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catlandia91's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Drug abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Rape, War, Sexual violence, Trafficking, and Racism
Minor: Toxic relationship and Physical abuse
auudrey'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
3.75
Graphic: Drug abuse, Trafficking, Violence, Murder, Drug use, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Racism, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, War, and Infidelity
Minor: Sexual harassment and Sexual assault
rhi_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Deportation, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Death, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Death, Confinement, War, Xenophobia, Racism, and Mental illness
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Pedophilia, and Trafficking
sassylk's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Deportation, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Trafficking
Minor: Death of parent and Cancer
leslie_overbookedsocialworker's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Murder, Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Deportation, Drug abuse, and Child abuse
Moderate: Terminal illness, Death, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Murder, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Grief, Racism, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, and Death of parent
kaddictwithapen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Torture, Drug use, Murder, Addiction, Misogyny, Abandonment, Child abuse, Confinement, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Rape, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Sexual violence, and Violence
Moderate: Xenophobia, Racial slurs, War, Racism, Alcohol, Blood, Cancer, Addiction, and Alcoholism
Minor: Suicide, Grief, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, and Classism
saracatalyst's review
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, War, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Violence
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Trafficking, Abandonment, Cancer, Child death, and Death of parent
Minor: Alcoholism
maregred'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
3.75
Graphic: Confinement, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Drug use, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cancer, Racism, Sexual assault, War, and Xenophobia
writtenontheflyleaves's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
🌟🌟🌟✨
🏆 Winner of my personal Most Beautiful Book Cover Award
❤️🔥 The plot: From a cigar factory in 19th century Cuba to modern day Miami, through three generations of a Cuban family and one mother and daughter from El Salvador, Of Women and Salt explores mother-daughter relationships across time, over borders, and through the impossible hardships of addiction, upheaval, abuse, and racism.
You know when you meet someone you really like, and you hang out with them a few times and have a great time, then for no reason you can really discern it never goes anywhere? The kind of person you'll think about in a few years' time and think it's a shame you didn't get to know each other better, but also feel no great loss over? That was me with this book.
It really drew me in in the beginning. Maria Isabel was a fascinating character and I was really interested in the setting of 1866 Cuba. But then - as happens frequently throughout the novel - her narrative gets cut off as Garcia jumps to the next character. Mostly, I didn't feel like the proliferation of new characters and perspectives added much to one another on an emotional level, as Jeanette and her mother Carmen were the only ones you really spent enough time with to get to know. There were lots of points where it felt like short stories that had been stacked up together - individually, they were quite effective vignettes, but they didn't really have the strength to support a longer narrative.
One thing I did like, though, was how well Garcia demonstrated the proximity of the personal and the political. The personal crisis of Jeanette's addiction in the larger context of the opioid crisis; the ways in which border policies traumatise children and families. And while the different characters' perspectives didn't add much to each other in terms of making you feel for them, they did illuminate each woman's unique hypocrisy in a way that made them all feel more real.
I won't go into the ending except to say that it felt abrupt and a bit anticlimactic and I'm (appropriately) a little salty about it lol
❤️🔥 Read if you like short stories, mother-daughter relationships, and multi-generational narratives like Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.
🚫 Avoid if you hate short stories, or aren't able to read about addiction, sexual violence, or the immigration system right now (there are quite a few harrowing detention centre scenes)
Graphic: Addiction, Sexual violence, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Trafficking, Violence, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Racism and Death of parent
nibs's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
This book was so good. Its separate but intertwined characters reminded me of Girl, Woman, Other and There, There. All of these connected stories and connected characters, going through their lives a bit at a time. The generational storytelling is a form of solidarity. I want to read this again immediately.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Child abuse and Murder
Minor: Cancer, Trafficking, and Terminal illness