Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Cantoras

Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Cantoras by Caro De Robertis

120 reviews

terriep's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Wow - this book was not what I expected.

I listened to the author read this book and I'm so glad I did. Her pleasant voice and pronunciation of all the Spanish (or Portuguese?) words added a lot to the story. Set in Uruguay in the 70s when the country was ruled by a harsh dictatorship, five queer women from different walks of life manage to connect with each other. That was especially challenging at that time, in that country.

The book spans 30+ years of friendship, hardship, falling in and out of love, surviving a restrictive national (and familial) attitude about their lifestyle choice, and how each woman grows. As we learn each back story, some are harsh, some sad, but while the author makes the characters believable, the story doesn't get bogged down in tragedy, but leans more to the uplifting.

The writing is just ..... outstanding. The phrasing is almost poetic sometimes; it's so evocative of the country of Uruguay and made me feel all the feels. It's not flowery and overdone, just words beautifully combined to tell a difficult but important story.

Potential triggers: rape, torture, harsh conversion therapy, suicide

Content Warnings

ddaria's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Loved this book, great balance of storytelling and history. Just one star less because i felt like the writing style of the dialogues wasn’t really flowing, but the overall story and character development made up for it!

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myqueerbookshelf's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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ktrain3900's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

I'm not sure I have much (if anything) to say that hasn't already been said: it's beautiful, hopeful, heartbreaking, layered, powerful, yearning, joyous, mournful, sexy, difficult, triumphant. It's a celebration of resistance and hard work, as well as escape and survival. Most of all, it's a paean for queer love among women and female friendship. If you can't be moved by this book, consider your heart made of stone.

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arieloley's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

3.0

This novel spoke about heartache in a way that I didn’t know was possible. De Robertis wove in history, love, growth, triumph, fear, and so much more to create a deep emotional tangle the conveyed the need for acceptance and love in our world. The book was slow paced and had a lot of context, which made me take longer with it, but highly worth the read.

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kelseystoner's review against another edition

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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? Yes

5.0

Stunning and beautiful and hopeful and sad.

Content Warnings

patroclusbro's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

"They were happy. There were not used to being happy. The strange feeling kept them up too late together, giddy with victory and amazement. They had done it. They were out. They had shed the city like a hazardous garment and come to the edge of the world."

I have always been wanting to learn more about queer elders, but in recent years I think there has been a tendency to write those stories for teen audiences rather than adults. Not really my tea any more!

If you feel similar, you have to check out this book: De Robertis writes about the struggles and dreams of a group of Cantoras - women loving women - in 1970s and 1980s Uruguay. Craving for some breath outside of Montevideo, where the dictatorship closes in around them bit by bit, the five of them take a short trip to the coast. Away from curious eyes, new hope and lust - and companionship! - sparks. Over the years, they come back time and time again, growing older, growing closer, growing apart, making up, resisting, dreaming, loving.

There is a richness to the characters and landscape that I loved! It was so easy to stumble into this world and open my heart for these women. The contrasts between the city and Cabo Polonio flow freely, there is a gentle but irresistible pull to the story. I also learned a lot about Uruguay, its people and political dynamics.

My main point of criticism: I wished that this book could have been longer! I wanted to spend more time with the characters. Rather than being told what happened to them during the time jumps, I wanted to see it first-hand. I would have read 500 pages of this, at least.

I also want to set a BIG trigger warning for suicide, told from the close, stay safe!

Content Warnings