Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - La casa de los espíritus

Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

La casa de los espíritus by Isabel Allende

70 reviews

clarabooksit's review against another edition

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emotional 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

3.0

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izzye1500's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated

4.0

ravishing! at times this book was frustrating but it was very enjoyable. disliked: heavy use of sexual violence in the plot, odd pacing that made some characters age ten years over the course of a few pages, esteban’s character in general (altho i’m sure he’s meant to be despicable— he is, after all, a rapist and a nazi sympathizer, among other things.) liked: sweeping generational story arcs, magical realism!!!, gradual introduction of politics into the novel until they become essential to the climax, the relationships between mothers and daughters. the audio narrators were excellent.

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kmaller's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Through the framework of a single family's story, Allende connects a thread directly from imperialism, patriarchal violence, and capitalism to fascism, culminating in the coup d'etat of Chile in 1973. It was neat to realize that The Poet was indeed Pablo Neruda, that The Candidate was Salvador Allende (with his final speech before his death written verbatim into the narrative), that the dictator has an "august mustache."
Throughout the text, Allende presentsaa canny understanding of the corruption of the capitalist class and of the ways in which legitimately elected socialist governments are undermined (creating false scarcity, etc). The question of non-violent resistance is repeatedly raised, with varied answers which I respect.
I was surprised by the seeming nihilism of the epilogue compared to the tone of the rest of the book, but it also seems to reinforce one of the underlying threads of the book, that individual rage is ineffective without collective action.

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machenn's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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mandkips's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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roniboi's review against another edition

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challenging reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
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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mischka's review against another edition

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Ich habe es bis zur letzten Generation gelesen, weil es trotz der ganzen Gewalt (siehe content warnings), die darin vorkommt, ein fantastisches Buch ist. Irgendwann habe ich es nur nicht mehr ausgehalten, was für schreckliche Dinge die ganze Zeit passieren... vor allen Dingen den Frauen.

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