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emmagiverny's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Death, Rape, Torture, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Violence, Grief, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
ag_berry's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Gun violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Abortion, and War
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Pregnancy
hopeandchange's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Torture
siriface's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and War
anahisa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
now, I experienced such a disconnect with this book largely in part because of its characters. they were flawed and real, true! also true is that I did not care for a single one of them!! for a family drama spanning multiple generations, very few of the emotional beats landed for me (🤨😐😔) sadly.
in a shocking turn of events, I was drawn more towards the politics + history that informed the background of this saga. the novel’s attention to women’s rights, unionization, revolution, and the west’s presence in foreign governments were its saving grace for me.
and one thing this book tackles brilliantly is the violence of men + power. so so so many terrible ways in which these individuals + institutions possess, demean, and violate others. while earlier I mentioned that many of the story’s emotional beats were a miss for me, it never failed to make me absolutely livid! the anger I felt when reading some of these scenes! every man in my line of sight should be afraid! rage enough to burn the world I think!!!
Graphic: Death and Rape
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Car accident, War, and Classism
Minor: Drug use, Xenophobia, and Abortion
smuds2's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
karydiazc's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
This is the first book I've read of Isabel Allende and I think these words will stay with me for a long time.
The book starts comically, with fun stories about the family, with sad and almos cruel things woven in between. To be honest I had a really hard time reading the book because those first chapters seemed to go really slow and nothing seemed to be really happening, however things started to move ahead and it started to get interesting.
I must say I loved almos every character (with obvious exceptions) and found the family history and generations to be quite interesting.
I've never really been interested in politics so when that part of the books started I wasn't sure what to expect, but characters such as Clara, Blanca and Alba made it worth reading along.
Now, the last few chapters were so hard to read. Not because they were boring or anything like that, but because of how crude and realistic they were. It's so hard to think that Latin America has been going through that for many many years and along several countries. Even now, it feels kind of close, even though nothing like that is happening apenly in my country (and hopefully won't happen, at least any time soon)
As I said on the beginning, this book was wonderful to read despite everything, however I would recommend anyone who wants to get into it to first read the trigger warnings, since there are a lot and some are very graphic, specially towards those final chapters.
Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Abortion, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Murder, and Classism
Minor: Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
peggychecksitout's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Abortion, Murder, and War
Moderate: Homophobia, Abortion, and Death of parent
Minor: Addiction, Drug use, and Car accident
evegachuz's review against another edition
- 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
Also, very relevant to today’s political climate. I learned a lot about the history of Chile and the ideals and morals that are intertwined with politics.
Graphic: Sexual assault
taroroot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Death of parent