Reviews

The Madwoman of Serrano by Dina Salustio

tamandua's review

2.75

mixed feelings. there were definitely some good parts, and I thought the meandering and time jumping was an interesting stylistic choice reflective of what Fernanda experienced after the plane crash. However it felt largely predictable and bland in places, the beginning was far more interesting than the start and I just didn’t really care about the characters all that much. Interesting contrast between different lives but in terms of story and plot there wasn’t really one.

lucyreading's review

funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No

4.0

I thought was going yo be dreadful, but its pretty great! I really liked howpart of it is set in the hotel industry - really eye opening!

sonne_'s review

hopeful mysterious sad tense 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

3.75

bookswithlee's review

adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Rape, Murder, and Infertility

Minor: Body shaming and Fatphobia

zelda_xo's review

4.0

A slow starter that's sometimes hard to follow the timeline of, but by the end I felt a strong bond to the characters and like id shared a real magical and personal tale

han_reads_13579's review against another edition

3.0

I have very mixed feelings about this. I loved the beginning. The story of the tiny village of Serrano in Cape Verde. Particularly the stories of the women of the village: the midwives, the madwoman, Gremiana. I loved Jerónimo and Fernanda's story and young Filipa. I cared much less for the stories of the city dwellers. Older Filipa's endless droning on about the details of her hotel business and her various foster family members were quite a drag for me and I had to put it aside for a couple of months. It should have been a good contrast between the two very different ways of life and sets of characters; but I don't think the book was well balanced enough to achieve this. I also found it a little offensive the way that the villagers were often referred to as being lesser than the city folk. Less intelligent, foolish and simple minded. I struggled to look past this. But I'm glad I came back to it and finished what is, no doubt, a very interesting and unusual book and another step on my journey of reading women around the world

caveignoscas's review

mysterious 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

4.25

rosiecockshutt's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

muga's review

The poor were created for the powerful to get rich on, sin against and use to mock ideals of equality and seek their own salvation.

I'm so conflicted over this on one hand I love the characters, Jeronimo was everything, I really love soft father figures, the setting was so lush and I enjoyed the stark contrast between rural life and city life,but on the other hand the writing did absolutely nothing for me.

ktrecs's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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? Yes

3.5