Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

39 reviews

dgdrgn's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

My experience reading this book was a good lesson in reviewing the content warnings before reading any book. 😬

Besides that, this fictional story is very insightful as it depicts Chilean history, politics, and feminism through the lives and struggles of the Trueba family, in particular through the three generations of women and the patriarch Esteban Trueba. Overall, it was a relatively heavy read with some lightness that came from the magical realism depicted through some of the family members as well as the absurdities of Esteban Trueba. Allende does a great job of writing the story in an almost playful method, using timelines and character POVs to tell an engaging story. Would recommend - just make sure to review the content/trigger warnings ahead of time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Torture, War, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

thewordsdevourer's review

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

the house of the spirits is a sprawling and gripping family epic of the trueba family, whose triumphs and trials mirror those of their own nation. quite unbelievable that it's a debut work. it's filled to the brim w/ details of everyday life in both the household and the hacienda, of the characters' persona--and, consequently, their fears, desires, and motives behind their actions--of the city and the chilean countryside, all of which bring the characters and the story to remarkable life.

however, i do find certain details a bit too gory, too many details felt overwhelming and disjointed at times, and estreban has the honor of being one of most detested male literary characters ever--everyone but the stubborn old crone ends up paying for the consequences of his actions, blerggghhh. the political stuff can be both exciting and stressful, and i learned so much abt chilean history that i'll prolly go down a wiki rabbithole after this. this is what i love abt reading translated works: u learn so much abt other places and cultures. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Cursing, Confinement, Kidnapping, Blood, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Car accident, Body horror, and Death of parent

adrinthesky's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful lighthearted sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Car accident, Classism, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Violence, Sexism, Rape, and Police brutality

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Torture

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Animal death, Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Medical content, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and War

rieviolet's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

I cannot say bad things about Isabel Allende's writing style but I had to trudge a bit to get through the book. Personally, it was hard for me to feel much connected to the characters and also to digest some of the crudest passages. 

I have to say that it's been a long time since I've despised a character as much as Esteban Trueba and I cannot emphasise enough how much I disliked the sections with him as a narrator. I listened to the audiobook and I think that I managed to finish the book only because I really liked the voice actress, otherwise I would have given up after the umpteenth of his capitalist rants or descriptions of his male prowess and insatiable desires, they made me want to scream.

I liked much better the final chapters that focused more on the social and political commentary and also the  epilogue with Alba as narrator (honestly I would have preferred her as the main point of view).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Ableism, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Blood, Cursing, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Medical content, Miscarriage, Religious bigotry, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Antisemitism, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Stalking, and Suicide

minxtte's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Medical content, Abortion, Murder, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Car accident, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Infidelity

moosegurl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Torture, Pedophilia, and Kidnapping

rosita's review against another edition

adventurous

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Torture, Police brutality, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Rape

coinmanatee's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

Read for Class.  I actually skipped ahead. I didn't have time nor the patience nor the will to read most of the middle section. Maybe that's where it gets good? But I doubt it. 

I liked this book right up until the moment Esteban Trueba opened his mouth. It's very very difficult to like a book that makes a rapist it's hero. A rapist, conservative, abusive, asshole of a man who never learns his lesson and dies without ever once realising that his actions are the reason that the rest of his family suffers such horrendous atrocities. 

In any other book this man would have been the villain, and the point would have been to get away from him. In this book another man is introduced who is even more monstrous. 

It's also just, really horrifically violently sexual in a lot of other ways that I got sick of very quickly. It's hard to like books that are sexual like that when you're Ace. 

The one shining character in this book is Clara. I liked reading about her. 

Unfortunately she was surrounded by idiots who treated her as a child,  or an object, which did ruin her a bit. If you have a woman in your family who regularly performs magic, and makes prophecies, why aren't you listening to her every word? Idiots. There were tons of things that could have been prevented or at least the danger of lessened if anyone had thought "hey, maybe the earthquake the medium is predicting IS going to be horrific. We should take precautions!"

Ugh. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Slavery, Sexual assault, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Police brutality, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Grief, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Death

Classism