Reviews with content warning for Death - You Dreamed of Empires

This is a very strange book. I think it accomplished what the author wanted it to, and I think I liked it. I certainly looked at the world through a slightly shifted lens for a few hours.

You Dreamed of Empires is experimental historical fiction that reads like fantasy. I mean that in a complimentary way.

I will probably revisit it at some point.

Content Warnings

eardil's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative fast-paced

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

3.5

Una novelización interesante sobre la primera visita de los españoles a Tenochtitlán.

Positivo:
* Me gustó su worldbuilding. Pude sentirme envuelto en el palacio y la ciudad con sus templos y entender un poco mejor la estructura de los islotes
* Los personajes tienen fuertes características. Moctezuma como el paranoico hundido en hongos pero aún con un objetivo estratégico muy claro, la figura del jefe de gobierno de la ciudad como su mano derecha y sus motivaciones propias, pero aún su amigo. Cortés con su celo ingenuo y tóxico.
* El final me encantó. No quiero hacer spoilers así que solo diré que la escena me pareció muy bien llevada.

Negativo:
* La estructura de los diálogos me parece innecesariamente obtusa. Saramago hace algo con la opacidad de quién está hablando cuando no usa casi signos de puntuación. Me pareció que Enrigue solo intentó usarlo para parecer interesante.
* A veces la "crudez" es un poco gratuita, aunque no es tanta como para que me pareciera molesta, pero no siempre es necesaria. Y creo que lo señalo menos porque no la quiero ahí y más porque cuando la usa efectivamente sí lo hace bien, y usarla de más abarata esos momentos.

Veredicto:
Recomiendo el libro sobre todo en cuanto a costo-beneficio. Es muy corto, y lo que construye lo hace bien.

Content Warnings

ukponge's review against another edition

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challenging informative medium-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

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klabardee's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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aleyajo's review against another edition

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adventurous informative medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

Fascinating look at Tenochtitlán history and what could have been.

Content Warnings

30something_reads's review

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adventurous challenging dark funny fast-paced

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

5.0

Honestly, this was a fever-dream (in the best way possible.)

A hallucinogenic and fantastical rendering of Mexican colonial history.

I found that I best enjoyed this as a tandem read with the audiobook. It was very interesting to see the exclusion of quotation marks throughout the entire book but the narrator provided such great differentiation between characters during the dialogue.

Content Warnings

clynns's review

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adventurous dark funny mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

Like taking mushrooms.

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