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hdkreads's review
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
A very ambitious, short but slow-paced book. The story was interesting but I found it hard to follow and hard to stay invested.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Colonisation
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death
joannalouise's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
informative
mysterious
fast-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
eardil's review against another edition
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.
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
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Excrement, and Colonisation
Moderate: Sexual assault and Classism
Minor: Drug abuse and Cannibalism
violinknitter's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-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
4.5
This is not the kind of book I typically read. But somewhere on social media someone complained about a racist review of it in the New York Times, and then recommended a review by Silvia Moreno-Garcia in the LA Times instead.
Moreno-Garcia I *do* read, and her review convinced me to try this book. And I’m glad I did! It has a moody and almost pointilistic in texture, and I found the characters fascinating. Not likeable, but that wasn’t the intention.
It took me a bit to get used to the complete absence of any dialogue punctuation, and the sff muscle-memory of being dumped into a world where many of the names & words are unfamiliar served me well. (While I was wondering to myself “why AM I so unfamiliar with so much of this? I’m a lover of history, and it’s literally the country next to mine!”)
Anyway, I think it was well worth the read.
Moreno-Garcia I *do* read, and her review convinced me to try this book. And I’m glad I did! It has a moody and almost pointilistic in texture, and I found the characters fascinating. Not likeable, but that wasn’t the intention.
It took me a bit to get used to the complete absence of any dialogue punctuation, and the sff muscle-memory of being dumped into a world where many of the names & words are unfamiliar served me well. (While I was wondering to myself “why AM I so unfamiliar with so much of this? I’m a lover of history, and it’s literally the country next to mine!”)
Anyway, I think it was well worth the read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Gore
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Murder, and Colonisation
amrithi's review
adventurous
challenging
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Colonisation
warlocksarecool21's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
4.5
You Dreamed Of Empires is probably one of the most surreal and unique reading experiences I’ve ever had. Transcending genres and literary conventions, Enrigue imagines an alternative version of what happened when Hernan Cortés and the conquistadores arrived in Tenochtitlan. I can’t fully describe how I feel about this book, but it was such an interesting read and there was a lot of subtle yet profound commentary about empires, religion and humanity.
In this book, Enrigue presents a subversive and complex reimagining of the Spanish conquest & the fall of the Aztec empire. It follows a broad cast of characters, from both the conquistadors perspective and Moctezuma and his court. To me, each character represented a different genre & character archetype and it was fun seeing how the author played with those elements to tell the story. There’s aspects of different genres from the old epic chivalric poems, political thrillers and literary fiction. Each character represents a different perspective on the events surrounding the fall of the Aztec empire and what could have happened instead. There’s interesting commentary about how we remember historical events depending on who is the victor and how so much is lost because of that.
I also really enjoyed the historical and cultural details of the Aztec’s way of life and I learned a lot about their culture and language.
This book was witty, nuanced and philosophical and while some of it went over my head, it was a thought-provoking read and I’m glad I picked it up.
In this book, Enrigue presents a subversive and complex reimagining of the Spanish conquest & the fall of the Aztec empire. It follows a broad cast of characters, from both the conquistadors perspective and Moctezuma and his court. To me, each character represented a different genre & character archetype and it was fun seeing how the author played with those elements to tell the story. There’s aspects of different genres from the old epic chivalric poems, political thrillers and literary fiction. Each character represents a different perspective on the events surrounding the fall of the Aztec empire and what could have happened instead. There’s interesting commentary about how we remember historical events depending on who is the victor and how so much is lost because of that.
I also really enjoyed the historical and cultural details of the Aztec’s way of life and I learned a lot about their culture and language.
This book was witty, nuanced and philosophical and while some of it went over my head, it was a thought-provoking read and I’m glad I picked it up.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence
klabardee's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault
Minor: Sexism and Excrement
shay_books's review against another edition
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Colonisation
Moderate: Gore
gabydoesgrowth's review against another edition
This is my bad - I really should have checked the trigger warnings and I didn’t. I have to quit after that super unexpected and nonchalant scene with Malinalli and Cortes. I should have seen it coming considering this is still a story about colonizers, however reimagined it is. I’m out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault