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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
zenzi2read'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
Moderate: Child death and Child abuse
Minor: Domestic abuse and Sexual assault
mondovertigo's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Infidelity, Child death, and Animal death
Moderate: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual assault
teii's review against another edition
- 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
2.75
Graphic: Infidelity, Xenophobia, Murder, Racism, Abandonment, and Misogyny
Moderate: Child death, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, and Animal death
Minor: Rape, Miscarriage, 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
rhiannonafternoon'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? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Sexual assault and Miscarriage
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
bookreviewswithkb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
my star ratings are based significantly on the amount of feeling i have while reading the book - this book had me feeeeling and wondering and reflecting. Julia Alvarez is such an incredible writer
Graphic: Child death and Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault and Infidelity
Minor: Miscarriage