Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Candelaria by Melissa Lozada-Oliva

1 review

yajairat's review

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dark funny mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Thank goodness I came into this not knowing much except that it was a about a family of women. Would've taken the fun out of the wild ride this book takes you through. It's weird and gory, but also full of heart that's carried by the relationships these women have. Some things that I liked:

- I got a good understanding of who the three sisters were in the beginning of the book. Made me engaged in their journeys until the end. 
- weaving in an actual historical event in the story
- making the front of the cult be a cycling studio/wellness center, like yes real cycling studios feel like cults to me 
- lots of good reflecting, Lucia doing a lot of reflecting on how she raised her daughters. 
- despite the messiness, these ladies are family and they'll come through for each other! even in times of literal apocalypse! 

Some quotes/notes:

"Do you think men can only be good if they are a little dumb? If they lack whatever it takes to want more out of life?" - no cause I ask the same thing, have ambitious men ever done anything good? 

"Las hijas siempre se quedan con la mama. Los hombres siempre encuentran otra" - 100%

"Her mother had no space for her own daughter's complicated emotions"

"She's [mom] just traumatized. Sometimes she tells us shit and it's like, okay, of course you're kind of cooked" - immigrant parents that go through some shit cannot come out of that unscathed. Intergenerational trauma baybeeee

"The past was full of suffering, but wasn't a little suffering kind of good? Did any drive exist on its own, without some ghost at the wheel?"

"she realized something that felt equally important and stupid: you need other people to help figure out who you are"

"She became an adult too quickly. She didn't get to be a mess. There was no coming of age. There was just arriving somewhere breathless, with everything you owned in your arms, thankful she made it at all."

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