Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Mujeres de sal by Gabriela Garcia

87 reviews

leslie_overbookedsocialworker's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Deportation, Drug abuse, and Child abuse

Moderate: Terminal illness, Death, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Murder, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Grief, Racism, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, and Death of parent

kaddictwithapen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Torture, Drug use, Murder, Addiction, Misogyny, Abandonment, Child abuse, Confinement, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Rape, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Xenophobia, Racial slurs, War, Racism, Alcohol, Blood, Cancer, Addiction, and Alcoholism

Minor: Suicide, Grief, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, and Classism

amberreadseverything's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Violence, Addiction, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

wordsofclover's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death

Minor: Drug use and Drug abuse

bookshelf_al's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, and Confinement

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Child abuse and Adult/minor relationship

saracatalyst's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, War, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Trafficking, Abandonment, Cancer, Child death, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism

sofipitch's review against another edition

reflective 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? Yes

4.75

One of my new favorite diaspora stories. Cuban American stories always feel deeply personal, I didn't grow up around other Cuban Americans so it always feels like I'm the only one. But these books always capture the divisions between family due to shared history and then Cuban history that feels so unique 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault, Blood, and Violence

Minor: Racism

maregred's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Drug use, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cancer, Racism, Sexual assault, War, and Xenophobia

_poppy_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is forceful, tender, kind and unforgiving. Maria‘s use of language is so descriptive and clever that the manages to paint vivid emotional landscapes with such ease that this book slips through your fingers and straight into your heart. 
I‘ve never read anything of hers before, but she‘s clearly a gifted poet. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Addiction

kelly_e's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

Title: Of Women and Salt
Author: Gabriela Garcia
Genre: Literary Fiction
Rating: 4.25
Pub Date: March 30 2021

T H R E E • W O R D S

Poetic • Heartbreaking • Powerful

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Jeanette is battling the grips of addiction, and is endlessly determined to learn more about her family's history. When on a whim Jeanette takes in the daughter of a neighbor detained by ICE, her mother, Carmen, is resistant. Carmen continues to wrestle with the trauma of displacement, her complicated relationship with her own mother, and raising a wayward daughter. In a quest to understand, Jeanette travels to Cuba to visit her grandmother and discovers a host of secrets from the past.

Spanning 19th century cigar factories to modern detention centers, from Cuba to Mexico, Of Women and Salt is a kaleidoscopic portrait of betrayal that have shaped the lives of these women.

💭 T H O U G H T S

In 2021 I decided to make my way through the GMA book club selections. Of Women and Salt was one I knew I wanted to prioritize. Maybe I was drawn to the historical aspect and/or the beautiful cover, but I knew little more than that going in. And I definitely didn't know it was so short.

What immediately struck me was Gabriela Garcia's spellbinding language. This novel is beautifully written, with so much emotion captured in the words. The non-linear structure, seeming more like a collection of short stories, was different but worked perfectly in this narrative even though it took me awhile to figure out who was who (thank goodness for the family trees at the beginning). Featuring three generation of Cuban/Cuban-American women, each fully fleshed out and equally flawed, and exploring themes of motherhood, intergenerational trauma, addiction, abuse, immigration and oppression.

I enjoyed this generational saga, and the historical interconnectedness of the characters is something I gravitate towards in books. I appreciated how the ending came full circle in a satisfying way.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• literary fiction lovers
• readers looking for an immigration story
• fans of generational sagas

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"I believe family is whoever we point to. I did not just have you. You did not simply happen to me. I chose. I saw the possibilities and I chose and I would not judge the woman who chooses differently. I decided I would be your mother and family and you would be of me."

"We are more than we think we are. There was always more." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Drug use, Violence, Murder, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Racism, Misogyny, and Pedophilia

Minor: Cancer

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