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adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
i really really enjoyed this book! although it was a little cheesy at times and i wouldn’t compare it to gabriel garcia marquez (as advertised on the book cover), i still had FUN! there’s definitely something to be said about the treatment of female characters. like i’m pretty sure it wouldn’t pass the bechdel test lol. a bit manic pixie dream girl vibes. and i dont just mean fernin’s silly sexual, womanzing tirades , bc i took that to be satire. idk i’m dr*nk on vacation and i had FUN okay. and really loved the main characters even tho i wished the women weren’t just love objects !
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse
Moderate: Homophobia, Incest, Transphobia
Minor: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Suicide attempt
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
While the story is engaging it's disturbing how every male character in the book views women.
TW: sexual assault, rape
The book even minimises and blames sexual assault onto the victim.
TW: sexual assault, rape
The book even minimises and blames sexual assault onto the victim.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual assault
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-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:
No
This book is long... and it took me forever to read. I have had this book since 2019 and I had just lost motivation to read it, as it dragged in some points. The book was also just genuinely long (or long to my standard as I never read books more then 450 pages). It is also one of those books with small words and small margins. However once I got back into it I could not put it down. All I can say is, oh my goodness this book is spellbinding. It is so beautifully written, that I found myself rereading a lot of paragraphs, just admiring the sentence structure. The long story was worth it though, as everything comes together to create a satisfying ending for the story. Every character in the novel gets an in-depth back story, which deepened my understanding of each characters personalities. So much detail is put into every line, which makes it such a gorgeous read. Also, every character is connected. All of them.
Some issues I had personally were that since the story takes place in Spain, street names and locations are mentioned rather often and as a native English speaker I had one hell of a time trying to pronounce them. Some phrases were also left in Spanish and certain references were made that I just didn't understand. Maybe I should brush up on some Spanish history. Halfway through I did end up switching to an audiobook to pick up the pace of my reading (I am a rather slow reader) and was heavily embarrassed at how I had butchered names and places pronunciation.
I plan to read the rest of the books in the series as well, but I highly recommend this book it is just amazing!
Some issues I had personally were that since the story takes place in Spain, street names and locations are mentioned rather often and as a native English speaker I had one hell of a time trying to pronounce them. Some phrases were also left in Spanish and certain references were made that I just didn't understand. Maybe I should brush up on some Spanish history. Halfway through I did end up switching to an audiobook to pick up the pace of my reading (I am a rather slow reader) and was heavily embarrassed at how I had butchered names and places pronunciation.
I plan to read the rest of the books in the series as well, but I highly recommend this book it is just amazing!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War
Minor: Bullying, Confinement, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Terminal illness, Stalking, Death of parent, Abandonment
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, War
Minor: Torture
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Gun violence, Sexual assault, Blood, Stalking
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Bilingual Review/Crítica Bilingue (🇬🇧 & 🇵🇹)
🇬🇧 Written in the 1st person, past tense. Set in the 1st half of the 20th century, Franco's regime
Intrigue, mystery, books, Barcelona. What's there not to like? Or so I thought, but I ended with mixed feelings.
It's historical fiction. There are scenes that reflect the chauvinist times, things that happen to women that are part of plot points.
Except, there's language & violence used against women that doesn't add anything to the story, so it seems the author is taking pleasure out of tormenting women.
A male character is physically & s exually assaulted, yet it's told in a ridiculous tone. I was intrigued, which is why I kept reading, but I can't ignore these recurring themes.
Mc instantly falls in love with the women he's attracted to, no importance given to knowing them. These are all enigmatic, inscrutable, meaning they are as deep as a leaf.
Otherwise, they are a reason for ridicule.
Beware of Stereotype: blind person asks to touch strangers' faces 🙄
Mystery is almost entirely revealed in a letter conveniently left to the mc.
Writing plays with the frontier between beautiful & pretentious to the point of eyeroll.
🇵🇹 Escrito na 1ª pessoa, passado. Situado na 1ª metade do Séc. XX, Espanha Franquista
Intriga, mistério, livros, Barcelona. O que há para não gostar? Pensei eu, mas no fim fiquei dividida.
É ficção histórica. Há cenas que refletem os tempos machistas, coisas que acontecem a mulheres que fazem parte da trama.
Excepto que há linguagem e violência usadas contra mulheres que não acrescentam nada à história, parece que o autor tirou prazer de atormentar mulheres.
Um personagem masculino é agredido física & sexualmente, sendo tal contado em tom jocoso. Estava intrigada, por isso persisti, mas não posso simplesmente ignorar estes tópicos recorrentes.
Cuidado com Estereótipo: pessoa cega pede para tocar na cara de estranhos 🙄
Protagonista apaixona-se instantaneamente pelas mulheres que lhe são atraentes, e pouca importa conhecê-las. Essas são todas enigmáticas, imperscrutáveis, ou seja têm a profundidade de uma folha.
