Reviews

Bonsai by Alejandro Zambra

_m_a_r_a's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Very quick read! The writing style jolts between the reality within the narrative and the fiction that is needed to write, in a way that almost makes fun of the book itself or the craft of story telling in general. Fiction is always fiction, maybe reality is fiction too if we have enough control / pre thought to it.

The theme of bonsai comes up randomly and suddenly. It’s the only clunky bit of writing in the book for me. 

This is a story for book lovers / literary heads who like to live in the stories that they are reading but this one catches you out because the story is abrupt with maybes and maybe nots of the reality of the fictional story.

oponyo's review

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challenging lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.75

parsnipsnap's review against another edition

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fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.75

anu22_'s review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

isabelmoriartyk's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

A short and sweet literary fiction novella. I really liked the metaphor of the bonsai tree. One day I'll reread this in the original Spanish.

breadandmushrooms's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

mangokiin's review against another edition

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reflective fast-paced

4.0

abbie_'s review against another edition

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reflective fast-paced

3.0

I’m not 100% sure what the point of this little novella was, but I do know that I devoured it. It’s one of those little slice of life stories, and the writing and translation were both excellent. So smooth, saying a lot while keeping it simple. If I hadn’t read it via Scribd/Everand (using a random number generator to pick my reads from there atm), I might have been mad at buying it full price, as there’s just not a lot of substance. Quiet, unassuming, beautifully written, but not a memorable read. 

kylaoren's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

forgereads17's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5