Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
adventurous
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
adventurous
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I admit that before winning this book in a giveaway, I had never heard of Isabel Allende. However, from reading the glowing praise for her inscribed on the back cover and stumbling upon the episode of her Gilmore Girls certification, I have discovered how esteemed she is. As a budding historian who grew up near SF, the description immediately intrigued me, and I was looking forward to the day it arrived on my doorstep.
Emilia Del Valle Claro is an independent and empathetic young woman drawn to Chile by adventure and a promise to her mother to meet her biological father. What she finds is the ravages of war, love and friendship, and, eventually, a deep connection to the land and native roots.
"My Name is Emilia Del Valle" is written with a clear, pragmatic, and unpretentious narrative. Emilia tells the story of her life in a thorough, seemingly unbiased, and almost detached manner until the last chapter. I generally prefer a more unreliable narrator to filter events through, but I found Emilia's understanding of people to be impressive. I do wish she had imbued with more inner conflict earlier in the novel, as the whole "self-discovery" aim of the book didn't appear outright until the final chapters.
The history of the Chilean Civil War of 8191 was well researched and informative, exploring a few historiographical interpretations of the conflict. I don't often hear about South American history unless it directly impacts US history, and I was delighted to learn about it through this novel.
Personally, I am a fan of plot-based rather than character-based writing. However, while "My Name is Emilia Del Valle" certainly falls into the latter, I did find the chain of events engaging and seamlessly connected.
Overall, I certainly enjoyed the novel, but I can't say it blew my mind.
Emilia Del Valle Claro is an independent and empathetic young woman drawn to Chile by adventure and a promise to her mother to meet her biological father. What she finds is the ravages of war, love and friendship, and, eventually, a deep connection to the land and native roots.
"My Name is Emilia Del Valle" is written with a clear, pragmatic, and unpretentious narrative. Emilia tells the story of her life in a thorough, seemingly unbiased, and almost detached manner until the last chapter. I generally prefer a more unreliable narrator to filter events through, but I found Emilia's understanding of people to be impressive. I do wish she had imbued with more inner conflict earlier in the novel, as the whole "self-discovery" aim of the book didn't appear outright until the final chapters.
The history of the Chilean Civil War of 8191 was well researched and informative, exploring a few historiographical interpretations of the conflict. I don't often hear about South American history unless it directly impacts US history, and I was delighted to learn about it through this novel.
Personally, I am a fan of plot-based rather than character-based writing. However, while "My Name is Emilia Del Valle" certainly falls into the latter, I did find the chain of events engaging and seamlessly connected.
Overall, I certainly enjoyed the novel, but I can't say it blew my mind.
I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I was really looking forward to reading this. I even decided to read some of Allende’s previous works as I haven’t gotten around to reading any so far. But I had to stop reading that one (there was a very violent rape).
Then I decided to just delve into the story of Emilia, and lo and behold, the same thing happened! So I guess either I picked the two Allende books that start with rape or that Allende just isn’t for me. Considering I didn’t like the writing style all that much, I fear the latter is true.
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
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:
No
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
tense
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:
No
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War
Minor: Suicide, Torture, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No