Reviews with content warning for Pedophilia - The House of the Spirits

Keyword descriptors: slow-paced, family-oriented, historical details

I am astounded by the details and the intricacy of this story. Allende's writing is masterful and it's shocking to know this was her debut novel. I wish I loved the characters more, but sadly most of them were just so out there that it was hard for me to connect with them. I was continually disturbed by how easily the women of this story forgave the violence and horrors that male characters (specifically one character) continued to wreak on them when they are so often portrayed as strong women with conviction. It was also hard to digest that the one character I dislike above all continued to live throughout the story and, despite his despicableness, gets a peaceful, somewhat happy ending.

I've also been learning that family sagas are just not my thing. Occasionally I can get into it, but overall it's hard for me to get excited about generation after generation of one family. I'm also not the biggest fan of magical realism, but this story was alright. I accepted it because it was embraced fully and Allende committed to it. I just wish that I cared more about the characters themselves so that I could rate this book higher.

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_alexa522's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

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thelibraryofalexandra's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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amallard's review against another edition

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dark funny informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I find it difficult to enjoy a book if I can't connect with a prominent character, and unfortunately that happened here - my favourite literally arrived on page 12 dead. While many of the others were mystical, funny, absurd, they weren't capitalised on. Few had agency. When Allende raised her characters so lovingly, it became frustrating to see them become instruments in a plot that ultimately followed Esteban Trueba. A scorner of magic, an epitome of toxic masculinity...I don't think most of us picked up the book to read about him.

I understand that, in a way, it had to happen. The androcentric culture of the time created natural limitations for Allende's women. Setting aside their magical influences for the ugly, political landscape was deliberate. But I wanted. I wanted strong women, even if their spheres of influence must be small. I wanted to see the magic do something.

The magic! Did nothing here! It moves the furniture, adds a charm to descriptions, but Clara never uses it. She spends half her time consulting with spirits, yet they don't affect the plot at all.

I didn't hate the book, though. The scale tips in favour of like over dislike. It was incredibly readable, the lines slipping away under the eye; I could put away a hundred pages in one sitting. It was fascinating to read such a well-informed depiction of Chilean culture and heritage. There were some really funny scenes. But I'm disappointed my affection for it couldn't grow into love, when it had such potential.

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lowkeymarie's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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qingyibenshu's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

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moosegurl's review against another edition

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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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rosehatton's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

The reason I said it's complicated is that the cast is very politically diverse, but almost everyone is related so definitely not very racially diverse.

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