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katsmedialibrary's review against another edition
Too many triggers rn
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Ableism and Racism
maevebm's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-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
Unforgettable and I’m not sure any review could do this book justice. A beautiful weaving of a family’s story set against the backdrop of classism, political instability, corruption, and civil conflict. The characters felt like real people and their pain and joy was tangible. There was humanity but there was also something that transcended beyond. I wish I could read it for the first time again and again and again
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism
Moderate: Torture, Car accident, Violence, Pedophilia, Murder, Kidnapping, Rape, War, Domestic abuse, and Abortion
Minor: Racism and Fire/Fire injury
alicebodnar's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Rape, Addiction, Sexism, Torture, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Abortion
kaffee_auf_ex's review against another edition
dark
informative
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
oh. my. fucking. god.
I was so relieved when I finished this book. I wouldn't have finished this if I hadn't been reading it for a book club.
Let's start with the positive: Isabel Allende obviously knows how to write. I also really enjoyed the historical context that we got. That's about it.
The book is very graphic. I don't mind that in general, in fact I enjoy it sometimes. But not when we have to listen to the thoughts of pedophiles, rapists, racists and killers and also get the very details of their actions described to us.
We have 3 female main characters but never get their perspective. Instead, we hear from men that are the literal worst.
People tend to love Clara because "omg she's so dreamy and quirky" when really, she just enables her husband to do the worst things to the women around them both including his sister even though Clara supposedly loves here. I mean, what's that about?
Also, I hated the racist terms used but I know that it's because this book is old.
In conclusion: This book was well written but I hated every second its content.
I was so relieved when I finished this book. I wouldn't have finished this if I hadn't been reading it for a book club.
Let's start with the positive: Isabel Allende obviously knows how to write. I also really enjoyed the historical context that we got. That's about it.
The book is very graphic. I don't mind that in general, in fact I enjoy it sometimes. But not when we have to listen to the thoughts of pedophiles, rapists, racists and killers and also get the very details of their actions described to us.
We have 3 female main characters but never get their perspective. Instead, we hear from men that are the literal worst.
People tend to love Clara because "omg she's so dreamy and quirky" when really, she just enables her husband to do the worst things to the women around them both including his sister even though Clara supposedly loves here. I mean, what's that about?
Also, I hated the racist terms used but I know that it's because this book is old.
In conclusion: This book was well written but I hated every second its content.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Sexism, Torture, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Racism, Rape, Death, and Slavery
linda_elaine's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Rape, Pedophilia, Racism, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
sapphichaos's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Death, Torture, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Racism and Death of parent
siriface's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, War, Sexual assault, Racism, Death, and Rape
smuds2's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
So close to a 5, there were just some gratuitous scenes that I felt didn’t add to the characters portrayed in them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Torture, Murder, Kidnapping, Drug abuse, Death, Sexism, Self harm, Miscarriage, Incest, Child death, Child abuse, Addiction, Violence, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Racism, Police brutality, Pedophilia, Medical content, Rape, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Classism, Animal cruelty, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Animal death, and Abortion
peggychecksitout's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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? Yes
5.0
Spanning the years from the 1910s through to the 1970s, The House of the Spirits tells the story of three generations of women from the Trueba family, Clara, Blanca and Alba. It weaves together a tale threaded with magical realism, personal and political upheaval, and some of the most interesting character portraits I’ve read in a while.
This book is as magical as it is absolutely devastating. Allende's writing is mesmerising, imaginative and gut-wrenching at different turns. There’s a real juxtaposition between the magical elements presented to us—Clara’s clairvoyance, the kooky characters of her spiritualist salon, the house filled with spirits—and the incredible violence enacted both at personal and political levels (I highly recommend looking up the content warnings for this book, so you know what to expect going in).
The personal and the political are very closely entwined in this story; it’s a multi-generational family saga for sure, but as much as it is about the Trueba family, it’s about the history of the country that they’re a part of too (though never directly addressed, through context and historical clues, it is a fictionalised depiction of Chilean history).
It took me a little bit to get into the story, but once I did, I couldn’t put it down, and the end absolutely wrecked me—you know a book is good if it leaves you sobbing—and I think this is a book that is going to stick with me for a long time. There’s a reason that this was an instant bestseller, and has gone onto become a classic. It was my first Allende, but it certainly won’t be my last.
This book is as magical as it is absolutely devastating. Allende's writing is mesmerising, imaginative and gut-wrenching at different turns. There’s a real juxtaposition between the magical elements presented to us—Clara’s clairvoyance, the kooky characters of her spiritualist salon, the house filled with spirits—and the incredible violence enacted both at personal and political levels (I highly recommend looking up the content warnings for this book, so you know what to expect going in).
The personal and the political are very closely entwined in this story; it’s a multi-generational family saga for sure, but as much as it is about the Trueba family, it’s about the history of the country that they’re a part of too (though never directly addressed, through context and historical clues, it is a fictionalised depiction of Chilean history).
