Reviews tagging 'Death'

La Maison aux esprits by Isabel Allende

111 reviews

ihawk287's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Rape

juliaschauer's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

The first 3/4 we’re so slow and in such a different tone than the last parts, it suddenly switched to a way darker, more political but also more gripping story. Don’t really know how to feel, but even tho the majority was so slow and somewhat boring, I can’t dislike the book. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, and Rape

dgdrgn's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

My experience reading this book was a good lesson in reviewing the content warnings before reading any book. 😬

Besides that, this fictional story is very insightful as it depicts Chilean history, politics, and feminism through the lives and struggles of the Trueba family, in particular through the three generations of women and the patriarch Esteban Trueba. Overall, it was a relatively heavy read with some lightness that came from the magical realism depicted through some of the family members as well as the absurdities of Esteban Trueba. Allende does a great job of writing the story in an almost playful method, using timelines and character POVs to tell an engaging story. Would recommend - just make sure to review the content/trigger warnings ahead of time.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Torture, War, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

the house of the spirits is a sprawling and gripping family epic of the trueba family, whose triumphs and trials mirror those of their own nation. quite unbelievable that it's a debut work. it's filled to the brim w/ details of everyday life in both the household and the hacienda, of the characters' persona--and, consequently, their fears, desires, and motives behind their actions--of the city and the chilean countryside, all of which bring the characters and the story to remarkable life.

however, i do find certain details a bit too gory, too many details felt overwhelming and disjointed at times, and estreban has the honor of being one of most detested male literary characters ever--everyone but the stubborn old crone ends up paying for the consequences of his actions, blerggghhh. the political stuff can be both exciting and stressful, and i learned so much abt chilean history that i'll prolly go down a wiki rabbithole after this. this is what i love abt reading translated works: u learn so much abt other places and cultures. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Cursing, Confinement, Kidnapping, Blood, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Car accident, Body horror, and Death of parent

kittykaz's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

This is probably what young kids have in mind when they think about adult fiction books. A lot of political talk, lots of classism and talk about rules and the consequences of ones actions. Definitely not a light read, and meant to make you think about the bigger picture and put your problems into perspective. 

I took a gamble with this - just randomly pulled it out of my parents’ bookshelf - and I think I might have to do that more often. Though I do recommend you try and inform yourself about it before reading this book, so you won’t get blindsided by all the rapeing and violence that is going on. It might take a certain type of person to enjoy this, is all i’ll say. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Abortion, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, and Racism

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Car accident, Grief, Infidelity, and Pregnancy

Minor: Addiction, Gun violence, Homophobia, and Vomit

They use a LOT of slurs of all kinds, mostly racial ones

evenstarwen's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicide

michelareadsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Rape, Torture, Violence, and Police brutality

Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Death

Minor: Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Domestic abuse

juliarchetype's review against another edition

Esteban is a despicable character with too much written from his POV, and the “Rumanian” was a poor and misinformed portrayal of my country. “Rostipov” indeed!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault

spongebobbiii's review against another edition

DNF @261. Ughhhh. I tried, I really tired. I’ve picked this book up on and off again since April, and there is just something about this story that I can’t get through. It’s disturbing on many levels that has not made this enjoyable to read. 

The pro: this book is very well written. I can see why others have liked it and why they love this author.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Death

anna_banana99's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Grief, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and Vomit