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4.21 AVERAGE
4.21 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
funny
informative
tense
fast-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
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
me 🤝 a historical intergenerational family saga with morally grey characters and complicated relationships
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, War
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Wow, this was an epic. This is the first Isabel Allende novel I've read and, as it turns out, the first one she wrote. It is a super far-reaching family epic, spanning multiple generations with plenty (and I mean PLENTY) of twists and turns and absurdity.
There's clairvoyance, supernaturally beautiful women, a head stored in a basement, spirits moving tables, love, passion, and prophecies galore. That's not even mentioning the personalities, which cover a huge range. Everything and everyone is MORE and the things they do for love, for fear, for hate, and for money are stupendous and appalling.
I must admit, it did get a bit tedious at times, but I gave this one four stars because of the threads that run all the way through the book. The author managed to tie everything to everything else in a way that was absolutely seamless and satisfying and right. An impressive achievement in this long of a story.
Recommended for fans of sweeping family historical fiction, books like Birds Without Wings, and the Chilean revolution.
There's clairvoyance, supernaturally beautiful women, a head stored in a basement, spirits moving tables, love, passion, and prophecies galore. That's not even mentioning the personalities, which cover a huge range. Everything and everyone is MORE and the things they do for love, for fear, for hate, and for money are stupendous and appalling.
I must admit, it did get a bit tedious at times, but I gave this one four stars because of the threads that run all the way through the book. The author managed to tie everything to everything else in a way that was absolutely seamless and satisfying and right. An impressive achievement in this long of a story.
Recommended for fans of sweeping family historical fiction, books like Birds Without Wings, and the Chilean revolution.
I chose this book primarily because I wanted to do a book review instead of a research paper for my Latin America geography class. I have to say it works well for that particular purpose - I have to relate the story back to Latin America itself in my review which the book does well in history/culture/generations - but as for leisure reading it was a little tedious for me.
There were so many paragraphs, whether because of translation or simply because they were written that way, that took up an entire page or more and it felt like it took too long just to get through them let alone a single chapter. Some of them contained a lot of unnecessary details that did not make them any easier to get through. The characters didn't stand out much outside of Esteban and Clara. It felt like Esteban and Clara were definitely given more time to be explored as characters than say Alba and Blanca who felt almost identical in some parts. A combination of the huge hunks of descriptions, little dialogue, and very little time spent on certain characters made it hard for the book to hold my interest.
Overall I'm neutral about this book. I don't love it but I don't hate it either hence the 3 stars. I haven't read an inter-generational story before so it was interesting to see how it unfolded even if the jumps in time didn't allow the characters to grow as much as Esteban and Clara. It's an honest book which I appreciate rather than trying to gloss over what happened and it's made me interested in reading more about Chilean history. While I don't regret reading I can only say it didn't leave much of an impact.
There were so many paragraphs, whether because of translation or simply because they were written that way, that took up an entire page or more and it felt like it took too long just to get through them let alone a single chapter. Some of them contained a lot of unnecessary details that did not make them any easier to get through. The characters didn't stand out much outside of Esteban and Clara. It felt like Esteban and Clara were definitely given more time to be explored as characters than say Alba and Blanca who felt almost identical in some parts. A combination of the huge hunks of descriptions, little dialogue, and very little time spent on certain characters made it hard for the book to hold my interest.
Overall I'm neutral about this book. I don't love it but I don't hate it either hence the 3 stars. I haven't read an inter-generational story before so it was interesting to see how it unfolded even if the jumps in time didn't allow the characters to grow as much as Esteban and Clara. It's an honest book which I appreciate rather than trying to gloss over what happened and it's made me interested in reading more about Chilean history. While I don't regret reading I can only say it didn't leave much of an impact.
adventurous
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Made me fall in love with generational dramas and south american literature
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, War
Moderate: Rape
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Another beautiful yet tragic tale following a Chilean family over four generations, surviving heartbreak, political instability, war, revenge, poverty, violence, rape, downfall.
The two different voices of the narrators Alba the granddaughter versus Esteban Trueba her grandfather lends to contrast the differences in their ideologies very well: the violent patriarch, versus the strong willed feminist, with their values of family and love for their country and people tying them together.
The fantastical elements intertwine with asking questions like how does fate affect the outcome of your life. How your choices can have repercussions. And how upbringings, personalities, trauma, affect lives which then go on to affect other lives.
How opposing sides, create a distraction for war. How soldiers do not like peacetime. How all a society “needs” is “bread, a circus, and a symbol to worship.” How easily a democracy can be uprooted, a military coup, fascism, and a dictatorship can take place.
How maybe at times it’s more worth it to focus on living and love than hatred and dying. That trying to live and thrive is the best rebellion you can have. “The point was not to die, since death came anyway, but to survive, which would be a miracle.”-alba
I was surprised at how easily Alba was able to forgive the men who hurt her in her lifetime, perhaps knowing that she could only be happy if she moved on. Breaking the cycle of generational trauma.
My favorite characters were of course Clara, Jaime, Pedro Tercero Garcia, and Alba, each with their own quirks, stubbornness, eccentricities that made them outcasts.
This has become one of my favorite epics, as I was lost in the fantasy of this family history, and then swept up by the suddenness of the political upheaval based in Cuba. A great read if you like generational novels and historical fiction.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, War
Moderate: Death, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So it's not Marquez, but it's absorbing enough even when read in a language that is not my mother tongue. I'd say more than worth a read.