Reviews tagging 'Rape'

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

275 reviews

agnela's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

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

1.0

dnfed at 50%. Poor Clara, and poor dog. This is a strange book, and even stranger to me how people like it. Characters are paper thin, except for the violent man, who somehow gets the most pov time, while being the most insufferable person from this book. Everyone is horny all the time, and the dog dies, and the first family, Clara's parents, so interesting and the light of this book, dies as well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Death of parent

kimveach's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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

3.75

I realized I had never read this book in Allende's trilogy.  I don't remember details from the first two books, but this was good on its own.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

bruhbruh's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Rape, and Violence

laurenw's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional

3.75

My best friend rated this as 'too much realism, not enough magic' and that is v apt. 
A multi-generational story about an intriguing family who appears to have drawn in every kind of trauma possible, the book is not bad, but it is chaotic. For all the claims of this focusing on a matriarchal line, and we do follow 4/5 generations of daughters, all the events in the book are framed through the perspective of 1 man, who is not a pleasant character. Obviously books can be enjoyable and still center a problematic character, but the role of Esteban (plural) throughout the story detracts from the spirit of the women this story should have been about. 
Ultimately, fell flat for me, but the political background and its rich cultural depictions were its shining grace. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Miscarriage, and Lesbophobia

doradalberto's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

kimchikat's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, War, and Classism

sakurachiyou's review against another edition

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexual harassment, and Classism

bigolscrewup's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The point was not to die, since death came anyways, but to survive, which would be a miracle

And that fox escaped with his tail between his legs, with all the hens chasing him

4/5⭐

This is my second Isabel Allende book, after "Violeta" and I've always wanted to read this book before reading any of her other books, but I'm glad to have found some time to read this book finally. I love reading stories that details a family's history through multiple generations, highlighting each family member's eccentricities in a country that's on a path towards a military coup.

I didn't enjoy the the frequent shifts in perspective throughout the book and sometimes within a chapter, which made it difficult for me to follow the story at times. Even though Clara's idea of arranging the story based on events instead of chronological order sounded good as an idea, it was frustrating at times to read some chapters without having any clear idea on when a particular event happened, especially in this story, where there are so many interesting characters, who are all related to each other. Also, I felt the story lost some of its charm once Clara was out of the picture.

The magical realism in the book added a layer of wonder, which blended with Allende's elegant prose drew me and made reading this book an absolute joy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Car accident, and Abortion

bellebeaumont95's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault

eve_kadou's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual harassment