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yinflower's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, and Police brutality
Moderate: Child death, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Incest
jellyparfum's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism
chilu_esquivel08's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
"Su madre la quería un poco menos."
"No era joven ni vieja, pero tenía una edad en que la muerte ya era un hecho posible."
"Pero, ¿qué puede decirse? Sólo que hubo lágrimas."
Fue una mala y buena idea leer este libro en conjunto con El cielo de piedra de N.K. Jemisin. Si Jemisin se metió en mi mente, Arundhati Roy se metió en mi corazón.
Desde antes ya tenía presente que esta novela toca temas sensibles y un tanto fuertes, pero lo que no me esperaba (y hubiera deseado que alguien me lo dijera), es que tuviera una gran cantidad de abuso emocional y verbal en sus páginas; no lo veo como un defecto, sin embargo son temas que me afectan un poco más personalmente y que me recuerdan a algunas cosillas no tan bonitas.
Fuera de eso. Wow.
Debo ser honesta, la pasé mal leyendo esto, pero al mismo tiempo no pude parar de leer; esta historia me absorbió completamente y me marcó bastante. He leído varias reseñas que dicen que la forma en la que está escrita esta novela es bastante confusa y hasta mal hecha, yo la verdad estoy en desacuerdo, personalmente en ningún momento me molestó, la forma metafórica, descriptiva y poética para este tipo de historia es tan... correcta (?).
Como dice el título, esta novela trata sobre las Pequeñas Cosas y cómo estas afectan en las Grandes Cosas; se entrelazan mucho a lo largo de toda la historia, van de aquí a allá y desencadenan en algo a medida que avanza la historia; y lo mismo pasa al revés, las Grandes Cosas afectan a las Pequeñas Cosas y pueden terminar en tragedia.
Ha sido la primera novela que he leído que se desarrolla en India, es interesante ver cómo la colonización y el sistema de castas perduran hasta el día de hoy, creo que es bastante similar a lo que aún ocurre aquí en México, se presenta de una manera muy muy sutil cómo se les da preferencia a ciertas razas y ciertas costumbres mientras se discriminan a otras.
¿Es un buen libro? Sí. ¿Ha sido uno de los mejores que he leído en mi vida? No lo sé, tengo tantos sentimientos entrelazados dentro de mí y necesito procesarlos. ¿Se los recomiendo? Claro que sí, aunque al igual que con La quinta estación, no es un libro para pasar un buen rato, pero de una manera u otra los marcará y les hará ver la historia de India.
Ahora si me permiten, iré a descansar mi corazón, que lo necesito bastante.
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism
ruthmoog's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't enjoy it much, but before this book I had no idea about banana jam!
Graphic: Child death, Incest, Sexual assault, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, and Classism
Moderate: Abandonment
ruthywithas'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
3.25
Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault
thesupermassive's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Child death, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and Colonisation
katievh'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? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Police brutality, and Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Incest and Sexual content
sir_ren's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
the novel has a rather simple story- the main plot. even though I could predict the general plot of the story (as the novel is written switching from the past and the present) it was still engaging and interesting thanks to the writing and the details. the construction of the novel- the unfolding of events and use of language make it satisfying and rewarding to see it all come together.
the "Kid Speak" used in the novel tends to be polarizing as far as I can tell. some people put the book down to never complete it due to the language. not that I am in a place to be telling anyone what to do with their time, but I would still seriously encourage readers to stick it out even if they are mildly irritated by the peculiarities. my experience is that I found it puzzling at first and then interesting, but the novelty wore off soon and it started to feel badly used. but this changed as I kept reading, the way Arundhati Roy built her novel and used language- the payoff was Real for me. the "quirkiness" of the language turned into a blessing as the novel went on. Intimacy is what I experienced again. in a novel all about this family- to speak their secret language and to have a few odd words and phrases evoke all the emotions and thoughts that they did was a moment of intimacy with the novel and its characters.
another point of contention tends to be the "villain", who some find to be a cartoonishly evil/bad person. in my opinion, the character was believable.
now for the parts I did not enjoy. the book describes or mentions a lot of the uglier sides of human nature/bodies/actions. I felt the number of instances was a little excessive. maybe one or two could have been cut and the book could still retain its integrity.
and I felt the Kid Speak could have been cut in a few places. but I am glad the language was what it was
Graphic: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Blood, Excrement, Grief, and Abandonment
Minor: Alcoholism
abvi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Child death, Hate crime, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Classism
mxpringle'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: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail