Reviews

La casa de los espíritus by Isabel Allende

styllebad's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

karenschiavelli's review against another edition

5.0

Fantastic saga. It is a true testament to the writing when I truly dislike certain characters. Love, war, tragedy, mysticism—all my favorite things. I wholeheartedly loved this novel.

danielaariane's review against another edition

5.0

Loved this book so much - it’s wild, a lot of things happening, but at the same time you get a good sense of each character and their changing sense of self as well as relationships throughout time.

dlovesbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny fast-paced

4.75

jimins's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

• 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? Yes

4.5

this was A Lot; read for book club

rkaufman13's review against another edition

3.0

Started off strong, but ultimately disappointing. I have a real problem with the ending, as well.

This was billed as more magical realism for fans of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, but there was very little magic. Instead, there were plenty of arbitrary decisions that I think were supposed to convey the same atmosphere as magic. 100 Years of Solitude is far better. Oh well!

mewpre's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

laurenw's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional

3.75

My best friend rated this as 'too much realism, not enough magic' and that is v apt. 
A multi-generational story about an intriguing family who appears to have drawn in every kind of trauma possible, the book is not bad, but it is chaotic. For all the claims of this focusing on a matriarchal line, and we do follow 4/5 generations of daughters, all the events in the book are framed through the perspective of 1 man, who is not a pleasant character. Obviously books can be enjoyable and still center a problematic character, but the role of Esteban (plural) throughout the story detracts from the spirit of the women this story should have been about. 
Ultimately, fell flat for me, but the political background and its rich cultural depictions were its shining grace. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Incest, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Outing, Toxic relationship, Sexism, War, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Violence, Alcohol, Death, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Vomit, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexual content, Torture, Classism, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Abortion, Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Rape

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Animal death, and Miscarriage

lxc433's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

haileyybean's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.75