Reviews

Het eiland onder de zee by Isabel Allende

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carol04's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

dorscheid's review against another edition

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informative reflective sad 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

annamontana's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.0

A couple of years ago I read my first Isabel Allende novel and have been slowly making my say through her books. I enjoy her writing. Beautiful, poetic, ethereal. I don't quite get the magical realism that she is supposed to be writing but I enjoy her books anyway.

This story centers on Zarite and Valmorain. Slave and slave owner. We get to know Zarite through those who love her and through those she loves, through her children, through those that will aid and assist her, through her slavery and her emancipation. It is, as one can guess with a story centered on slavery, heartbreaking but beautiful.

It is a bit of a slow beginning and there are quite a few characters to keep track of, but it picked up soon and the characters keep showing up through the book. There are quite a few trigger warnings so look them up if you need to.

novelette's review against another edition

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3.0

For the longest time, could not tell if this book was fiction or nonfiction.

connie_gatzke's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

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

3.25

dilan11's review against another edition

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reflective sad 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

3.75

I enjoyed this book--Allende is a master at beautiful details and a compelling story-- but in many ways it was just too much. Too many characters, too much history, too many cities, too much plotting. I didn't feel like I even knew the main character Zarite in as much detail as I wanted to. If Allende wanted to tell the story of a life, well then just focus on one character over her life changes and historical changes. I think she tried to do that with Zarite but there was so much competition for the reader's attention. For example, I was very intrigued by Maurice but I mostly just learned about his ideas and not really his heart. Allende had enough material here for 10 books.
But kudos to Allende for attempting to tell the story of Hispaniola, slavery, colonialism. Some might say as an upper class light skinned person this is not Allende's story to tell, and I welcome stories from those who experienced this time and place or from their ancestors, but Allende has a huge following and I give her credit for brining to light a time and place that is usually shrouded.