Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

5 reviews

mariavdl's review against another edition

dark

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Rape, and Pedophilia

Minor: Torture, Excrement, Gun violence, Death of parent, Mental illness, War, Colonisation, Terminal illness, Death, Abandonment, Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Dementia, and Confinement

cleansky7's review

dark sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Mass/school shootings, Death, Colonisation, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, War, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Pedophilia, Genocide, Sexual violence, and Terminal illness

leonormsousa's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

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

3.5

Overall opinion: I liked it. I didn't love it like I thought I would, but I honestly think the way I read it also had quite a big impact on my experience and final opinion.

I took two weeks and a half to read this book, which is quite a lot for me, and I think that stopped me from feeling fully immersed in the story.

On the other end, the misogyny (and incest) didn't sit well with me. I recognise that it might make sense given the context but nonetheless, I can't help but feel that there were unnecessary parts that could have been handled better. And even with the context, it made me feel uncomfortable and that's something that always stains my reading experience. 

I feel like I need to justify myself because I know this is the favourite of so many (and because it was a direct rec from someone that means so much to me). I especially feel like I need to talk about what I didn't like because what I liked it's quite obvious.

Gabriel Gracía Márquez writes in a wonderful and quirky way. He's an excellent storyteller that knows how to make a message come to life in the form of a narrative. His mastery of magical realism is indisputable.

I guess this was more of a me problem. I feel like I failed to see the big picture and the whole thing fell short to me. The good news is: I can't stop thinking about how a reread in a couple of years will likely become a much more enjoyable experience. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Grief, Pedophilia, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, War, Abandonment, Child death, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, Body shaming, Child abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Murder, Animal death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Death, Death of parent, and Violence

shreyasingh's review

challenging reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Incest, Child death, Violence, Terminal illness, Rape, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Mass/school shootings, Infidelity, and Gun violence

Minor: Miscarriage, War, Police brutality, Pedophilia, and Cursing

sofipitch's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

This is a beautifully written book. It's also very political. It has the same themes of colonialism, political wars, traditional/catholic views vs modern lifestyles, and family that surround a lot of Latin american works. I read "The House of the Spirits" and I can see how Garcia Marquez influenced Allende. The only reason this isn't getting 5 stars is for the depictions of sex, in a lot of scenes the women don't want to and are more or less raped only to "fall in love/have sex all the time" with the man, it happens multiple times and isn't clearly condemned by the text which is, big yikes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Child death, Confinement, Death, Incest, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mass/school shootings, Rape, Violence, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Excrement and Mental illness

Minor: Antisemitism and Abortion