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chelcyharrell's review
- 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
3.5
Moderate: Death, Pregnancy, Infertility, Murder, Blood, Child death, and Genocide
kylieqrada's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Infidelity, and Child death
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, and Sexual assault
Minor: Miscarriage, Homophobia, and Death of parent
astoriareader's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
- Alma is a successful writer, but she has some unfinished stories.
- She decides to stop writing. She recently inherited some land in the Dominican Republic, where she grew up, so she decides to move back there.
- On the land, Alma buries her unfinished stories in a cemetery of untold stories. She hires Filomena to care for the cemetery, and Alma also builds a casita on the land where the cemetery is.
- As Filomena cares for the cemetery, two of the characters from the untold stories tell her their stories. We also learn Filomena’s story.
- Magical realism with some historical fiction.
- Really enjoyed this one. Strong writing & super unique idea that was seamlessly executed. Alvarez is a rich storyteller, and I was so invested in what happened.
- Loved getting a glimpse of some of Dominican Republic’s history and culture as well.
- I enjoyed Alvarez’s mix of Spanish words throughout the book as well. It made all the stories feel more authentic.
- The only reason I am going 4 stars instead of 5 stars is the ending was just okay to me. With such an amazing book, I would have loved a stronger finish.
Graphic: Murder, Infidelity, Child death, Gun violence, Animal death, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Miscarriage, Dementia, and Death of parent
Minor: Body shaming, Genocide, and Homophobia
izzyrbell's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Dementia, Murder, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Genocide, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Deportation, Rape, Violence, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault
Minor: Death of parent, Alcoholism, and Child abuse
btwnprintedpgs's review
- 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
4.0
Alma is an author who inherits a property in the Dominican Republic after her father passes. There, she decides to build her cemetery of untold stories - stories long abandoned and in need of a resting place. Where else do untold stories go? Through this, she inadvertently brings together four main characters - Alma, herself, with her messy family still alive and bickering; Filomena, who is hired on as the groundskeeper and who's own story is full of turmoil and loose ends; Alma's dead father, Manuel Cruz, who's story as an immigrant and refugee comes through in his own voice and through Alma's attempt to write it; and Bienvenida, the second wife of dictator Rafael Trujillo, as she finds her voice again within the cemetery walls.
This is not a story with a lot of plot. Instead, it walks us through lives that are vastly different, but interconnected in ways that will surprise you. There were a lot of threads, and I will admit that at some points the story lost me with the number of characters that were introduced, but over time, it was fascinating to see how interwoven these narratives were. I loved getting to know these characters, I learned, I gasped, I had to pause the audio in utter shock. There was a lot to get my head around, and it was so interesting to listen to a story like this.
Two points of contention. The first is that there are a lot of characters. A lot. So when we're bouncing from POV to POV, through and across time and country, it gets a bit overwhelming on audio. However, when I picked up the physical book, this was one of those books where they didn't have quotation marks for when people spoke, but it was easy to flip back should a time jump totally take me by surprise. I think both the audio and the physical (or digital) would be good to have on hand, because I really do feel like the audio had a magic of it's own to it, but having the story in front of you made it easier to follow along.
All in all, this was a very haunting story, with ghosts of all sorts coming to life in this cemetery. I know that this book won't be for everyone, but if you want something to get lost in, this is a very strong contender, as you'll be hooked by the narrative and captivated by the characters' stories and voices as they all come to life.
TW: murder, political turmoil, infidelity, child death, sexual assault, genocide, racism; mentions death of a parent, abandonment, dementia, emotional abuse, deportation, homophobia
Audio-arc gifted via Libro.fm in exchange for an honest review.
Graphic: Child death, Sexual assault, Murder, and Infidelity
Moderate: Racism and Genocide
Minor: Homophobia, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Deportation, Death of parent, and Dementia
cassielaj's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Of all the characters and their compelling stories, I thought that Filomena and Bienvenida Inocencia really elevated this story. They were both such nuanced characters with my favorite stories, despite the fact that neither particularly thought their story needed to be told.
Note: I found quite a few similarities between this book and Alvarez’s ¡Yo!, which I thought was kind of odd.
Graphic: Violence, Genocide, Murder, and Grief
Moderate: Dementia, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
burnedoutbookdragon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Genre: literary fiction
Diversity: Latina community. Dominican & Dominican-American
Set against the backdrop of a small village in the Dominican Republic, Alvarez invites readers to follow a celebrated author, Alma Cruz, who is seeking to bury all the stories she couldn't finish. Hoping this will give her characters and herself peace.
Alvarez's writing is both poetic and rich, seamlessly blending elements of historical fiction and magical realism. I loved as a reader we got to see a different side of authors. I feel like this book was cathartic and maybe personal for Alvarez. Here we get to see a side of authors who are at a point done with their career and don't know what to do with the untold stories they carry.
We get four different perspectives sprinkled in perfectly, between Alma, Filomena, and two of Alma's story characters. This is a character driven plot, that may feel slow for any action or climax. The alternating of Alma and Filomena's perspective helps alleviate the slowness feeling tedious.
Thank you to Ms. Alvarez's team and Algonquin Books for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Graphic: Child death and Murder
Moderate: Child death, Genocide, Sexual assault, and Violence
kimwritesstuff's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Murder, and Grief
Moderate: Sexual violence, Genocide, Violence, and Racism
Minor: Dementia, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent