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emilb's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Overall I really loved this book. The slow meandering prose is fully a matter of taste - I loved how it jumped ahead only to loop back in a few chapters so we slowly develop a fuller understanding of what's happening. It reminded me of the dance of bees at times.
The one thing I found hard to deal with was the depiction of class and race. I am not from Mexico, so I don't have an instinctive line to the culture in the way many others will have. What I found a shame was that the only non-white characters who were sympathetic were the loyal servants and labourers who found purpose and happiness in serving the blue eyed fair skinned land owners, while the story did what it did to the indigenous main villain. I wish we had seen more nuance in this aspect.
The one thing I found hard to deal with was the depiction of class and race. I am not from Mexico, so I don't have an instinctive line to the culture in the way many others will have. What I found a shame was that the only non-white characters who were sympathetic were the loyal servants and labourers who found purpose and happiness in serving the blue eyed fair skinned land owners, while the story did what it did to the indigenous main villain. I wish we had seen more nuance in this aspect.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Ableism, Murder, Death, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Racism, Rape, and War
annalolan's review
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Do not be fooled by the cutesy cover, this is a capital B Book.
Where to begin?
This book was beautiful. The way that it was written fits so perfectly into what it was written about that I almost can’t believe it. The spherical connectedness and everything-happening-to-everyone-at-once-ness of it was so so so good. That was my favorite thing I got out of this book, and I don’t even know how to describe it. Usually I have difficulty with flashbacks and nonlinear storytelling but it enhanced this book.
Great characters with great motivations and great regrets. Would it be too much to describe this book as The Mexican Les Miserables? It has an urgency about it, and a consequentiality to it that are stunning.
Strong themes that bring you back again and again to what I think the author wants us to remember from this book.
Wonderful descriptions of settings and events.
Our book club discussions about this book were some of my favorites also! Class, race, disability, traditions, and lots more were stirred up for us in reading this book together.
I will return to it, hopefully in Spanish, as I had originally intended.
Perhaps the best novel I’ve read all year.
Edited to add the following:
I am so glad to have had the perspectives of other reader’s reviews on this book! I have learned so much, and have really appreciated the thoughtfulness other people have given.
In particular, I am grateful to have had my eyes opened to the valid criticisms regarding the perspective and biases of the book.
I noticed the treatment of Anselmo as the villain on my own, but I didn’t recognize Nana Reja being an indigenous nursemaid “Mother Earth” stereotype or Simonopio being a “noble warrior” stereotype. I am glad to have learned that and to have a new perspective on this book.
I would recommend that future readers take into account that Sofía Segovia is a direct descendant of Linares Patrones and was therefore impacted in her upbringing by agrarian reform and The Zapatista movement. Her perspective is absolutely colored by her experience and her biases are reflected in this book. That being said, I think this book shows her perspective really well! It just shouldn’t be the main, or only perspective that readers seek on this region and time period.
Where to begin?
This book was beautiful. The way that it was written fits so perfectly into what it was written about that I almost can’t believe it. The spherical connectedness and everything-happening-to-everyone-at-once-ness of it was so so so good. That was my favorite thing I got out of this book, and I don’t even know how to describe it. Usually I have difficulty with flashbacks and nonlinear storytelling but it enhanced this book.
Great characters with great motivations and great regrets. Would it be too much to describe this book as The Mexican Les Miserables? It has an urgency about it, and a consequentiality to it that are stunning.
Strong themes that bring you back again and again to what I think the author wants us to remember from this book.
Wonderful descriptions of settings and events.
Our book club discussions about this book were some of my favorites also! Class, race, disability, traditions, and lots more were stirred up for us in reading this book together.
I will return to it, hopefully in Spanish, as I had originally intended.
Perhaps the best novel I’ve read all year.
Edited to add the following:
I am so glad to have had the perspectives of other reader’s reviews on this book! I have learned so much, and have really appreciated the thoughtfulness other people have given.
In particular, I am grateful to have had my eyes opened to the valid criticisms regarding the perspective and biases of the book.
I noticed the treatment of Anselmo as the villain on my own, but I didn’t recognize Nana Reja being an indigenous nursemaid “Mother Earth” stereotype or Simonopio being a “noble warrior” stereotype. I am glad to have learned that and to have a new perspective on this book.
I would recommend that future readers take into account that Sofía Segovia is a direct descendant of Linares Patrones and was therefore impacted in her upbringing by agrarian reform and The Zapatista movement. Her perspective is absolutely colored by her experience and her biases are reflected in this book. That being said, I think this book shows her perspective really well! It just shouldn’t be the main, or only perspective that readers seek on this region and time period.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Rape
Moderate: War and Racism
ziniana's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
2.5
Linda historia, pero hay que repetirse cada cinco minutos no tomarse muy a pecho que los ricos de descendencia blanca sean los buenos/ héroes y que los pobres de descendencia indígena (o no blanca) sean los malos- o bien, que sean mágicos y actúen como un bálsamo para los protagonistas. De lo contrario, es imposible disfrutar de lo bonita que es la prosa y la historia (que, a pesar de estar bien fuera de tono, tiene arto corazón).
Definitivamente no es un libro para leer en pandemia.
Definitivamente no es un libro para leer en pandemia.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Colonisation and Racism
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