It took me a little bit to get into the story, but once I did, I couldn’t put it down, and the end absolutely wrecked me—you know a book is good if it leaves you sobbing—and I think this is a book that is going to stick with me for a long time. There’s a reason that this was an instant bestseller, and has gone onto become a classic. It was my first Allende, but it certainly won’t be my last.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Police brutality, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Rape, Torture, Violence, Domestic abuse, War, Abortion, Physical abuse, Sexism, Death, Racism, Sexual violence, and Murder
Moderate: Abortion, Homophobia, and Death of parent
Minor: Drug use, Addiction, and Car accident
summermorning's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-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
2.5
I did not enjoy this book. All the blurbs, and everything I had heard about it, made me excited to read it, and by the time I was halfway through I was already considering quitting.
I think the prose and writing was good. I loved the magical realism aspects, I loved the historical fiction aspect, and the idea of tracing a family through that tumultuous period and all that led up to it. I even really liked the way the story wasn't told entirely chronologically, and I got over the weird switch between first and third person narrative just fine.
That being said, after I started reading this, I was really shocked it wasn't a male author. The gratuitous, excessive sexual violence was insane. I understand that she is trying to illustrate how powerless women, both upper and lower class, were at the time, but at points, it just seems way too much and unnecessarily descriptive for the purposes of narrative. Especially with Esteban Garcia and young Alba. The incest is a bit much too, with Jaime's weird longings as well. He was the only championable character until then. Which brings me to my next point, which is that none of these characters are truly likeable. I detested being asked to pity and forgive Esteban Trueba just because he was old and sad. I feel as though his character could have been illustrated just as clearly without so much of the narrative being claimed by that horrible sexist, racist, rapist wife and child beater.
My biggest complaint is that this book is heralded for its strong female characters. Who? Where? Literally all the women never do anything but get abused until maybe the last 30 pages or so, and even then, Alba's biggest contribution seems to be to suffer nobly. All the big revolutionary players who accomplish things, or even try to, are men. And the women exist to love them, get in their way (@Miguel), or suffer for them. Clara has magical powers and was raised by, at least for the time, decently liberal people. Yet she marries someone she doesn't love, puts up with his abuse, and even forgives him. I fail to believe the only revolutionaries in Chile were male, and all the women could do were sing in concentration camps and survive.
I enjoyed the aspect of generational trauma and tracing that alone the lineage, but it fell incredibly flat when in one sentence Alba was claiming she would break those chains, and in another forgiving her rapist because it was just meant to happen, and probably her children would do the same to his someday. I couldn't believe that she was supposed to be the strong, female lead when all she did at the end was bury her beloved grandfather and wait for Miguel and for her baby to born. It really felt like the women simply existed to birth the next generation for the men to use and that we were supposed to cheer that on.
I also felt like the second half of the book fell flat with the magical realism. Had it been to illustrate the realistic suffering of the war, or to highlight the modern age, that would have worked. But instead it was sort of thrown in willy nilly just enough to ruin that idea, but not enough to make it feel connected.
Honestly, some of this might even have been okay reading if not for the fact that not a single character was redeemable and literally nothing good happens except for maybe 20 pages in the middle of the book. I understand a tragedy, but honestly, this book was too long for almost no highs and only lows. It makes the tragedy drudgery and torture for the reader rather than powerful and poignant with nothing good to contrast it with.
This book was not at all what it has been heralded as, and I was really disappointed with it. Also, the dog dies.
I think the prose and writing was good. I loved the magical realism aspects, I loved the historical fiction aspect, and the idea of tracing a family through that tumultuous period and all that led up to it. I even really liked the way the story wasn't told entirely chronologically, and I got over the weird switch between first and third person narrative just fine.
That being said, after I started reading this, I was really shocked it wasn't a male author. The gratuitous, excessive sexual violence was insane. I understand that she is trying to illustrate how powerless women, both upper and lower class, were at the time, but at points, it just seems way too much and unnecessarily descriptive for the purposes of narrative.
My biggest complaint is that this book is heralded for its strong female characters. Who? Where? Literally all the women never do anything but get abused until maybe the last 30 pages or so, and even then, Alba's biggest contribution seems to be to suffer nobly. All the big revolutionary players who accomplish things, or even try to, are men. And the women exist to love them, get in their way (@Miguel), or suffer for them. Clara has magical powers and was raised by, at least for the time, decently liberal people. Yet she marries someone she doesn't love, puts up with his abuse, and even forgives him. I fail to believe the only revolutionaries in Chile were male, and all the women could do were sing in concentration camps and survive.
I also felt like the second half of the book fell flat with the magical realism. Had it been to illustrate the realistic suffering of the war, or to highlight the modern age, that would have worked. But instead it was sort of thrown in willy nilly just enough to ruin that idea, but not enough to make it feel connected.
Honestly, some of this might even have been okay reading if not for the fact that not a single character was redeemable and literally nothing good happens except for maybe 20 pages in the middle of the book. I understand a tragedy, but honestly, this book was too long for almost no highs and only lows. It makes the tragedy drudgery and torture for the reader rather than powerful and poignant with nothing good to contrast it with.
This book was not at all what it has been heralded as, and I was really disappointed with it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Rape, Torture, Racism, War, Death, Gore, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse