Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia

68 reviews

charlottejones952's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

4.75

This was such a tough book to read but beautifully crafted. The writing propelled me through so quickly and I was astounded by how vivid each of the characters' lives were. 

I would recommend looking into trigger warnings as this is an extremely dark book at times but with that caveat in mind, I would highly recommend it. Gabriela Garcia is an author to keep an eye on in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Racism, Murder, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Death, and Child abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Suicide, War, and Colonisation

perlastars's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

3.0

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, War, Sexual assault, Racism, and Xenophobia

jennadewit's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Racism

Minor: Cancer

catburps's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Xenophobia and Racism

cereads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Rape and Pedophilia

epellicci's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

Of Women and Salt is haunting beautiful and deeply complex. Following the multi-generational stories of nine Cuban and El Salvadorian women, the book explores themes of trauma and belonging in a way which is both powerful and enthralling. I couldn't put it down. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Sexual assault, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Racism, Racial slurs, Death, and Trafficking

hbc72's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Grief, Murder, Racism, Rape, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

my_plant_library's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault and Death

Minor: Racism and Cancer

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

This was actually really good.
The complexity of the characters was intense, each had a quite realistic side of themselves that they weren’t sharing with the others but not in a frustrating way.
The writing was poetic but not unclear.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, and War

dramaqueentears's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

Of Women and Salt tells the origin stories of six Cuban & Cuban-American women and a mother and daughter from El Salvador living undocumented in Miami. It begins with Maria Isabel, a cigar roller who lived through the fight for Cuban independence from Spain. Then, we learn about Dolores, the granddaughter of Maria Isabel, who survived an abusive relationship during the Cuban Revolution. It takes us to 2014, where we meet the daughter of Dolores, Carmen, and Carmen’s daughter, Jeanette, who now live in Miami. Jeanette has a rough relationship with Carmen because of previous trauma and her drug addiction. Carmen won’t tell Jeanette anything about why she left Cuba and her family behind, adding more aggravation to their dynamic. 

The story really becomes connected in 2014 when Jeanette takes in a little girl named Ana when the girl’s mother is detained by ICE. 

What I liked:
- The fact that the main plot point surrounding immigrant detention happens in 2014. We need more literature that holds President Obama accountable for his role in that. 
- All of the Cuban/Cuban-American characters were so unlikable but their chapters were so good. 

What I disliked:
- The book was so short that I didn’t feel very connected or even knowledgeable about the characters.
- Other than making a statement about ICE, there was really no reason to include a plot with two characters from El Salvador. They didn’t really add much to the story until the end and Gloria and Ana had no real personalities. 
- The chapters jumped around so frequently. Not a big deal for the chapters written in the 1950’s or the 1890’s, but I had to do a lot of mental math to determine what was going on with the more present-day characters because one chapter would be written in 2019 and the next in 2015.

Overall, I think it could have been better but it was alright! The idea was great. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Adult/minor relationship, and Addiction

Moderate: Racism, Death of parent, Cancer, and Blood

Minor: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Medical content, and Medical trauma