Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Cantoras

What to even say about this book? Cantoras is evocative and beautifully written. DeRobertis masterfully provides the reader with tons of historical political context without bogging down the narrative or making you feel as if you’re reading a textbook. We’re given this information through the characters as it relates to their lives.

This is an epic story of the power of friendship and the importance of having people who truly see you. It’s also about the dangers of silence and hiding and the toll they take.

I adored the women in this story (particularly Flaca and Paz) and how different and human they all were. There are no saints here. Their lives, relationships, and choices are messy, which is why they feel so real.

There are some tough themes in this book, including a lot of trauma, but it never feels gratuitous. DeRobertis focuses more on the effects of the trauma on her characters rather than describing the acts themselves in too much detail.

Content Warnings

asha_m's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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librar_bee's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Cantoras is a story of "women who sing" - beginning with two friends, Flaca and Romina, which expands into a group of five women to include Anita "La Venus," Malena, and Paz. These five queer women create a family when they visit Cabo Polonio off the coast of Uruguay, where the current dictatorship threatens their safety and especially their secrets. The ocean and the beach become constants for the five women and the friends and lovers they make over the course of thirty-five years; however, creating spaces and finding community does not erase grief, trauma, or the need for visibility.

De Robertis brings to life each of the women and the characters they meet along their journeys with rich energy and warmth, as though they become your own family over the course of the novel. This story will fill your heart with joy, grief, and laughter as each of these women navigate their lives in the tumultuous 1970s and 1980s. Her writing is lyrical and paints beautiful pictures of the cities, the landscapes, and the humans that inhabit them. Though the third-person perspectives of each of the five women are shared in this story, the narrative flows naturally and clearly, with no ambiguity as to which vignette of the story we are seeing. Cantoras is a must-read for seekers of queer truths. Five women from very different backgrounds come together in Uruguay, which eventually became the third country in the Americas to legalize same-sex marriage, to love, grow, and ache, and are ready to welcome you when you open this book.

Content Warnings

katie_greenwinginmymouth's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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