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mcchonchie's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, and Antisemitism
Minor: Animal death and Death of parent
luftschlosseule's review against another edition
4.0
trigger warning
antisemitism, homophobia, death by fire, losing a parent, child neglect, corporeal punishment
As Mati and her cousin Borja visit their grandmother for the summer holidays, the war breaks out and going back is far to dangerous - especially as everybody seems so sure the war won't take long. This is the story of their summer on the island.
Listen. The prose is beautiful. It made me wonder what else I miss out by not speaking Spanish up the point at which I'd have liked to start learning it, only to remember the stuff I already have to do.
I am a sucker for books narrated by children aimed at adults, which also helped, and since I can't leave my home to go on vacation, it is nice to visit an island and do a vacation in my mind.
While the war happens far away, this book is about how people get collectively tense, and what happens if they don't get provided with a way to vent: They attack the most vulnerable in their midst.
An the protagonist and her cousin are somewhere in-between. Not only did they not grew up on the isle, but they're at that weird age where you're neither here nor there, not adult yet, but also not a child.
They experiment, act out, but ultimately don't know what to do with themselves and thus are on the sidelines, maybe see things their peers on the island would not, which makes this very, very interesting.
Would recommend. It's even short, so you won't need to plan it much of time if you want to give it a try, and I promise that that will be time well spent.
I recieved a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.
As Mati and her cousin Borja visit their grandmother for the summer holidays, the war breaks out and going back is far to dangerous - especially as everybody seems so sure the war won't take long. This is the story of their summer on the island.
Listen. The prose is beautiful. It made me wonder what else I miss out by not speaking Spanish up the point at which I'd have liked to start learning it, only to remember the stuff I already have to do.
I am a sucker for books narrated by children aimed at adults, which also helped, and since I can't leave my home to go on vacation, it is nice to visit an island and do a vacation in my mind.
While the war happens far away, this book is about how people get collectively tense, and what happens if they don't get provided with a way to vent: They attack the most vulnerable in their midst.
An the protagonist and her cousin are somewhere in-between. Not only did they not grew up on the isle, but they're at that weird age where you're neither here nor there, not adult yet, but also not a child.
They experiment, act out, but ultimately don't know what to do with themselves and thus are on the sidelines, maybe see things their peers on the island would not, which makes this very, very interesting.
Would recommend. It's even short, so you won't need to plan it much of time if you want to give it a try, and I promise that that will be time well spent.
I recieved a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.
kashila's review against another edition
4.0
3.5/5
Primera Memoria me ha parecido un libro especial. Es el tipo de libro que no cuenta mucho, pero lo que cuenta, lo cuenta muy bien. No hay mucha trama detrás. El libro es, al principio, lento, muy descriptivo y el estilo, con sus extensísimos paréntesis al principio no me terminaba de agradar.
Pero una prosa bella y pulcra, descripciones envolventes y personajes muy reales completan una obra sutil e incluso dolorosa, hermosamente narrada que, quizá pecó para su trama sencilla de páginas de más pero cuyo resultado final resulta muy satisfactorio.
Primera memoria se siente, verdaderamente, como un viaje personal a los confusos años de la adolescencia en un contexto particularmente complicado.
Primera Memoria me ha parecido un libro especial. Es el tipo de libro que no cuenta mucho, pero lo que cuenta, lo cuenta muy bien. No hay mucha trama detrás. El libro es, al principio, lento, muy descriptivo y el estilo, con sus extensísimos paréntesis al principio no me terminaba de agradar.
Pero una prosa bella y pulcra, descripciones envolventes y personajes muy reales completan una obra sutil e incluso dolorosa, hermosamente narrada que, quizá pecó para su trama sencilla de páginas de más pero cuyo resultado final resulta muy satisfactorio.
Primera memoria se siente, verdaderamente, como un viaje personal a los confusos años de la adolescencia en un contexto particularmente complicado.
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