De contrário, são motivo de ridículo.
Mistério é revelado quase todo numa carta convenientemente deixada ao protagonista.
A escrita brinca com a fronteira entre bela e pretensiosa a ponto de rolar os olhos.
🇬🇧 Written in the 1st person, past tense. Set in the 1st half of the 20th century, Franco's regime
Intrigue, mystery, books, Barcelona. What's there not to like? Or so I thought, but I ended with mixed feelings.
It's historical fiction. There are scenes that reflect the chauvinist times, things that happen to women that are part of plot points.
Except, there's language & violence used against women that doesn't add anything to the story, so it seems the author is taking pleasure out of tormenting women.
A male character is physically & s exually assaulted, yet it's told in a ridiculous tone. I was intrigued, which is why I kept reading, but I can't ignore these recurring themes.
Mc instantly falls in love with the women he's attracted to, no importance given to knowing them. These are all enigmatic, inscrutable, meaning they are as deep as a leaf.
Otherwise, they are a reason for ridicule.
Beware of Stereotype: blind person asks to touch strangers' faces 🙄
Mystery is almost entirely revealed in a letter conveniently left to the mc.
Writing plays with the frontier between beautiful & pretentious to the point of eyeroll.
🇵🇹 Escrito na 1ª pessoa, passado. Situado na 1ª metade do Séc. XX, Espanha Franquista
Intriga, mistério, livros, Barcelona. O que há para não gostar? Pensei eu, mas no fim fiquei dividida.
É ficção histórica. Há cenas que refletem os tempos machistas, coisas que acontecem a mulheres que fazem parte da trama.
Excepto que há linguagem e violência usadas contra mulheres que não acrescentam nada à história, parece que o autor tirou prazer de atormentar mulheres.
Um personagem masculino é agredido física & sexualmente, sendo tal contado em tom jocoso. Estava intrigada, por isso persisti, mas não posso simplesmente ignorar estes tópicos recorrentes.
Cuidado com Estereótipo: pessoa cega pede para tocar na cara de estranhos 🙄
Protagonista apaixona-se instantaneamente pelas mulheres que lhe são atraentes, e pouca importa conhecê-las. Essas são todas enigmáticas, imperscrutáveis, ou seja têm a profundidade de uma folha.
De contrário, são motivo de ridículo.
Mistério é revelado quase todo numa carta convenientemente deixada ao protagonista.
A escrita brinca com a fronteira entre bela e pretensiosa a ponto de rolar os olhos.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Sexual harassment
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
On the streets of fascist Barcelona, a boy unravels the mystery behind his favorite book. Some stories can survive the fact that their authors don’t really understand women; in this one the plot threatens to buckle under its own accumulated misogyny.
“I imagined Julián Carax at my age, holding that image in his hand, perhaps in the shade of the same tree that now sheltered me. I could almost see him smiling confidently, contemplating a future as wide and luminous as that avenue, and for a moment I thought there were no more ghosts there than those of absence and loss and that the light that smiled on me was borrowed light, real only as long as I could hold it in my eyes, second by second” (147)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Religious bigotry
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Blood, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment
Minor: Racial slurs, Forced institutionalization, War
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Grief, Murder, War
Minor: Bullying, Incest, Abortion
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is a terrible book and frankly I don’t understand why so many people love it. The story is quite interesting but that’s about it, however the way they story was wrapped up was just boring.
The sexism in this book is not only terrible, it’s exhausting. Every mention of a woman (or “female”) in this book, is sexist in every possible way. From the fact that their physical features are always mentioned, to the fact that they're apparently incapable of doing anything, except being a whore.
Furthermore there are so many instances of homophobia and such casual mention of rape, it’s disgusting.
It’s astonishing what this book gets away with frankly.
Furthermore, every single character’s dialogue is written the same. If it weren’t for context clues, you’d have no idea who was talking. It’s apparent that the author tried to be poetic (?) but it’s just not working. So many descriptions for every scene and word it’s exhausting to read. This novel could’ve been half it’s size and would still be too long.
The sexism in this book is not only terrible, it’s exhausting. Every mention of a woman (or “female”) in this book, is sexist in every possible way. From the fact that their physical features are always mentioned, to the fact that they're apparently incapable of doing anything, except being a whore.
Furthermore there are so many instances of homophobia and such casual mention of rape, it’s disgusting.
It’s astonishing what this book gets away with frankly.
Furthermore, every single character’s dialogue is written the same. If it weren’t for context clues, you’d have no idea who was talking. It’s apparent that the author tried to be poetic (?) but it’s just not working. So many descriptions for every scene and word it’s exhausting to read. This novel could’ve been half it’s size and would still be too long.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment