honestly, I think it made the story that much more interesting, and also made sense if this is from the POV of an old man who was, in the first half, not yet alive; and in the second half, a small boy. The closing scene was a little bit ambiguous, and I think it may come across as unsatisfying. I'm not sure if I'm fully satisfied, but I'm not unsatisfied either, if that makes sense? As in, I think the story ended in a fine place. 

Simonopio as a character was sooooo cool; I loved him. I loved how nuanced he was, how little he bothered with others' expectations or beliefs of him. I loved the "adoption" storyline, and also the parallels between him as a young boy always running off & never being able to stay put in a bed or in a house; and Francisco, who was the same way but to a different degree. He was so lovable, and also so protective. And the fact that
he cared so deeply about Francisco Jr. that he "let him go" because he knew that it was the best way to ensure a fulfilling life for the little boy he loved so much... while also making the space for himself to stay in Linares; he knew that was where he belonged. I am so glad they made their way back to each other in the end!


Also, the opening few chapters of this book are so amazing; I started this book in December of 2021 (now February 2024, lol) & ended up DNF'ing it for various reasons (its slow pace, for example, bc oh my it is quite a bit sloooooooooooow). But I was drawn so much to the opening chapters that I just had to reopen it, and I'm so glad I did. What a beautiful story of brotherhood and of family! 

#proudmemberoftheSimonopiofanclub
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changeusernamel8r's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

Mi opinión:

Me tomó dos años terminar este libro. 

Definitvamente se convirtió en uno de los libros que más tiempo tarde en leer. Primero, lo dejé por qué no tenía lo necesario para hacer las anotaciones que quería y después lo deje por qué no me atrevía a saber cómo terminaba.

Pero me siento bastante orgullosa de mí misma por haber agarrado el coraje de leer las últimas 100 páginas sabiendo que tendría que sufrir junto con los personajes y tendría que aceptar que la historia finalmente llegaba a su fin.

Leer cómo los caminos de algunos personajes se separaban fue horrible, y más por qué llevaba mucho sin leer voluntariamente una historia que me hiciera sentir tantas emociones.

Fue un muy buen libro para comenzar el año. Mi propósito para este año es no leer tanto como el año pasado, pero que sean historias que en verdad me transmitan cosas, que en verdad me hagan adentrarme y vivir toda otra vida por medio de palabras.
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baearles's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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neens_m's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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leweylibrary's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

First off, there's a chance that how slowly I read this one affected my opinion because it felt like it dragged on quite a bit and like it didn't feel like it was going anywhere until like 80% in, then the thing that had been foreshadowed for so long finally happened and you're like oooohhhh now we're cooking with bacon! But yeah then the ending is a bit...meh. I did like the magical realism in it, and the writing was good, so I didn't feel like it was a waste of my time or anything. It was just okay 🤷‍♀️
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sarah984's review against another edition

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emotional informative slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I thought the language (and translation) was beautiful, and the history was interesting to me, but the book itself was also annoying. There are only three categories of people in this book's world: benevolent put-upon landowners, childlike peons who are so grateful for the landowner's kindness, and evil ungrateful peons who are greedy and hurt people for no reason. Annoying.
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carolinacortez's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

"Mis recuerdos, mis impresiones vienen conmigo. Mi realidad, no se si la tuya, va conmigo a dondequiera que yo vaya y deja atrás la capacidad de reinventarse, de desarrollarse"

Se que me tarde un montón en leer este libro, pero la verdad lo ameritaba, la pluma de Sofía es preciosa y te encierra en la historia que te está contando super facil, me tarde por que es una historia que necesita que la estés digiriendo, que no te apresures a leerla, que entiendas lo que te esta contando y que vivas a través de las páginas la historia de Simonopio y Francisco, que entiendas que te está contando no sólo la vida de un undividuo (el narrador), si no de una familia completa, e incluso de una región. 
Al principio me costó agarrarle la onda a la cantidad de nombres y el como están relacionados entre si, pero con el paso de las páginas te acostumbras y le agarras el sentido.

"El tiempo es un amo cruel y caprichoso, pues cuanto más lo deseas, más rápido se esfuma y viceversa: cuanto más quisieras escabullirse de él , más inmóvil parece."

Pd. tengo que admitir que si me emociono mucho el hecho de que la historia transcurra en Linares y que Monterrey también tenga sus menciones estelares.
PD2. si lo leen prepárense para llorar, mucho. 

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