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savannahtrice'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Murder, Addiction, Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Incest, and Injury/Injury detail
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
emilyeehaw's review against another edition
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
overall though, i did enjoy the story. i liked the different perspectives from the women and how their stories were entangled together across decades and miles apart. lots of focus on modern day immigration issues and the historical aspect of the cuban revolution. definitely not a super light read but still managed to be readable and interesting with all the harder topics it covered. really enjoyed the focus on relationships between women, mothers and daughters especially, and how complicated and messy they can be.
Graphic: Drug use and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Sexual violence and War
qqjj's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: War, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Colonisation, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Incest, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Cancer, Addiction, Transphobia, Adult/minor relationship, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Self harm, and Grief
rebeccamm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I'm not sure if I liked this book or if I'm giving it a higher rating just because it tells a story we don't hear about enough.
Moderate: Murder, Violence, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, and Addiction
Minor: Death of parent, Cancer, Classism, Drug use, Incest, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and War
Sensitive readers may want to proceed with caution.mamadonna'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
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, and Drug use
Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Death of parent, Rape, War, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Incest, Sexism, and Sexual violence
lilymouse's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Violence, Sexual harassment, Racism, Grief, Drug use, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Colonisation, and Blood
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
bibeanenergy'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Grief, Murder, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Drug use, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Physical abuse
sgmtz413's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, and Drug use
ladymirtazapine'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? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Child death, Domestic abuse, Murder, War, Rape, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Violence, Trafficking, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Death, Confinement, and Alcoholism