Reviews with content warning for Violence - La casa degli spiriti

The point was not to die, since death came anyways, but to survive, which would be a miracle

And that fox escaped with his tail between his legs, with all the hens chasing him

4/5⭐

This is my second Isabel Allende book, after "Violeta" and I've always wanted to read this book before reading any of her other books, but I'm glad to have found some time to read this book finally. I love reading stories that details a family's history through multiple generations, highlighting each family member's eccentricities in a country that's on a path towards a military coup.

I didn't enjoy the the frequent shifts in perspective throughout the book and sometimes within a chapter, which made it difficult for me to follow the story at times. Even though Clara's idea of arranging the story based on events instead of chronological order sounded good as an idea, it was frustrating at times to read some chapters without having any clear idea on when a particular event happened, especially in this story, where there are so many interesting characters, who are all related to each other. Also, I felt the story lost some of its charm once Clara was out of the picture.

The magical realism in the book added a layer of wonder, which blended with Allende's elegant prose drew me and made reading this book an absolute joy.

Content Warnings

eve_kadou's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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all_things_olivia's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

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anxietyberry's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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lief_'s review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Content Warnings

acaparro's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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taracloudclark's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The House of the Spirits is a family saga following Clara, a unique woman who, at an early age, reveals a mystical inclination, and her family through the Chilean tumult in mid-20th century.

This is a long book. At times I had difficulty maintaining attention, but I think overall it was worth it. It was definitely outside my personal or familiar experience, and I feel I’m better for reading it.

Narrators were excellent.

This was part of the StoryGraph read around the world challenge.

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