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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Over the years I have read a number of Allende's book, some I loved and some not no much. With fascinating and detailed research, Allende paints a portrait of a woman, Emilia del Valle, advanced for her time in the late 1880s, leaving San Francisco to go report on Chile as tensions heightened leading to a civil war. This little known piece of history is vividly described, both the political situation and the gruesomeness of the conflict. While the character has substance and pushes against the norms of accepted society, I still felt a certain remove from her. Possibly the translation could be accountable or it may be the author's intention. An excellent example of how historical fiction can transport us to other times. Thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Feeling very lukewarm about this. Really enjoyed it at the beginning but then it just kept dragging on and on and I got rather bored.
adventurous
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
tense
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-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:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
informative
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 have long been a fan of Isabel Allende's writing and while My Name is Emilia del Valle was not my favorite of her books, it was still a fascinating story woven into the Chilean Civil War.
Emilia is born in tough circumstances, she is the result of a relationship where her father took advantage of her mother and then he left them on their own... sort of. Emilia is not fatherless, the man who helped raise her left his imprint on her... in delightful ways. With his help, she publishes some sort of risqué stories under a pen name... which sets her feet on the path of the desire to be a writer. She eventually gets a job at The San Francisco Examiner and heads off to New York to write some stories but eventually she and a co-worker head off to Chile to cover the war. The bonus for Emilia is that she meets and develops a relationship with her father and his family.
Allende does a fantastic job of portraying how challenging it was for any person to cover war... male or female.
For me, the ending was the most moving and it seemed the perfect way to bring My Name is Emilia del Valle to a close.
I would like to thank Netgalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books for the digital copy of this book. It was published May 6, 2025.
Emilia is born in tough circumstances, she is the result of a relationship where her father took advantage of her mother and then he left them on their own... sort of. Emilia is not fatherless, the man who helped raise her left his imprint on her... in delightful ways. With his help, she publishes some sort of risqué stories under a pen name... which sets her feet on the path of the desire to be a writer. She eventually gets a job at The San Francisco Examiner and heads off to New York to write some stories but eventually she and a co-worker head off to Chile to cover the war. The bonus for Emilia is that she meets and develops a relationship with her father and his family.
Allende does a fantastic job of portraying how challenging it was for any person to cover war... male or female.
For me, the ending was the most moving and it seemed the perfect way to bring My Name is Emilia del Valle to a close.
I would like to thank Netgalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books for the digital copy of this book. It was published May 6, 2025.
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The pacing is so slow. I rarely stop reading but was so bored waiting for something to happen that when it finally did, I didn’t care.