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shelbybelby's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content and Gaslighting
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Infertility
bennu_bird's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
(version read: bilingual edition translated by lysander kemp)
after much deliberation (and by deliberation, i mean "reading this book, like, seven times so i could write a paper on it for literature class"), i have decided that aura is best described as "pretty wacky." that sounds dismissive, but i don't mean it in that way; it's just a really strange story overall, but it's also well-told.
stylistically, i loved the choice of second-person narration and present/future tense. it's not captured as well as it could be in the english, but in spanish, it was unsettling to remember that the future tense can also be used for commands and not just for saying what will come to pass later. the choice of narration was great for building tension, but it related in some very comedic moments: for instance,when consuelo was biting at her deceased husband's uniform like a rabid animal, and felipe's response is simply described as "you close the door." that actually made me crack up a little.
i was also impressed by the fact that felipe montero, the protagonist, has an identifiable personality. a lot of stories with second-person narration have protagonists that are intentionally bland so that the reader can project onto them, but our brave historian is not so. he's a little too blasé about all the bizarre goings-on in the house; he is down horrendous for a woman he's just met, to the point thathe wants to "free" her from the house after being there for exactly two days ; he thinks general llorente was pretty lame, but his idea of a good time is writing about the conquistadors. i would find him insufferable as a real person, and i love him.
the plot is, obviously, the reason why i describe this book the way i did at the beginning. spoiler-free version: you won't be able to rest until you find out just what's going on in this house. i had to read a chapter at a time so as not to get ahead of my classmates, and it made me so impatient. the ending will offer you very little by way of explanation, so if you aren't into ambiguity, you're going to hate it. version with spoilers:i absolutely loved the ending. i know the implication was that consuelo was somehow using mind control powers to make felipe believe he was general llorente - remember the detail about future tense, if you aren't a spanish speaker - but honestly? the idea of him actually being her long-lost husband, reincarnated to enjoy occasional youth once more, was so compelling to me. i like f*cked up happy endings, sue me.
p.s. read the original if you can. kemp's translation is fine, but has some weird discrepancies with the spanish that made me scratch my head a little.
p.s.s. if you have JSTOR access, there's a really cool paper out there about mesoamerican influences in this story that i highly recommend. i used it quite a bit for the paper i wrote on this book :)
after much deliberation (and by deliberation, i mean "reading this book, like, seven times so i could write a paper on it for literature class"), i have decided that aura is best described as "pretty wacky." that sounds dismissive, but i don't mean it in that way; it's just a really strange story overall, but it's also well-told.
stylistically, i loved the choice of second-person narration and present/future tense. it's not captured as well as it could be in the english, but in spanish, it was unsettling to remember that the future tense can also be used for commands and not just for saying what will come to pass later. the choice of narration was great for building tension, but it related in some very comedic moments: for instance,
i was also impressed by the fact that felipe montero, the protagonist, has an identifiable personality. a lot of stories with second-person narration have protagonists that are intentionally bland so that the reader can project onto them, but our brave historian is not so. he's a little too blasé about all the bizarre goings-on in the house; he is down horrendous for a woman he's just met, to the point that
the plot is, obviously, the reason why i describe this book the way i did at the beginning. spoiler-free version: you won't be able to rest until you find out just what's going on in this house. i had to read a chapter at a time so as not to get ahead of my classmates, and it made me so impatient. the ending will offer you very little by way of explanation, so if you aren't into ambiguity, you're going to hate it. version with spoilers:
p.s. read the original if you can. kemp's translation is fine, but has some weird discrepancies with the spanish that made me scratch my head a little.
p.s.s. if you have JSTOR access, there's a really cool paper out there about mesoamerican influences in this story that i highly recommend. i used it quite a bit for the paper i wrote on this book :)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Animal cruelty
isarza's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
2.5
Creo que es el libro más raro que he leído en la vida.
En muchas partes me sentí muy incómoda.
Pero la manera en la que está narrado me hizo sentir que estaba viéndolo todo como una película.
No sé cómo sentirme, no sé decir si me gustó.
En muchas partes me sentí muy incómoda.
Pero la manera en la que está narrado me hizo sentir que estaba viéndolo todo como una película.
No sé cómo sentirme, no sé decir si me gustó.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal cruelty