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bookish_venus'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? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Abandonment, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and War
florafauna's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Ableism, Incest, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Death, Homophobia, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Confinement
Minor: Chronic illness, Excrement, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Outing, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Torture, and War
sherbertwells's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
“I imagined Julián Carax at my age, holding that image in his hand, perhaps in the shade of the same tree that now sheltered me. I could almost see him smiling confidently, contemplating a future as wide and luminous as that avenue, and for a moment I thought there were no more ghosts there than those of absence and loss and that the light that smiled on me was borrowed light, real only as long as I could hold it in my eyes, second by second” (147)
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Sexism, Religious bigotry, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Gun violence, and Blood
Minor: War, Racial slurs, and Forced institutionalization
mesi_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, War, Violence, Torture, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Homophobia, Grief, Child death, Child abuse, and Rape
Minor: Abortion, Incest, and Bullying
jashanac's review against another edition
5.0
I love this book. Despite it containing several elements that I tend not to like. Primarily: the melodrama of it all.
I often find melodramatic, navel-gazing stories where the characters are all a bit morose and despairing VERY unenjoyable. And there's a decent amount of that in this story. However, there is also a particular light-heartedness and sense of humor to it all, which I think is what made me love it so much. That blend of serious, despairing, what-is-the-meaning-of-it-all-and-are-we-all-just-doomed-to-be-tragic moments and the optimism, humor, and tongue-in-cheek moments just really hit for me. Fermin de Torres is by far my favorite character, but Daniel is number two. Fermin is absolutely HILARIOUS.
Also, the prose. I wish I could read Spanish completely fluently, because I can only imagine how it is in the original language. But even in the English translation, the prose is wonderful. I was ENGROSSED in this book.
It might help that I did a summer study abroad program in Barcelona back in college, so re-reading this just made me ACHE for Barcelona. I felt like I was there again, and recognized the atmosphere of the various streets and parts of the city... it was just beautifully described, all the way around.
I also think that I enjoyed it so much because while, yes, it's quite a tragic, gothic, morose story... there's so much mystery involved and you're watching it all unfold and all of the various plot twists (which I had completely forgotten about!) made it so entertaining as well as lush and captivating.
Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Pregnancy
Minor: War