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freddybingsu's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Murder, and Death of parent
Moderate: Violence, Body shaming, War, and Bullying
acoffeeandagoodbook'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
4.0
The translation is excellent, and I can only imagine how beautiful this book must be in the original Spanish.
I love a family saga, and this one is a triumph. Sad, yet hopeful. I also love a bit of magical realism, which this book also handles beautifully. It's never made clear why the mysterious Simonopio has such a mystical bond with bees, or how he is able to know some things before they happen. Instead, it is left up to the reader's imagination to fill in the blanks of this fascinating character.
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Violence, Sexual assault, and Blood
Minor: Child death, Bullying, and Ableism
carolinacortez's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
"Mis recuerdos, mis impresiones vienen conmigo. Mi realidad, no se si la tuya, va conmigo a dondequiera que yo vaya y deja atrás la capacidad de reinventarse, de desarrollarse"
Se que me tarde un montón en leer este libro, pero la verdad lo ameritaba, la pluma de Sofía es preciosa y te encierra en la historia que te está contando super facil, me tarde por que es una historia que necesita que la estés digiriendo, que no te apresures a leerla, que entiendas lo que te esta contando y que vivas a través de las páginas la historia de Simonopio y Francisco, que entiendas que te está contando no sólo la vida de un undividuo (el narrador), si no de una familia completa, e incluso de una región.
Al principio me costó agarrarle la onda a la cantidad de nombres y el como están relacionados entre si, pero con el paso de las páginas te acostumbras y le agarras el sentido.
"El tiempo es un amo cruel y caprichoso, pues cuanto más lo deseas, más rápido se esfuma y viceversa: cuanto más quisieras escabullirse de él , más inmóvil parece."
Pd. tengo que admitir que si me emociono mucho el hecho de que la historia transcurra en Linares y que Monterrey también tenga sus menciones estelares.
PD2. si lo leen prepárense para llorar, mucho.
Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief
Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Sexual harassment, Murder, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, and War
Minor: Ableism, Bullying, Colonisation, Vomit, Child death, and Medical content
elliereadsthings's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
I will say, the one dislike I have - or rather had - was the first (and maybe second) POV change at the beginning of the book (the ones in first person). Once you go through a couple of them and you start to learn who this narrator is, they’re much less abrupt and much more welcomed. The first one definitely unimmersed me but because it’s so early in the book it didn’t divert me from continuing. And, as you can probably guess, I’m glad I did.
If you are reading this book, stuck in the first couple chapters, I URGE you to keep reading.
“-and the house left its own echos in me. I carry them inside me still. I’m certain I carry my mama and papa in my cells, but also the lavender, the orange blossoms, my mother’s sheets, my grandmother’s calculated footsteps, the toasted pecans, the clunk of the treacherous tile, the sugar caramelizing, the cajeta, the mad cicadas, the smells of old wood, and the polished clay floors. I’m also made of oranges—green, sweet, or rotten; of orange-blossom honey and royal jelly. I’m made of everything that touched my senses during that time and entered the part of my brain where I keep my memories.”
Moderate: Body shaming, Death of parent, Murder, Ableism, Abandonment, and Bullying
spoko's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Moderate: Rape, Murder, and Bullying